Reality check for collectors who sell

[Ibrakeforpossums]

Autumn,
I'm sorry you're in this situation. Anyone with that photo in their avatar is a good person.
The tactics of this buyer sound familiar. Gain sympathy, find an angle and when confronted, lie, then tell a different lie while becoming more and more belligerent. This person stared down a boardroom of 11 doctors and prevailed. Borderline sociopath.
Do you have a lawyer you trust? It might be peace of mind if nothing else.

 

[diamondyes]

Phew... I hear ya. You know what I really learned from this ordeal though? Choose the gems you purchase very carefully. Because reselling them sucks. I knew when I bought that stone that it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I should have returned it then, and saved up for the right one. Anyway, thanks for your comment!

Damn. It’s so true. Good advice and sometimes a lesson we have to learn the hard way!! There are different ways to pay for an education, eh? I recently learned with a $600 pair of shoes… yikes.

 

[swaye2010]

Yes, it was goods and services (I sent one invoice that she could make payment on in multiple installments). If it were F&F, she'd have no recourse. So, from my understanding, PP only backs your purchase if an item is significantly not as described. She has not a shred of proof in that regard, because it does not exist. So I hope any person at PP reviewing the matter recognizes this and doesn't become confused on a topic they likely don't really understand. The rep will probably be a rice farmer from Rawalpindi. No offense to them, but I doubt they'll know anything about gem labs and two-phase corundum inclusions. So you see why I'm concerned! Thanks for your help!!

P.S. I do have photocopies of the lab reports.

If she enters a dispute on paypal, there will be a period where the buyer & seller can try to work it out. I think it is 2 weeks. I would take the pictures of all your documentation and add it to the case if there is a way to upload it with an explanation of what happened/picture of your listing terms. I have never done it from the seller side before but I did help a vendor that lost money from a similar situation. The buyer did a chargeback after the item was mailed and they sided with the buyer so the seller was out $8K. The person closed their PP account and there wasn’t any way to go after them because it was an international purchase.

The term ‘significantly not as described’ is very subjective. You must be able to tell your side of the story so when PP reviews the case, they won’t side with the buyer. If there isn’t a link to do this, give them a call so they can make notes. You basically laid out the terms and she did not return it during that one week time period so I would not cave. We all know it is a risk to buy and sell this way.

 

[Autumn in New England]

Thank you everyone for taking time out of your day to post words of support and advice. It is very much appreciated. ❤︎

@Ibrakeforpossums I love your avatar too! Yes, I do have an attorney I trust... I've worked for him since I was teen! Hopefully, it doesn't come to that though.

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

Phew... I hear ya. You know what I really learned from this ordeal though? Choose the gems you purchase very carefully. Because reselling them sucks. I knew when I bought that stone that it wasn't exactly what I wanted. I should have returned it then, and saved up for the right one. Anyway, thanks for your comment!

QFT.

 

[LilAlex]

But she's trying to keep the gem and demand a partial refund.

So she thinks it's a fake but wants to keep it?!? You are being scammed. So sorry!

(I did not read all the posts.)

 

[AnastasiaBeaverhausen]

No claim yet... when we left off, she said she was sending the gem back to the GIA for retesting. The weird thing is, if she was indeed trying to scam me, I just can't figure out why she'd actually want to pay for a new report/shipping/insurance... Or maybe she was lying (again) and has no intention of resubmitting it. Who knows!

That's my read on it. That she was prolly bluffing. Maybe she thought you'd be worried GIA would say something different the 2nd time around or wouldn't want to drag this out any further. So then you'd just fold.

Oooor, another possibility could be she'll come back later and say she did get another GIA report which says it's synthetic, but won't show proof. It's dumb. But then again, it's hard to understand crazy.

Fingers crossed she will just disappear into the ether. Who knows. Maybe after this experience, she'll even stop trying to scam people from now on!

 

[Autumn in New England]

That's my read on it. That she was prolly bluffing. Maybe she thought you'd be worried GIA would say something different the 2nd time around or wouldn't want to drag this out any further. So then you'd just fold.

Oooor, another possibility could be she'll come back later and say she did get another GIA report which says it's synthetic, but won't show proof. It's dumb. But then again, it's hard to understand crazy.

Fingers crossed she will just disappear into the ether. Who knows. Maybe after this experience, she'll even stop trying to scam people from now on!

Agreed, thank you!!