Beware of selling your Designer goods on Ebay
So I've been a bit AWOL recently and I apologise. Life got very busy and it turns out fitting blogging in to a busy life is not as easy as it seems.
I thought I'd jump back in with a little warning or heads up about something I recently experienced.
So a while ago I bought a Celine Trio cross body bag whilst on holiday in Cannes. The bag is beautiful but it turns out it just wasn't for me, It was quite delicate and I was afraid to take it out in case it rained and let's face it, it pretty much rains all the time here. I had researched the bag before I bought it but perhaps my lust for it overrode the practicalities. I didn't use it so decided that I should sell it rather than it sit, gather dust and waste the money I'd spent.
I had a look at some different sites but they seemed to take huge commissions and I was already a regular seller on ebay with 100% positive feedback so I decided that would be the best place to sell it. I was so wrong!
It had a huge amount of interest with nearly 40 watchers and continuous messages. I had put it on a buy now option and no best offer. After a couple of weeks a girl from Germany asked if she could buy it. She offered a lower price in her message, I told her what my bottom line was and she accepted. She said she would buy it straight away and could I show her the receipt afterwards. I thought this was a little odd that she was willing to spend such a lot of money without concrete proof that it was authentic. I suggested I show her the receipt before she paid and she agreed. After I had proven it's authenticity she tried to pay but encountered a problem as I had listed free shipping but only in the UK. To cut a long story short I amended my listing so she could pay but again she said she had a problem and could she pay directly through Paypal. I refused as this is against ebay rules and gives no protection to her or myself. I began to think she was a bit of a fraudster but the next day she paid and so I wrapped up the bag very carefully in layers of packaging and bubble wrap and took timed and dated pictures of the bag before I posted it. I sent it to ebay's Global Shipping Centre and from there they ship it internationally.
A week or so later I got a message from her on ebay saying I'd lied about the bag being in perfect condition and she had attached pictures of the back of the bag covered in marks and dents. She was asking for her money back. I refused at first and told her I had proof that the bag was not in that condition when sent. She then said that I must have packed it badly and that it had been damaged in the post. She now wanted at least part of her money back. My boyfriend and I looked in to it and the ebay rules state that you have to refund in full and cover shipping costs, I was furious! How did I know that was actually my bag and not one she already had (a well known scam on ebay) We conversed with her further asking for more photos and we received grainy unclear images, she then asked for our email to send better pictures, we refused.
As we continued to look in to it, we discovered that because we had sent it through the Global Shipping Programme we were covered and they would be the ones to cover the cost, we called ebay and they confirmed this to be true. They told us to email her and for her to contact the Global Shipping Programme to discuss her refund. She ignored this and processed a standard refund so ebay emailed and told us we had to pay her within 6 days. Another call to ebay later and they said we should be covered but they would investigate and look in to all the messages we had sent each other. We would hear from them within 48 hours. This was a painfully long 48 hours, It wasn't just that we would have to give her money back but also pay her shipping fees that she paid and also her shipping fees to return the bag to us so we would actually be down money. We spent ages googling it and all the forums said that ebay always sides with the buyer and there is absolutely no seller protection. There were endless horror stories.
Fortunately for us ebay did protect us and she was refunded her money in full but at no cost to us.
I don't know if she was conning us or not. If the bag was damaged in transit I am truly sorry for her as I know I would be gutted if that happened to me but I will never sell a high priced item on ebay again. Although ebay were great, it is not worth the stress and next time we might not be so fortunate.
If you do decide to sell a high priced item, protect yourself the best you can
- Always make the buyer pay through ebay, do not accept direct Paypal offers.
- Take time and dated pictures of the item before you post it.
- If possible mark the item with one of those invisible markers that only shows up under blue light. (you can get them really cheap on Amazon)
- Pay for postage insurance at the post office when sending.
- Always send it recorded or tracked.
I hope this is somewhat helpful and saves you from the stress that I endured.
As always thanks for stopping by.
Take care
Kel x
I thought I'd jump back in with a little warning or heads up about something I recently experienced.
So a while ago I bought a Celine Trio cross body bag whilst on holiday in Cannes. The bag is beautiful but it turns out it just wasn't for me, It was quite delicate and I was afraid to take it out in case it rained and let's face it, it pretty much rains all the time here. I had researched the bag before I bought it but perhaps my lust for it overrode the practicalities. I didn't use it so decided that I should sell it rather than it sit, gather dust and waste the money I'd spent.
I had a look at some different sites but they seemed to take huge commissions and I was already a regular seller on ebay with 100% positive feedback so I decided that would be the best place to sell it. I was so wrong!
It had a huge amount of interest with nearly 40 watchers and continuous messages. I had put it on a buy now option and no best offer. After a couple of weeks a girl from Germany asked if she could buy it. She offered a lower price in her message, I told her what my bottom line was and she accepted. She said she would buy it straight away and could I show her the receipt afterwards. I thought this was a little odd that she was willing to spend such a lot of money without concrete proof that it was authentic. I suggested I show her the receipt before she paid and she agreed. After I had proven it's authenticity she tried to pay but encountered a problem as I had listed free shipping but only in the UK. To cut a long story short I amended my listing so she could pay but again she said she had a problem and could she pay directly through Paypal. I refused as this is against ebay rules and gives no protection to her or myself. I began to think she was a bit of a fraudster but the next day she paid and so I wrapped up the bag very carefully in layers of packaging and bubble wrap and took timed and dated pictures of the bag before I posted it. I sent it to ebay's Global Shipping Centre and from there they ship it internationally.
A week or so later I got a message from her on ebay saying I'd lied about the bag being in perfect condition and she had attached pictures of the back of the bag covered in marks and dents. She was asking for her money back. I refused at first and told her I had proof that the bag was not in that condition when sent. She then said that I must have packed it badly and that it had been damaged in the post. She now wanted at least part of her money back. My boyfriend and I looked in to it and the ebay rules state that you have to refund in full and cover shipping costs, I was furious! How did I know that was actually my bag and not one she already had (a well known scam on ebay) We conversed with her further asking for more photos and we received grainy unclear images, she then asked for our email to send better pictures, we refused.
As we continued to look in to it, we discovered that because we had sent it through the Global Shipping Programme we were covered and they would be the ones to cover the cost, we called ebay and they confirmed this to be true. They told us to email her and for her to contact the Global Shipping Programme to discuss her refund. She ignored this and processed a standard refund so ebay emailed and told us we had to pay her within 6 days. Another call to ebay later and they said we should be covered but they would investigate and look in to all the messages we had sent each other. We would hear from them within 48 hours. This was a painfully long 48 hours, It wasn't just that we would have to give her money back but also pay her shipping fees that she paid and also her shipping fees to return the bag to us so we would actually be down money. We spent ages googling it and all the forums said that ebay always sides with the buyer and there is absolutely no seller protection. There were endless horror stories.
Fortunately for us ebay did protect us and she was refunded her money in full but at no cost to us.
I don't know if she was conning us or not. If the bag was damaged in transit I am truly sorry for her as I know I would be gutted if that happened to me but I will never sell a high priced item on ebay again. Although ebay were great, it is not worth the stress and next time we might not be so fortunate.
If you do decide to sell a high priced item, protect yourself the best you can
- Always make the buyer pay through ebay, do not accept direct Paypal offers.
- Take time and dated pictures of the item before you post it.
- If possible mark the item with one of those invisible markers that only shows up under blue light. (you can get them really cheap on Amazon)
- Pay for postage insurance at the post office when sending.
- Always send it recorded or tracked.
I hope this is somewhat helpful and saves you from the stress that I endured.
As always thanks for stopping by.
Take care
Kel x
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