Victim of a Paypal / ebay fraud, pls help!!!!

[seeseewhy]

Hi all -

I just become a victim of a paypal / ebay fraud, and I am now stucked with the bill.

Here are the sequences of events:

1) around end of last year, I sold some Apple itune gift cards that I bought. because I couldn't use all of them, I decided to sell some on ebay

2) I list my item and a buyer purchased within few days

3) I received the request from buyer asking me to send him the gift card codes via email because he has urgent use.  As a good seller, I did as request and responded through ebay message.

4) deal was closed, and ebay charged me the commission of the item I sold, case closed right?  But here is where the fraud begins

5) last week, I received notice from payal saying that the buyer has disputed the payment (3+ months after the fact).  I did what every seller would do and send the screenshot of my ebay message to paypal.

6) few days later, paypal responded and reversed the original transaction, now my account becomes deficit because of it.

7) I called payapl today describing my situation and sharing my concern.  The agent transfer me to a dispute specialist and the specialist informed me that because I sent my item via online and did not have a tracking # (which comes from sending item via post office or other delievery services), I am not protected under the user agreement term.  

😎 shocked as I was, I tried to reason with her and describe my situation.  however, the specialist simply just repeating the same thing over and over "because you did not have a tracking number, you are not protected"

9) so now I am stuck with the whole bill.  I now have lost a) the value of my gift cards, b) the price tag that I tried to sell those at and c) the ebay commission charges

10) the more I think of it, I think it is a well planned scam.  targeting sellers like myself who is unware of the full details.  I am very angry and disappointed at paypal and ebay for not protecting their users.

Can anyone suggest what can I do to resolve this?  If not, I am trying to at least get the words out, so people won't be scammed like me.

If you ever plan to ship your selling items and the buyer is sending money via paypal, always go with the traditional delivery route.  Otherwise you will be stucked with the heavy price tag like myself.

all the best!

[kernowlass]

Yes you are correct, selling virtual items is always a risk as there is no seller protection.

The best thing would have been to have emailed the codes and then sent the card trackable as well.

[doc911007]

Similar thing happend to me

i mailed the merchandise internationally 

i got a tracking number

the buyer did not receie the package and when i went to the post office

they could not track it for two months

paypal gave the money back to the buyer which is ok

but when i asked for seller protaction they said the tracking could not be found even though

i had bought the postage through paypal and have given the tracking number given to me by the post office

of course as i had bought the shipping through them they already knew the tracking number

Now they refuse me the money saying the tracking number cannot be traced which is the post office fault

i called several times and twice the dispute resolution person said they would make sure i get the money back but

i get an email in a few mins from paypal saying as they cannot track the package the case is closed

so go figure

the only way i see this ending for me is stop using paypal and use credit card as payments as they usually take the side 

of the person who makes them money

the sellers make money for paypal not the buyers as the fee is charged from the sellers price

[seeseewhy]

I feel you, it is so absurb that the seller got stuck with the bill.

GIven your situation, I lost total confidence in paypal.  Seems like they will find a way to **bleep** you even you play by the rules.

All the best!

[PP2015]

If your recipient did not receive the package, I believe you would be able to fill out a form with the Post Master to receive a refund of your shipping costs for the package and the declared value of the contents.   Ask the Post Master for the refund form and how to file the insurance claim.  

If your Post Master has not succeeded with the tracing, you can do some sleuth work on your own.  Your tracking slip should give you the number associated with the parcel.  You can log in to the postal service website and enter that number into the tracking system.  It will show when the package was receipted, exactly where it was routed, and on what dates and times.  You might be able to get an idea of where the delivery failed that way.  Try calling the Post Master at the last known location and see if he or she can tell you anything about the delivery attempt.  They normally know all of the delivery drivers and many of the people and addresses in a given area.  They are usually very helpful.   You might get additional information like  there was a new driver, an unusual address, or someone at a valid address who was not the addressee refused the package.   If that doesn't work and the two months of tracing attempts do not  produce any results, you should definitely ask about the refund and insurance claim.  

Good Luck!     

[lgggarcia]

Well, I am going through similar problem right now, except the buyer asked me to email them the code, I told them it was against EBAY POLICY so I MAILED it. Now, 5 DAYS LATER, exactly 1 hour & 18 minutes after the ITUNES GIFT CARD WAS DELIVERED, this buyer filed with PAYPAL, NOT EBAY, STATING , " UNAUTHORIZED CHARGE "! I have the emails from this buyer that prove everything AND I HAVE A TRACKING NUMBER THAT PROVES THE BUYER HAS IT!! STILL I THINK THEY ARE GOING TO REFUND HER MONEY!!!!

[seeseewhy]

Sorry to hear that.

You def should stick this right back to Payapl's face.

You should stand on the ground that "the seller protection policy" states that I should be refunded if I have a proof of delivery (which you have) and ask them for your money back.

Can't believe this is turning into a internet scam.  What's more surprising is that ebay / Paypal do nothing about it and let users suffer. This is just shady.