Defrauding and Stealing Picture Scam

[DianaOakville]

I was awarded a "product not as described" resolution by paypal for cheap plastic chinese replicas of a picture stolen from a reputable etsy seller's site.  The company (but it has many names) was Besla Technology.  I was told by Paypal that I needed to return the item to China with tracking and would receive my refund.  The cheapest shipping was $82.63 with tracking!!!  I called Paypal and told them it was $82.63 for shipping and that I didn't understand how I need to pay almost as much as what the items cost.  They told me I had return shipping refund so I went ahead and shipped it and submitted my shipping receipt.  That's when I found out it was $30 maximum shipping refund.  

I am out of pocked $52 and this scamming company gets their crappy product back.

My question is (sorry it took so long) can Paypal not order the scamming company who used there services to pay back the shipping?  Because clearly they are stealing peoples money by posting someone else's pictures and shipping dollar store quality items.  They use multiple company names.   

[Kissme7]

Yes, I paid $39 for the items and that’s the cheapest mail with tracking number to China. These companies that are based in China mostly probably are scammers. I guess it doesn’t matter how smart you look, it can happen to anyone. They changed their name oftentimes so no one would know. This should be a lesson to us now. PayPal probably trying to do their best they can to get our money back but because of so many scammers out there, they can’t keep up with it. 

[kernowlass]

@Kissme7 

@DianaOakville 

Chinese Web Sites or on Social Media ads easy to spot (once you know the below signs) so buyer beware.

Paypal would not be able to check every individual seller / merchant / company in over 200 countries worldwide that adds paypal to their website to accept payments.

So they give you 'some' buyer protection but the onus is on you to risk assess your transactions.

They do stop bad companies from using Paypal when enough claims start rolling in.
However as they are in China (mostly) then its easy for them to just start over with a new name, so stopping them does not really do anything.

The BEST thing is to not buy from them in the first place, to recognise them -

1. No return address on the returns policy. The site will look as if its in your country (where they despatch goods from) but they will ask for returns to go back to China (returns depot) at a shipping cost often more than the item is worth.
2. No contact telephone number. if you click on contact the most you will get is webmail or an email address.
3. Rarely company address information.
4. Great pictures of items at bargain prices that turn out to be tat.
5. Fake reviews.
6. Google and you can often see previous company names as they change them once enough claims roll in and Paypal stop them using their services and start over.
7. Send fake tracking numbers to win item non receipt of item claims.

In the event of a dispute you choose your seller and not Paypal so you need to bear in mind possible return trackable costs before you go ahead and buy from that seller / country.

Paypal state this >>
IMPORTANT: You may be required to return the item to the seller or other party we specify as part of the settlement of your claim. PayPal Buyer Protection does not entitle you to reimbursement for the return shipping costs that you may incur.

Although they will compensate you for some of the cost if you have activated this at some point before you made that transaction.
https://www.paypal.com/us/smarthelp/article/FAQ3544

You also have the option to do a chargeback via your card issuer instead of a Paypal dispute if you funded your Paypal payment via a credit card.