UPDATE: Thieving Toe Rag Buyers trying to do the old disk switcheroo!

[Asomodai]

Been selling off my old PS3 collection to reduce my credit card debt. PS3 games have gone up quite a bit for rare ones. 

 

Sold a copy of World of Outlaws, Aussie only game, it was in mint condition. Fairly expensive (50 quid). Buyer asked for a return saying it didn't work. Which is odd, because not only do I test the games I sell, I also run data integrity checks on EVERYTHING. 

 

Returned game and confirmed that the disk was screwed with some kind of dull patch on the bottom. Checked the top label and saw that there was more white(It's a sort of grainy white that happens with modern label production, click on the photos to zoom in) on the black label of the disk (Just below/above the small writing) I sent out then on the disk I received back. It's a real subtle difference, easily missed but seems pretty clear it's a switcharoo. 

 

Original I sent out

 

Disk I received back.
 

 

Original

 

Returned

 

 

Playing dumb at the moment as I realise how much Ebay sides with the buyers. Have emailed the buyer 

 

"Hello.

It looks like you have sent the wrong disk, there is a printing difference between the one in my advert (1st attached photo, See the extra white in the black part of the CD Label) and the one you sent me back which has very little white in comparison (2nd photo).

I understand mistakes can happen, please return the original disk to me and I can process your refund.

Kind regards."

 

I haven't sent a refund yet, though the buyer can petition ebay and they will send one automatically. 

 

What are my chances for an acceptable resolution boys?

 

Edited December 25, 2021 by Asomodai

[Guest]

I can’t tell the difference in your pics, but it’s not a replica watch or Vector so it’s no surprise lol

 

eBay is full of shisters btw

[Asomodai]

2 minutes ago, rocketdogbert said:

I can’t tell the difference in your pics, but it’s not a replica watch or Vector so it’s no surprise lol

 

eBay is full of shisters btw

 

 

We all have bad eye days

 

Original

 

 

Returned

 

[Guest]

Now you’ve highlighted it, very obvious.

 

What an arsehat

[hitmanNo2]

What about the read surface of the disk?  Is there anything odd about it compared to genuine PS3 games? 

[ak2m4]

I'm guessing his was a fake / copied game?  Have a look at his feedback comments, any false positives ?

[Rogerborg]

Huh, seems like a lot of effort to go to to scam you, but looks like it.

 

Sadly, I suspect this will be the eBay decision.

 

[Guest Mr. No_Face]

You're not up shit creek yet dude. I'm a eBay seller too and there's a common misconception that eBay always sides with the buyer when that's not true. I've won every case filed against me so far. From scammed returns, idiots failing to read the item description thus issuing a refund and people issuing payment disputes to scam me out of money once receiving their item. 

 

As long as you got evidence their assessments are usually fair. You could also contact the buyer and inform them that you're considering getting the police involved. That worked for me in one case.🤷‍♂️ The rat bastard started bricking it and incriminated himself via DMs saying "he didn't issue the dispute". 

 

I recommend you challenge the refund requests and file a dispute.

[EDcase]

You could try reporting him to ebay first.  That might delay things a bit at least.

 

Next time specify 'Tested working', 'No returns'  in case that helps.

[Asomodai]

On 24/12/2021 at 12:05, EDcase said:

You could try reporting him to ebay first.  That might delay things a bit at least.

 

Next time specify 'Tested working', 'No returns'  in case that helps.

Already did that. I verify all my games by playing them and doing a data integrity test. If the buyer claims it's broken and not working, I have to accept the return. 

Either way here is the outcome. 

 

---------------------------

 

 

I managed to get a call-back from Ebay and explain my case, the representative was lovely to speak to, said that she hadn't come across a case like this where I had at least some sort of proof. (Maybe she was new!)

She sent me a Affidavit form to sign and send back. 2 hours later Ebay refunded the buyer, but also refunded ME with no hit to my seller rating (Minus the return postage though).

So Ebay took the majority of the hit on this. So I am quite happy with the outcome, but I do wish they stuck it to the buyer as refunding him is essentially rewarding a scammer.

Bittersweet, but a better outcome then most people said I would get. Thank you for all of your advice, it helped me out a fair bit. I can probably sell just the case, slip and manual for a little bit of money to cover the returned postage fee and come out with a bit more profit. 

[Tackle]

Out of interest, what was his feedback like ?, one would assume that he wouldn't get away with pulling this shit too often without someone "marking his card" so to speak. 

[Asomodai]

3 minutes ago, Tackle said:

Out of interest, what was his feedback like ?, one would assume that he wouldn't get away with pulling this shit too often without someone "marking his card" so to speak. 

 

4000+ with 100% rating. He may have some invisible black marks. It's crazy, I reckon he wont be trying this on again. 

[EDcase]

16 minutes ago, Asomodai said:

 

4000+ with 100% rating. He may have some invisible black marks. It's crazy, I reckon he wont be trying this on again. 

That sounds very dubious.

He must be playing the numbers somehow

[Asomodai]

1 minute ago, EDcase said:

That sounds very dubious.

He must be playing the numbers somehow

It may have been his first time trying it on. And was rewarded for it!

[EDcase]

I can't believe he's on 4000+ with 100%

Is he selling and buying?

[Asomodai]

Just now, EDcase said:

I can't believe he's on 4000+ with 100%

Is he selling and buying?

Actually it's almost 5000. He keeps his Feedback private. But is not selling anything at the moment. 

 

[concretesnail]

Asomodai, have you tried using a uv security mark. Something we used to do when selling high value items was to place a UV security mark on the disk.

And something I do when selling vinyl is to close up image all of the pressing numbers so disc switching is extremely difficult to do.

 

Beyond that I'm glad you got at least a better result than I'd have through likely with the state of ebay of late.

[ak2m4]

Acceptable result for you anyway, bugs me as well eBay let they buyer get away with this, and as the cherry on top make you pay for the return shipping!

 

There's currently no way you can give feedback so other eBay users can see what happened here.  Only way you can do something is make a false positive feedback statement on his account, but he could then get that retracted as it goes against eBay policy. 

 

Ideal world eBay would allow sellers to see buyer history, return stats, cases etc, but of course that would mean lower profits for eBay.  It's very one-sided.  CEO sent out a huge email only last week to business sellers staying this is what we're doing for protection, some new changes, first email I've ever seen that went towards addressing the problem.  Their forums are littered with similar sellers all complaining and threatening to leave.

[Rogerborg]

I've never even dared to try and sell anything via eBay in... [checks] wow, in 21 years. It looks like a mug's game at the moment.  If I did, I'd be damn sure to create a new selling-only account, and probably burn it on the first negative.  I mean, there are mong buyers on there who will actually leave negative ratings with "gr8 sellr thnx wood use agin".

 

 

55 minutes ago, ak2m4 said:

Only way you can do something is make a false positive feedback statement on his account, but he could then get that retracted as it goes against eBay policy. 

 

I've had a seller do that, when I said something like "Not real Lewis leathers, obviously, but surprisingly decent for the price", a completely true statement (£45 jacket, Lewis leathers cost 20x that much).  Complained, had it wiped, with no way to appeal, amend, or follow up.  Curious thing to do, given how unlikely it is that anyone would even bother to read it.

 

Anyway, it's good to hear that eBay are at least aware of the issue of sellers getting ripped off, although whether they actually do anything about it is a different question.

 

[AirSniper]

People need to sell smarter, you should have marked the disk with a UV only readable marker, by leaving a "Witness mark" that won't damage the item and photograph that item in both normal and UV light, then your buyers when they pull a fast one can be caught out easily and especially when you tell them that you mark the discs with a UV marker....

I have found that selling any media, DVD's or Games on eBay is precarious, a piece of old software called locoscript, only works on a retro machine, a disk I knew worked, got a refund claim and no return of the disk... so I lost the software and the money and the postage...

You get all sorts of people on there that damage items and then try to claim you sent the item out damaged...