Hi,
Its my first time back on here for a couple of years, but I am need of some advice to help protect my protect my items from possible fraudulent activities.
I have recently been selling off some of my beloved collection on eBay due to needing the cash flow. 9/10 transactions have been smooth and even if there is a slight problem I have managed to come to a resolution with buyer.
My issue is I sold a Latias & Latios GX - Team Up 170/181 which I sent for grading myself a few years back and returned a PSA 8.
Sold it at auction recently, at first the winning bidder never paid and said it was a mistake! So I offered to the next highest bidder. Paid and sent,
Now the buyer has opened up a case saying I have sent him two items. The person has taken a picture of the slab I sold next to a fake version of the card , saying that because I have sent an obviously fake card along with it that I deal in ‘fake’ items! I never sent that card , I mean why would I ??
I’m pretty sure this buyer is up to something dodgy , he has even taken my personal name from the return address in a statement, which seems like a scare tactic.
My question is : can anyone advice me how could I best protect myself and what could be the potential fraud here?
Because of the allegation I’m forced to accept a return on eBay , which I actually have no issue with. My fear is that I’m not going to be sent the actual slab back, the person is saying they will return the slab and alleged fake card back which I never even sent!
I’m on holiday and quite frankly this has really put me in a bad mood , its a considerable amount of money and I genuinely loved that card and was hard to let go of. If I end up losing that card and the money I’m going to loose absolute faith in the Pokémon community.
Any help and advice would be much appreciated.
Call eBay and explain this to them. If you don’t get someone who understands the situation on your first call, call again. Even if the buyer’s allegation was true, you still delivered on exactly what the buyer ordered. Ebay will probably still make you accept the return, but getting in the system and following their instructions will help down the line when you are likely taken advantage of.
Refund fraud is unfortunately more common these days. Given that this seems to be fairly thought out and not just an attempt to get money back, I’d say it’s likely you will not receive the card you sent back. Film yourself opening the return package, make sure you get a clear shot of the addresses and tracking number before opening it up. You want as much evidence as possible that this person is screwing with you.
Ebay knows this happens and as long as you have the evidence and follow what they say, you should be protected and not lose your money. You’ll likely lose the card, but if the buyer gets refunded it should come out of eBay’s pocket and not yours.
For a card of that value, wouldn’t it have been authenticated through eBay? Or are you not in the US
My thoughts exactly. Wouldnt this card go through the authenticity guarantee, and not be OP’s fault that the buyer is shady?
I was about to ask this same question. PSA 8’s seem to go for $600+ so definitely in the value range of authenticity guarantee.
Thank you for your advice . Once I’m back I will call eBay and tell them before hand and start gathering evidence. I just hope if it does return I can tell if it’s been tampered with. Is it possible for them to put a fake in a slab with same label?
So I’m based in the UK, its the first I’m hearing about authenticity guarantee. Sounds like a good idea tbh. I don’t know if selling at auction makes a difference…
Ebay authenticity guarantee is a USA only thing right now.
If you have more stuff to sell, I do recommend looking at using a consignment service. 0% risk once the seller has the card in hand
Hello I am currently UK’s largest TCG consigner 
I’m an even larger consigner! 
Seriously though this situation you are experiencing isn’t the norm. Even without eBay authenticity this scenario is the exception.
That’s probably too much effort for the person to go through. What they’ll probably do is send back the fake only or send back an empty package, which is why filming the opening is important. They may send back a fake card in a fake PSA slab with a different cert, so keep an eye out for that as well.
They could do many things. I had someone send me camel crap instead of my item… and not the cigarettes, mind you. 
(It was from Egypt, so I’m assuming it was camels…?) When it comes to shipping and receiving, best to document every step of your side of the process. BUT before you acquiesce, try hard to get an ebay rep who sees this fraudster as what they are. Who knows who they’ll target next. If it’s in your country, depending on value, you might consider legal action, but IDK how your laws handle that.
Reading that you would lose faith in the community is heartbreaking because it’s really not the norm, but bad apples ruin the bunch, so I totally understand why you’d feel that way. Just, don’t take any actions before you try hard to argue your case with ebay. And don’t write-off engaging there or here purely because of it.