Just been scammed - need some help/advice

General
1

Hi guys.

I’ve just received a package and been scammed and I was hoping I could get some advice on this as I’m pretty worried and furious.

I purchased an ungraded Shadowless Charizard advertised as being in near mint condition on 14 August 2020 paying a total of £1,040. Please see following link: www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Pokemon-card-SUPER-RARE-base-Set-Shadowless-Charizard-Near-Mint-Original-90-039-s-/264824245540?nma=true&si=ynq2qFci17AuukzS0Z4YEELWjIE%253D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

Some background - I had been in contact with the seller prior to purchase, asking questions about the card and asking for more pictures. He responded to all my questions but explained he couldn’t provide additional pictures as he was at a different location. I didn’t think anything of that at the time but I now realise that was a big red flag.

After making the purchase, he informed me that he couldn’t ship until around one week later. I’ve just received the envelope and it contained a basic Deoxys card from 2015 (set unknown to me). The card was sent in an envelope unprotected and has been badly damaged during shipping.

I was furious and instantly sent the following to the seller:

*You’re an absolute scum bag seller. I don’t know how you sleep at night doing what you do.

I’m going to get the police involved as well as eBay and I hope you get shut down and arrested.

Absolutely disgusting that you can scam people in such a way.*He responded pretty much straight away with the following:

*Excuse me . What are you talking about? How do I scam people?*I stated:

*I paid £1,040 for a Shadowless Charizard and the following is what I have received. Please don’t pretend that you have no idea what I’m talking about.*He responded with:

That’s ridiculous you no full well the card you paid for was in there plus 3 bonus freebie cards … and you call me the scammerI then started a return via eBay where I’m required to return the item.

I’m just worried that he will claim he sent what he was supposed to send and that I am the scammer and I don’t know how eBay will be able to conclude which party is at fault as it’s one person’s word against the others - also he has over 500 100% positive feedback. Clearly this has been planned on his part and he has thought about each of his responses to me both prior to purchase and subsequently in an attempt to cover his own back.

He has accepted the return but I wondered if anyone has any advice or if anyone could put my mind at ease at all? Should I have nothing to worry about with the eBay buyer protection?

Sorry for the long post and thanks in advance to anyone who takes the time to read and respond. Again, I’m just furious and quite worried - this hasn’t happened to me before.

Many thanks

Orian

2

Call eBay and explain the situation.

Also, learn from the experience. If you’re new to collecting Pokemon cards, especially “higher end” cards, definitely advise purchasing cards already authenticated by a 3rd party like PSA, BGS, or CGC.

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3

Terrible stuff and I hope you get your money back. One thing I’d try to remember going forward is that they may well read your private messages when arbitrating the dispute and it’s best to avoid anything they may deem threatening or insulting, even if it’s warranted. I’d keep it curt (“I have paid for X and you have sent me Y. See attached images as proof. Please provide return details and issue a full refund.”) If you still have the damaged packaging, take photos of everything.

Edit: But the point is that the communication and images are only there to be used as evidence for eBay arbitrating the dispute - obviously this guy isn’t there to be reasoned with. Open the case and you should win.

2 Likes
4

No need to worry, you’ll get your money back no problem.

There’s a full guide here on the next steps you need to take: www.elitefourum.com/t/common-scams-on-ebay-and-how-to-fight-back/27939/1

10 Likes
5

You are right. So don’t sweat it bud you’ll get that doe

6

I appreciate the responses guys and that link you provided Hypernova is extremely useful so thank you.

This is just a horrible situation that seems to happen all to frequently unfortunately.

7

1st thing is dont supply any info through ebay messages.
2nd, you should have just opened an item not received case. If it was a PWE and not the right card, you really didnt receive it and the seller cant prove it was delivered. This situation would most probably still work in your favor.

1 Like
8

How would authentication help if the seller purposely sends the wrong product? I could see it working with higher end trophies that draw attention to the serial numbers, but a shadowless zard doesn’t get those same kind of eyes.

9

The funny part is that you “unluckily” won the auction bidding the last second :neutral_face:

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10

It was always my intention to bid last few second as I always do for items that I want. I’m afraid I don’t see the ‘funny part’ of any of this situation.

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11

You need to do Item not as described instead of not received. If there is a tracking number ebay doesnt care about the contents and just sees that it was delivered whereas if you do item not as described then they are forced to care about the contents of the package regardless of the fact if any package arrived to you.

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12

Thanks for the information - I had the option of ‘wrong item sent’ which I chose prior to posting here initially. I’m about to return the worthless card to the seller and wait for the inevitable from him. I just hope I’ll get this refund although I realise I could be waiting a while.

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13

You have to learn how to play the game. while i understand the item was delivered there is no way for the seller to verify this and no way for ebay to confirm so. Remember it was received in a plain envelope. A $1000 card!

14

why are there so many crooks in the Pokemon community!

15

Make sure to send tracked and signed to the seller

16

It partly has to do with the fact that its unfortunately so easy. Its cardboard and foil that goes for mind boggling amounts of money to people not into the hobby. For them its an easy way to scam a quick buck, a sizable one at that.

17

You won’t have a problem getting your money back, but for your own sanity I wouldn’t get that upset when you run into this type of thing.

Writing things like,

                            *"You’re an absolute scum bag seller. I don’t know how you sleep at night doing what you do.* **I’m going to get the police involved as well as eBay and I hope you get shut down and arrested.*

Absolutely disgusting that you can scam people in such a way."*

Is going to do almost nothing for you but get yourself worked up, and almost comes off as childish. The seller also has 7 pages of positive feedback, with no negative at all so it would probably better to give them the benefit of the doubt for even just a second.

Being a serious collector you are going to run into this type of thing more than once, and it’s important to remain calm and rational about it.

I hope everything is sorted out in a timely and efficient manner :blush:

10 Likes
18

yh i agree. Although i do think some of them are genuinely interested in the hobby and collect themselves, which is a shame that they are willing to do fellow collectors dirty.
As a kid i remember having my whole folder of Pokemon cards stolen by kids in my class …that was a hard lesson!

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19

Thanks Fazool. In hindsight I made some mistakes and I’ll certainly learn from this experience should this happen again and deal with things differently. I was just very angry and acted without thinking initially.

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Happens in all cardboard, more money in Sports cards and there are also more scammers. It’s just the nature of the hobby when there is real value, it will always exist so we just have to be careful.