Concern over seller (s)

[Guest]

[RichT]

Hi to one and all.

Just wanted to issue a word of warning / concern about a seller.
I do not want to be confrontational so will not name the seller in question, but I think it is fair to state which country - Australia.

At the start of March some listings appeared on   and they looked really good - the seller had very good feedback (nothing to cause concern). I (and a good friend) bid on several items. The Harry Potter items were all high end autographs - Triple, Quad, Dan, Emma, and Rupert. I won the 2 items that I had bid on   , made the payments through paypal and have waited.........

Since that time the seller has (I found out today after communication from another concerned buyer) offered a second chance offer to the next highest bidder, AND listed the same items again. The alarm bells started to ring at this point.
 
Now either this person has 3 or 4 Triple POA auto cards, and at least the same of all of the other top end HP cards in which case good luck to them in selling them or it would appear to be a scam.

Since the sales of these cards - none of the high order auto cards (not just HP - also Buffy, X-Files etc) have had any feedback - Alarm bells ringing!!!!

I have now posted claims through ebay and paypal as I am extremely concerned. It appears that I will be covered through paypal (thankfully!) My friend has done likewise.

Here is my warning ------ today it has come to my notice that another seller (from the same place, using the same wording and pictures on their auctions) has listed the very similar items. Please tread very carefully - as they are a brand new seller, so the paypal cover is only upto £150.

I really hope that I can post on here soon that I have received my cards and all is well - I am just extremely fearful that will not be the case.

Take care all -

RichT

[kbmum]

I saw the auctions this morning.  The seller's eBay ID is gizzie-2008.  There is something suspicious about a brand new seller with many high-end cards, all listed as three-day auctions. 

[rns91294]

I saw this too. I have a saved search for Hermione autos and was so excited to see so many listed....until I looked at the seller and the other items they had listed for sale. I did not realize there was another seller that had good feeback listing the same items and offering second chance offers though. It almost seems as if the original seller got a warning or something from eBay, so created a new ID to continue the scam.  You are right, the autos are not just HP, but Angilina Jolie from Tomb Raider and Johnny Depp from Charlie and the Choco Factory. If the seller had these autos, you would think they would have lower priced ones as well to list. It definitely seems like a scam to me.

Even if PayPal covers a portion of the win, I still don't want to risk the hassle it takes. Rich, please keep us posted on your cards.

[terryweasley]

I don't know if this is the same person, but a few years back I had some trouble with a dealer from Australia concerning a GOF Costume card.  It was one of the Beaubaton cards.  I asked him about insurance since it was going to have to be mailed from Australia to Georgia USA.  He told me it would be too much of a hassle to have to take out insurance.  I was new to buying cards on  so I didn't argue with him.  To make a long story short, I still waiting for the card to arrive.  I contacted the seller about it and never heard for him.  Fortunately it was only a $20.00 card, so I considered it an cheap lession.  Since then I've been wary of dealers from Australia.

[blackcat20]

Please done judge all us Aussies based on one bag egg; as a seller I always do the right thing by my buyers.

[ferdinand_the_yak]

I second what Kate says - we're not all bad! I've had quite a few international buyers and have never had a problem

[Scifi Cards]

I noticed they have a Buffy Propworks Stake card listed.  However they don't list a serial number, and all these cards are numbered.  I sent them a message to see what the number was on the card.  Should be interesting to see if I get any reply at all...

I think this is one seller to pass on...

Ed

[kbmum]

There are bad sellers in every country, and I've certainly had more problems with US sellers than with anyone else.  I think the country was mentioned in the first post only to help with identification, since RichT didn't feel comfortable mentioning the seller's name.  I, however, have no such qualms.   We've mentioned seller IDs in the past to help protect our members, and we will continue to do so when the situation warrants it.

Someone recently asked me for names of good sellers.  I wrote down a few, then realized that there are so many good sellers, I couldn't possibly list them all.  If anyone is interested in a card, but unsure about the seller, it's okay to post here and ask if anyone has done business with that person.

Ed, please let us know if you hear from gizzie-2008.

[RichT]

Quick update for people -

gizzie-2008 - this account has been suspended (after they had also listed an ultimate premium Indiana Jones signed card!)

The actual seller who I'm having the problems with, has now made their feedback private - to me (personal opinion) that is always slightly suspicious. I will name them now I think - Selina1664. Again I hope that my suspicions will be proven totally unfounded and wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

I have to agree with what people have written - the good far far outweigh the bad. Perhaps there should be a way to recognize the good sellers of cards etc (from all countries).

Can I thank everyone for their advice - especially Roz and Cindy. This site/forum is a great vehicle for airing issues and thoughts.

Take care all
RichT

[kbmum]

Well, I guess the suspicions are confirmed!  It's amazing that people think they can get away with stuff like that.

Rich, has PayPal issued you a refund?  While it would be nice if the card arrived, at this point it's probably best just to get back the money you spent.

[terryweasley]

No disrespect intended.  I decided at the time to not deal with dealers from Australia because of the distance from me.  At the time I figured the card got  lost in the mail.  I had never considered it being a scam.  Shows what a push over I am.  I had that happen to me one other time.  Also a GOF card.  Card didn't come and the dealer didn't answer my emails.  I think that was an American dealer.  I tend to shy away from dealers I haven't purchased from before when I comes to big ticket cards.  I remember seeing a lot of the scarce POAU cards up for auction.  At the time there were a lot of other POAU cards up for auction too.  I figured someone was selling their collection.

[mcgonagall]

terry
       if you want to buy something from ebay one of the best ways is it buy from a fellow shacker . We are all great sellers and buyers  also if you are looking for something  just ask if someone has one
hope this helps

[allender]

The actual seller who I'm having the problems with, has now made their feedback private - to me (personal opinion) that is always slightly suspicious. I will name them now I think - Selina1664. Again I hope that my suspicions will be proven totally unfounded and wrong, but I'm not holding my breath.

I'd be very interested in hearing an update when you know something, because I won one of the "relisted" items (POAU Rupert). That didn't raise a flag in my mind because the auction said it was relisted "because the original buyer didn't pay", and indeed I saw the original winner is now shown as "not a registered user".

But as far as I can tell, the picture for the relisted (but unsold) triple auto was the same picture as the one for the auction RichT won. I also noticed another oddity. The seller relisted another card with the same "original buyer didn't pay" message (OOPU Emma), which was not the same other card that the "not a registered user" guy had won (OOPU Rupert). It sold. To the same buyer who had won the earlier auction. Hmmm?  (I note that this double buyer is in Canada, and I trust Canadians quite as much as I trust Australians.)

My auction's less than a week old, so I've got some time before I need to "panic." Thanks for the heads-up, though!

[De Orc]

I have to say that in support of Australian sellers all the ones I have dealt with have been super to deal with, and I buy a lot off ebay LOL has this seller been reported to Ebay yet?

[allender]

I've never had any problems with Australian sellers either. This seller's account was suspended by eBay. Previous feedback was very good, so we don't really know what was going on, at least not yet.

[RichT]

Paypal are taking their time on this one - it is the first time that I have had any real issue (but not the last I fear), so am unsure over time - last time I communicated with them my claim had been passed to a different department so was now at the bottom of that particular pile!!!! I have heard from one of the other buyers whom this seller had taken money from and he has now been informed that paypal are unable to recover any of his money at all.

This poses a couple of questions for me - what exactly is the purpose / use of the paypal promise where the buyer is covered upto £500 (on certain items in the UK (including this one - otherwise I would have thought twice about bidding - I believe the levels differ according to feedback and countries) - if paypal do not always stick to it? Surely paypal should have some form of insurance to cover what (in this case) appears to be fraud, and other circumstances where problems arise on this scale. Ive heard something about paypal only being able to get what is within the accounts at the time - so if someone was cute, its not difficult to work out how to make sure you can take the money and run (so to speak!)

Secondly what course of action is suggested if paypal come back with such a response? - for me (and other buyers) - we are not talking about small amounts!!

Allender - you are totally correct - the feedback was really good but i'd now put in the claim if you havent already - I dont think the buyer even ever had the cards!

As ever all thoughts and advice gratefully received.
Hope all are well.
Take care
RichT

[allender]

Any luck yet for you?  I put in a claim right away when I read the thread.  PayPal waited ten days to let the seller respond, she didn't, they decided the claim in my favor, and reversed the charges.

There might have been a slightly different situation. My auction was later, and the original auction 'Pay Now' link didn't work, but the invoice requested that I send the money to her Personal PayPal account because the "other one wasn't working."  There seems to have been funds in that account, so PayPal was able to reverse the charges quickly.

If you and the other guy paid to the first account, it might be empty. And they might take longer working it through the Buyer Protection program, if PayPal thinks it's coming out of their pockets.

Possibly (the rules contradict themselves) I would have lost my PayPal Buyer Protection by following the request in the invoice. Maybe I was lucky that the other account had funds in it at the right moment. Maybe there was something subtly different I did that made things easier for PayPal. I'll PM you with the UserID for the account I used, in case it helps.

Good luck!

[RichT]

A slight result - but it is now bringing me into conflict with paypal (bless them!)
they have given me back £150 - as they claim this to be the maximum protection level on this item. Which is total crap!!!! I had printed off (which was lucky as now the seller has been banned from ebay all of the auctions can no longer be accessed!! - Convienient hey!!) the auction page where it states that protection was £500 on this item. So on monday I have to fax it accross to them and they will take it further. Makes a mockery of paypals protection claims if the auctions can say one thing and then they can do another. I am bitterly disappointed by this (but not overly suprised). They are not helping themselves at all at the moment.  One of the other buyers had the case found in his favour but no money and the other buyer is still waiting.....
I hope paypal have something in place to go after someone who has basically defrauded and devalued the market in terms of Harry Potter Autographs - thats just my thoughts!

Take care all
RichT

[wildcat]

Hey Rich, this is Tony, the other person who ordered two of the autographed cards from Selina.  She offered me the quad as a second chance purchase on ebay for $430, and I received info from Paypal today that they were requesting more information from her, so that case is still going on.  I don't know if you received anything from Paypal about this, but on April 3 I received an email from Paypal saying that Selina said she shipped the item out, and even had a tracking number from the Australian Post.  The tracking number never did work, and was, I assume, a way to stall.  As far as the other card I ordered (it was the triple for $970), I purchased that directly from her, thinking she had a business, and that Paypal still covered all purchases not just ebay purchases.  After all, it was the same person, with the same 99.5 rating.  Anyway, the info from paypal two weeks ago was that the case was investigated, and it was found that I had won the case, but that they were unable to recover any funds from her and that they would keep trying, but the case was closed.  I've been trying to wait to see what the results to the last case would be before continuing, but I'm out $1400 and plan to take further action when I hear back from Paypal on the last case.  So if anyone from Australia is reading this and know of a good lawyer, or any suggestions ( I don't know the laws in Australia, and the costs of pursuing), I would greatly appreciate your help.  Also I wonder if Paypal would try and help me if I went on my own, to try and recover the lost funds.  Thanks for listening, and would accept any and all suggestions. Tony

[blackcat20]

Im no expert, but I would guess the cost of pursuing the matter would be far greater than the amount you have lost...