eBay and Fraudulent Bidders

[WillFalstaff]

Hi all,

 

Story time! Grab your snack and bourbon and sit back.

 

This weekend I found out that I was a victim of a unique kind of theft on eBay. 
 

Experience is a very good teacher and mistakes are the best way to learn your lesson. Or you can be a member on here and in other Facebook groups and read posts such as this, to allow you the chance to escape the fate that awaited me. I unwittingly watched as prized possessions got into the wrong hands. 
 

I had put up for bid a few of my blades, mostly in rough condition, but nothing devastating. One of them even had a partial mei, probably a Hizen blade. (See pics) I don’t usually sell on eBay, or anywhere else, and never Nihonto. Finances deemed it worthy for me to let go of some of my small collection.

 

So, I did the deed and the bids came in. Not great as my exposure is next to nill as a seller on eBay, but I got out of the blades what I was hoping for. 
All but two were smooth sales and shipping process. 
 

Here’s where it got interesting, and fraudulent. 
 

The bidder on two swords was very keen on having the blades sent as combined shipping, which I had to figure out how to do, as I had to combine two items into one shipping boxes and shipping number. 
 

The package went out. The bidder even asked if I had other swords to sell. 
 

As soon as the package arrived at the buyer, they indicated on eBay that the two swords were in horrible condition and that they wanted a refund, despite clear descriptions and pictures. 
 

The refunding process in eBay has three methods: send back all the money to the buyer and they keep the product, send back some of the money and they keep the product, or the buyer sends back the product and once the seller receives the item(s), the seller refunds the bidding price to the seller, on the condition that the retuned item is as it was offered for bidding. 
 

I went through the process and received the two returned swords. In the packages were two swords, wooden and painted, with plastic habakis.

 

It goes without saying that I immediately disputed the retuned items and googled the phone number (it is next to impossible to get a number if you look on eBay’s customer service). I let them know what happened and they emailed me two affidavits with the item numbers and indicators of what happened and why I was disputing. I printed the affidavits, signed them, and uploaded them to the designated hyperlink eBay had included in the affidavit email. 
 

12 hours later they reviewed the affidavits and awarded me back the winning bid price for both swords. 
 

Below are pictures. Enjoy and do your damn best to avoid this fraudster (who probably already changed their profile name, and sold my swords on a different market place).
 

Sell on this message board or on other Facebook groups that are trusted. eBay should be your last bet.

If you see these swords anywhere else for sale, just know that the seller is a fraudster. 
 

Additional pics in next post.

 

 

 

 

[WillFalstaff]

[WillFalstaff]

[WillFalstaff]

Feel free to zoom in on the sender’s address. 

Keep in mind, this address could also be fake!

Just in case the picture isn’t detailed enough:

Matthew Chea

4926 Raylene Way

Saint Cloud, FL, 34771-8318

 

 

 

 

 

[WillFalstaff]

Ebay profile name

 

 

[John C]

1 hour ago, WillFalstaff said:

and awarded me back the winning bid price for both swords. 

So did Ebay refund your money or do you have to take this guy to small claims court?

John C.

[PNSSHOGUN]

Get him before Judge Judy already!

[Stephen]

1 hour ago, WillFalstaff said:

12 hours later they reviewed the affidavits and awarded me back the winning bid price for both swords. 

Guys he said he got it back .

[John C]

Sorry for that, Stephen. It was my misinterpretation. In legal terms the word "awarded" just means a rendered judgement and not necessarily an actual payment. 

John C.

[Brian]

Buyer: https://www.ebay.com/usr/alexber-42

You should open a case of fraud with the cops, just to have it on record. What a POS buyer. I wonder how many times he has done this?

That's his real address, since a Stella Chea is registered there. Won't be difficult to get his phone number. Perhaps give him a call and see what his explanation is.
I have no sympathy for conmen.

[PNSSHOGUN]

[WillFalstaff]

11 hours ago, John C said:

So did Ebay refund your money or do you have to take this guy to small claims court?

John C.

Yes, after following the eBay process promptly, they issued back the money for the highest bids from this turd of a buyer. 

[WillFalstaff]

5 hours ago, Brian said:

Buyer: https://www.ebay.com/usr/alexber-42

You should open a case of fraud with the cops, just to have it on record. What a POS buyer. I wonder how many times he has done this?

That's his real address, since a Stella Chea is registered there. Won't be difficult to get his phone number. Perhaps give him a call and see what his explanation is.
I have no sympathy for conmen.

 

I'm exploring this option. I want to make sure I file the right way to get the best chance to nab this a-hole. 

If anyone want to do some armchair sleuthing, just google the username, or "name", and some fun facts pop up. 

[Nemo]

He and his sister Kaydene pulled exactly the same "switcheroo" scam on me last year, with a rare stamp, although I caught it before they sent the "ringer" item back.  4926 Raylene Way was the address used by Kaydene when buying from me.  See :

 

https://www.stampcom...ID=83160&whichpage=1

 

His Ebay account is still live today, which is surprising given how many adverse feedbacks he has received.  Ebay shut down Kaydene's account immediately on receipt of my report of the scam.