What to do....possible ebay fraud

[omissions]

Won a bid for a Sironar S 150 early Saturday morning, I paid through paypal within minutes, seller says he'll ship Monday morning. I wake up this morning to the seller messaging me:

"hi there, i'm absolutely gutted and sincerely sorry about this, when i was about to start wrapping the lens in bubble wrap i ended up dropping it and broke the outer glass and cracked the inner glass. I feel so stupid i cannot believe i had this for over 10 years and once i sell it i managed to break it. I am sincerely sorry about it. I contacted a camera shop this morning and according to them its not worth repairing it as it would probably cost more than what i have sold it to you for. I contacted Ebay to find out what to do, i need to send you a transaction cancellation request, which you need to accept and once this is done they refund all your money onto your paypal account. I'm so sorry to have inconvinienced you, my old age is clearly catching up with me and costing me quite a bit."

He THEN marked the item as shipped THEN sent a cancellation request. I refused the cancellation request until he'd sent the refund, which after some messaging he did. I contacted paypal by phone to make sure it was sent.

To me the whole thing just seems fishy as hell. Dropped a lens and did the worst possible damage JUST before it's time to send the item? I'll be double checking statements over the next few days to make sure the refund doesn't get taken back due to ISF on his part or a bogus account. Seller has 99.5% over a decent number of sales, though in hindsight very few photo related items.

What should I watch for? I made sure the refund included the shipping I paid - I was wondering if he was in the habit of defrauding buyers out of shipping costs.

I still have the option to leave feedback....should I just let it drop? (pun intended) Or should I escalate the issue? I requested he send a photo of the broken lens, at which point he got very defensive.

I'm doubly bummed at the moment. Ran into (probable) fraud and I've been hunting for that lens for a while.

[Geoffrey_5995]

I've run into problems like this. First, was the the price you paid below market price which would be a reason the seller is backing out? But, you should ask the seller to send some pics of the broken item. This should put to rest whether he is trying to scam you. Ask for pics showing the serial # and check the ebay photos to see if they correspond. As far as fraud, if the money is back in your Paypal account there's not much else you can do. Ebay will cancel the transaction for you even if you don't comply. Ebay will only look out for ebay and consider a transaction cancelled if the money has been refunded. This has been my experience.

[Eric James]

I think it's plausible. Save all your communications and continue to proceed with caution, and after you're been a member here a little longer you'll have access the the forum's For Sale section were that lens shows up every 4-6 weeks.

[BrianShaw]

If you got your money back there is no fraud, despite your great diappointment. Unfortunately accidents do happen. If he is not being truthful, then shame on the seller... but you'll never shame the seller enough to "re-do" the sale. I wouldn't worry about anything if you got your money okay. Time to move on and find another lens. If you think seller is dishonest then remember the seller and don't do business with them again.

[originalphoto]

Brian is right. Comparing to my expereince that I got a broken cpp2 from Netherlands and I had to pay $150 to ship it back to there (likely I got rest of my money back) and another time China custom lost whole returning package, so I lost $375 even though Paypaol ruling was favor me. As long as you get your money back, it should not bother you any more.

[Brian Ellis]

Maybe he had seller's remorse, maybe he really broke the lens. Who knows. But I wouldn't call it fraud if you get your money back.

[omissions]

Thanks for the input. His initial actions (marking as shipped and wanting it cancelled before he gave a refund) made me superbly suspicious. It took some demanding on my part to make sure he included the shipping charges in the refund, so I kinda think it might've been a fraud going after those since most people wouldn't put up as much of a fuss over the smaller amount. If he is a fraudster he also has a fair amount of personal information on me now - name, address, phone, paypal email, etc. Might be time to change my PP password again, and Ebay for that matter.

I'll keep an eye on my accounts and hope all is well.

Saw the same lens on an Ebay business store earlier today....but it was buy it now and gone before they replied about shipping charges....and to boot, it was cheaper.

[IanG]

You got your money back, the ebay system worked. If the seller's lucky he may be able to claim on his insurance.

Once you've been a member here a month you can use the Classifieds and place a wanted advert, you'll get what you are after easily.

Ian

[Jack Dahlgren]

Won a bid for a Sironar S 150 early Saturday morning, I paid through paypal within minutes, seller says he'll ship Monday morning. I wake up this morning to the seller messaging me:

"hi there, i'm absolutely gutted and sincerely sorry about this, when i was about to start wrapping the lens in bubble wrap i ended up dropping it and broke the outer glass and cracked the inner glass. I feel so stupid i cannot believe i had this for over 10 years and once i sell it i managed to break it. I am sincerely sorry about it. I contacted a camera shop this morning and according to them its not worth repairing it as it would probably cost more than what i have sold it to you for. I contacted Ebay to find out what to do, i need to send you a transaction cancellation request, which you need to accept and once this is done they refund all your money onto your paypal account. I'm so sorry to have inconvinienced you, my old age is clearly catching up with me and costing me quite a bit."

He THEN marked the item as shipped THEN sent a cancellation request. I refused the cancellation request until he'd sent the refund, which after some messaging he did. I contacted paypal by phone to make sure it was sent.

To me the whole thing just seems fishy as hell. Dropped a lens and did the worst possible damage JUST before it's time to send the item? I'll be double checking statements over the next few days to make sure the refund doesn't get taken back due to ISF on his part or a bogus account. Seller has 99.5% over a decent number of sales, though in hindsight very few photo related items.

What should I watch for? I made sure the refund included the shipping I paid - I was wondering if he was in the habit of defrauding buyers out of shipping costs.

I still have the option to leave feedback....should I just let it drop? (pun intended) Or should I escalate the issue? I requested he send a photo of the broken lens, at which point he got very defensive.

I'm doubly bummed at the moment. Ran into (probable) fraud and I've been hunting for that lens for a while.

I think he probably had seller's remorse or got a better offer. Oh well...

[joselsgil]

omissions,

A shipping notice is generated if he was using ebay's USPS, UPS, FedEx, shipping software. It generates a tracking number and bills his account for the shipping cost. Some sellers use ebay's shipping as it gives them a small discount. It does not mean that he has shipped the item, it just means that he has printed out a shipping label for that auction.
Hope this helps clear that part up. I am in agreement with some of the responses here. You would be ripped off, if he had sent you something different, than what he listed, then you would have been ripped off. Sounds like he was crying in his/her beer after dropping that lens. I know I would.

Don't worry, another lens will come along in a few days. They always do.

Jose

[engl]

Seems to me like he is an honest seller who refunded your item. Frauds on eBay need to be a lot more elaborate to work around the protection offered by eBay and PayPal.

[Eric James]

I don't know the seller: http://photo.net/gc/view-one?classified_ad_id=1315390

[Renato Tonelli]

Why not take the guy at his word? Seems like maybe he is being honest, doesn't it?

Are there signs he is not?

I am inclined to agree with this.

I once sold a Zeiss lens and it slipped out of my hands while packing it. I e-mailed the buyer a photo of the damage which was clearly visible. He hadn't paid yet so it was less hassle to cancel