I think I was just unlucky to, I have sold on ebay and bought stuff before and had no problems that was my first problem.. and the fact that he wouldn't contact me annoyed me, and because I hadnt bought anything so expensive before off there, I was worried. Would be good if it was compensation because I need it going to uni hopefully soon so that little bit would come in handy. I'll see what happens anyway.

Congrats on getting your money back schummi.

If I didn't hate taking all the parcels to the post office I would have made a fortune selling on eBay.

Many years ago I went into a cheapo shop (a shop that sells all kinds of cheap stuff) and I noticed they had lots and lots of FFVIII figures for £1.99. So I pilled up every single one of them and had to take them home in several black bags.

It wasn't long till I was selling them on eBay for several times more than I paid for. One I sold for £20, but the one people really wanted was Squall. I did have one of him but I gave it to my girlfriend at the time :( He would have been worth £25.

I do have one figure left, Quistis. I had atleast 10 of her, wonder how much shes worth now.

Perhaps its compensation!

I just think you've been really unlucky.  I've been trading and buying on ebay for many years and only had one issue, which was a Japanese guy winning one of my bids when I specified UK only, but that got sorted quickly.

UPDATE Well i got my refund of £150.00  from paypal a few weeks back Not all of what I was owed as i paid £159.. but i thought £150 was the max protection amount and was happy to get that back and tonight i just got a further email..

"We are pleased to inform you that you are due an additional refund for this complaint in the amount of £150.00. This amount will be credited to your account within 5 days. When you combine this amount with the previous refund you may have received, this is the maximum amount covered by PayPal for this transaction. If your original claim amount was for more than theamount recovered, then the outstanding balance is due from the seller andwe will make our best effort to recover it for you."

Well I had left the £150.00 in paypal that they paid before as I don't want to spend it at the moment,  so they're paying another £150? :S  hmm if they do I think I'll be the honest citizen because  I dont want it coming back on.. Were see what happens.

> On a happier note if you do get a Wii have a look at the 'Grab a
> bargain' thread in the games section.Posted links for quite a few
> cheap Wii games in the last couple of days (all from reputable
> retailers I might add !!).

Technically I wasnt covered after reading there terms that seller must have 50+ feedback @ 100% I thought as i was 1 short of that they'd be petty about it but quite lucky.So were see when they pay it in. I paid £159 so lose £9 but better than nothing I suppose, I won't be scammed again, (I hope) I'll be much more careful from now on if I use it who I buy from. Ok I will check out the games section as I am intending to get a Wii once I am refunded or whatever, I really want mario kart :D Loved that game on snes. Anyway I hope you get some money back also. Its a shame people ruin  EBay, I wonder how bad this sort of thing was when they first started out.

Thanks for the comment.Looks like this kind of scamming is getting more common on eBay ?.I too am going to be extremely wary in the future (if indeed I decide to still trade on there).It looks like you should get at least most of your money back and thats great.Not so sure I'm going to be as fortunate.Still,live and learn I suppose.I posted my experience on here purely to warn others of this possible situation.I know I had been trading under the belief I would automatically be covered by Paypal's buyer protection and was not aware that they could/would attempt to get out of honoring it.

On a happier note if you do get a Wii have a look at the 'Grab a bargain' thread in the games section.Posted links for quite a few cheap Wii games in the last couple of days (all from reputable retailers I might add !!).

I got conned 2 from someone in wales a few weeks ago.. I had attempted to buy a wii :( but I'm gonna get full refund.. IM quite lucky really because the reason I wasnt covered was because seller had only 49 feedback  and 100% and i think supposed to have 50 feedback to be cover.. but I got email saying they favoured me etc.. but couldnt pay me till funds WERE avaliable in account... but I had been in contact with someone else in the whole process and after I received that email I emailed them saying is it likely that I will get anything back, as  any good con merchant is not stupid enough to use there account and they just sent me "We have reviewed your account and it shows that a partial refund of £150.00GBP will be issued shortly. We will contact you by email when the refund is complete. If we require further information, we will contact you directly through email.  Learn how the dispute process works, review the step-by-step tutorial in the Resolution Centre by clicking on Resolution Centre tutorials.  We appreciate your patience and cooperation during this process. If you have any other questions, please do not hesitate to contact us again."  So hopefully I will receive that 150 and I've only lost the P&P. which im quite happy with. I've learnt my lesson!!

Had a couple of mails from people he bought items off.They are having the money he sent them taken back out of their Paypal accounts (as he bought off them using stolen funds).How could they have possibly known that ?.Is that how they are going to recover the buyers losses ?.If so that seems extremely unfair.It is looking to me as though eBay is no longer a safe place to trade on.It appears as though whatever happens eBay and Paypal are not going to reimburse scam victims out of their own pockets if they feel they can get away with it.Surely the very high fees (sellers listing,end of item and 4% Paypal commission) are only paid on the understanding they protect decent traders from this kind of action ?.I have traded on there for 7 years,not sure I'm going to continue after this experience.

I tend only to buy from power sellers on eBay these days, or people with 1000+ feedback rating and at least 99% +ve.

spoonbeast wrote:
> i'm saddened by the loss of money. I would have thought paypal
> was a safe and reliable way to transfer funds. This just makes
> the whole thing a bit of a farce tbh. We might as well have used
> direct debit instead of paypal altogether.
>
> Have you reported the person to ebay? was there any suspicious
> tell tale signs of a dodgy dealer? Like feedback, naff ads etc?

Yes mate,When I put in claim I also reported his activities to Ebay and Paypal (who are the same company anyway).By cross referencing with some of his other victims I worked out exactly what he was doing.Told them 2 weeks ago and they have only just banned him (so he probably scammed a few more people in that time ?).Have to say I have been less than impressed with them to honest.As the people I have been in contact with appear to have been his first victims the less than glowing feedback we have left him were his first negatives.When we bought from him he had 100% positive feedback and had been registered for 4 years,perhaps it was a hijacked account ?.There was nothing to suggest the seller was dodgy at all.Just thought I'd share my experience as I have been trading on eBay under the illusion if I got scammed I would be automatically covered up to £150 under their buyer protection plan.As I have found out that doesn't appear to be the case.

i'm saddened by the loss of money. I would have thought paypal was a safe and reliable way to transfer funds. This just makes the whole thing a bit of a farce tbh. We might as well have used direct debit instead of paypal altogether.

Have you reported the person to ebay? was there any suspicious tell tale signs of a dodgy dealer? Like feedback, naff ads etc?

Who do you complain to? Everyone. :-)
PayPal are regulated by the FSA so you can certainly complain to the financial ombudsman.  Although you're only meant to go to them once you've gone through PayPal's complaints procedure and given them sufficient time to respond I think.
And I'm not sure if this works anymore but I always used to make sure all PayPal payments were funded by a credit card so I could raise a dispute with them too.

Unfortunately though, as you've discovered yourself Paypal's buyer protection is subject to alot of ifs/buts/maybes so it wouldnt surprise me in the least if they've conveniently found one that applies.

I bought an item off eBay a few weeks ago from seller who turned out to be a scamming,thieving,low life scumbag.I have been in touch with a few of his other victims and no one has received their items either or indeed had any response to any communication with him whatsoever.His address has 'london,london' listed where the street name and house number should be.I put in a buyer complaint to Paypal and this is the response I have received so far:

After careful review, we have concluded our investigation of the Buyer
Complaint described below.

We have decided in your favour, however, we were unable to recover any
funds from the seller's account. As stated in the PayPal User Agreement,
recovery of funds associated with a Buyer Complaint cannot be guaranteed.

Please know that we will make our best effort to recover the funds in
question if they become available in the seller's account in the future,
and will take appropriate action against the seller. Such action may
include issuing a warning, a temporary restriction, or terminating the
account. Keep in mind that PayPal uses a number of factors, including
member complaints, to determine when to take action. Due to privacy laws,
we cannot discuss the details of any action taken. We hope you understand
our policy and that it reassures you that you are safe using PayPal.

Awesome !!!,just as soon as he puts some funds back into his account I'll get a refund.Errrr.. think I may be in for a long wait!!!.I emailed them again asking why I was not covered under their buyer protection scheme and got only a link to their terms and conditions and a message telling me read through them ?.

I phoned and spoke to one of their agents who when asked could not give me an answer as to why I was not covered (and the case is now listed as being closed).They now say they are going to have another look into my case and let me know their decision (regarding my claim) by the end of this week.

The seller has apparently spent the cash he has stolen onto his Paypal account (over £400 in total,it maybe more ?) on mobile top up vouchers he bought on eBay (where I presume the codes are mailed to him not physically shipped ?).So Paypal cannot recover the funds.

Has anyone come across this before ?.If I do not get a refund who do I complain to ? (trading standards,financial obudsman ?).My point is Paypal buyer protection is advertised on most eBay listings (it certainly was on this one) and yet when you get scammed they seem extremely reluctant to reimburse you when it is obviously going to have to come out of their own pockets.My account is verified and with a confirmed delivery address so I feel I should be covered but at the moment it is not looking as though I am.The item he scammed me for was around £50,so its not going to ruin my life but it has p****d me off!.Any help would be gratefully received.