divineAndbright

I won an auction for some bike parts on ebay before xmas '05 and never got em, there were other people who won some of his auctions from that time never got their stuff either. I know he got my Money Order and cashed it. He cancelled his ebay account and more recently his email adress (anytime I email him I get failed message errors). It was only $75 bucks total, but I dont have money to waste so I'd really like to get it back somehow, has anyone ever been ripped off on ebay before, is there anything I could do? The person is located in West Virginia, and im in Canada.

Orikal

The first step would be to contact EBay. I'm not sure how much help they'd be, but at least it's a start. I generally pay for EBay auctions by credit card, if only to protect my money should I be put in a similar situation. Based on other threads I've read here, the chance of getting your money back is slim to none.

Hey, don't shoot the messenger.

silk

Take this as a 75 dollar lesson.

I do many ebay transactions and have not been burned so far. Here are my rules

1. High volume of sales. if they are under 1000 I dont touch them even at 100% feedback
2. Read the feedback and see what negatives are about "most cases its the buyers not sellers who are confused when
you have a high volume seller.
3. PAYPAL.... only use paypal. No western union, money orders. if you setup the paypal account with your credit card
the credit card company can refund your cash if something nasty happends.
4. Talk to the seller and get a feel for the product. The more information they give the better.

Ebay is a lot of fun, just remember when the deal is way to good then your risking getting screwed.

cruentus

Since you mailed him a money order, file a complaint with the US postal service. Failing that, call the cops in the city where he resides, and talk to a detective about filing a complaint.

bkaapcke

This particular lesson in life was actually pretty cheap. Most post school tuition payments are much higher. The lessons that really grate come from so-called friends. If it tunes you up regarding scams in general, it'll be $ well invested. Solace? I didn't thing so. A sad but wiser Brian.

Blue Order

Ebay won't do jack. I got ripped off for $100, sent a personal check, never got the item, never got a response. Lots of other buyers got the same deal. Tons of negative feedback at the end for this seller, Ebay apparently closed the account, but get my money back? No way. It's Ebay.

Well, to be honest, which is more than I can say about Ebay, I was offered somewhere around $20 back from Ebay, on a $100 purchase. Ebay was utterly, utterly useless about protecting the buyer. I can't say enough bad about my experiences dealing with Ebay.

merlin70

As mentioned, always use Paypal. You are much better protected against fraud. You can still get ripped off but at least you will get some/most of your money back.

divineAndbright

Hmm, well I guess Its hardly worth the pain the ass that it would be even trying to get some of it back. I've been using ebay now and then since around 1998 and never really got ripped off before. Im just glad it wasnt for more money, its still a kick in the teeth though since one of my rides tyres took a big steaming krap on me the other day.. with the money I lost I coulda bought 2 new sets.

Im not gonna use eBay anymore unless the seller is located in same country, or close-by, at least if they try anything I can pay them a visit and "break their legs" if they wanna be jerks.

supcom

If you have a name, or at least an address where you sent the money, you could try contacting the Police where the thief lives. Although you are not likely to get you money back, if enough people file complaints, the thief might get tracked down and prosecuted.

kerk

I only use PayPal. I have bought and sold several things and once got burned on a purchase. The seller closed his account days after I paid. After 3 weeks I contacted PayPal and they refunded my money in about 10 days.

SoonerBent

I never, ever bid on an item that I can't use Paypal. The one time I did my money and the seller dissapeared. It was only 50 bucks or so thank goodness.

I don't know about the high volume idea. I've bought and sold things on ebay for 5 years or so and will probably never reach 1000 transactions. Most individuals won't. All the stuff I've sold has been exactly as I described or better, well or over packed, and shipped ASAP. All of the things I've bought on ebay from other individuals has been similarly done.

It's usually pretty easy to spot items to stay away from on ebay.

They only take wire transfers or money orders.
The description doesn't match the item.
They are selling an item "for a friend".
They either don't answer questions, or don't know anything about the item if they do.
They post a pictures of a "similar" item to the one they are selling.
They have a "Buy It Now" price way less than the item is worth.

On the last point. I've read on MC boards of people actually sending a wire transfer or such for 4 or 5 thousand dollars to someone expecting to get a $20,000 Harley in return. Duh, isn't going to happen.

SB

edp773

If not for the money, it is the principal of the matter. Collect all the information you have on this matter and organize it for your complaints.

Contact your Canadian Postal system, the USPS, the police in your town and the town the money order was sent to, file a complaint with Ebay, and check with the provider of the money order. After filing a report with the police, I would contact the county prosecutor with the information. Depending upon the population of the area, the process time and attitude will vary.

Even if you do not get your money back, you have done everything in your power to regain it. Matbe one or all of the items will be enough for a felony.

Flywolf

I once won an item on ebayUK, after paying by Paypal the seller was no where to be found, he won't return my emails or send the item, I called Paypal and they opened a case against him, after 10 days the money was back in my bank account.

I only pay by Paypal, they will always protect you.

Good luck

EricDJ

Do you have the money order receipt? Report it stolen with the issuing bank or USPS or wherever you got it if you do.

phoebeisis

I buy and sell on Ebay-much more than is good for my bank acct!I am tempted to switch to just taking Paypal-I take MO or Paypay now.The last 2 things I sold have been" problems" because of MO's.
1)One guy took forever"mo in mail"-to finally send it.
2)I sold a frame 2 days ago.I had my payment instruction clearly listed-Paypal-MO.Well the guy tells me he has "fedexed a check!".The check is already in the mail,so I don't want to be a hardass about it.Now,I 'm going to have to wait forever until it clears.Yes,you will say "checks clear very quickly now".BS!I have asked my bank "when will I be 100% sure this check is good?"The answer-in short-if it "turns bad" at any time,we will bounce it back to you.So if a scam is detected 3 weeks after I have been paid-they will deduct the $$ from my acct!
To make things more dicey,the buyer has 2 transactions!He "seems" OK.Hey,why go to all this trouble to steal a $45 frame-$80 out of my pocket,right??($45+$35 shipping).
I did have one problem once.Bought a MC-$1600-but the seller hadn't sent the title.I complained to Paypal-a week after I had paid him-and they got on his butt right away.Title arrived in 2 days.Apparently there is some sort of "holdup" on paying out larger amounts.Thanks.Charlie
PS-Ebay and Paypal are one in the same-but a complaint to Paypal gets action-Ebay-forget it!

ken cummings

Consider using a LBS. You can put you hand on the item before you buy it. And if you have problems the shop is there to make good. I'll take service over savings any day. Or if the shop can't/won't stock it then on of the big mailorder companies like Performance or BikeNashbar.

operator

The first mistake was paying by money order. Too late now I guess.

divineAndbright

Why are money orders so bad? There was a time a few years back when paypal didnt exist and money orders were the norm.

Bike shops are pretty useless to me, when the "newest" bike I ride was made about 40 years ago.

SoonerBent

Because sending money orders is basically the same as sending cash. You have no legal proof of why you sent the MO and no proof that the proper person received and cashed it. You send it, they cash it, they dissapear, you have zero recourse.

A more extreme example. An employee of mine sent his ex-wife child support for years via MO instead of check so she wouldn't have his checking account number. She got mad one day and turned him in for non-payment. He had receipts for the MOs but no way to prove he sent them or that she and not someone else had cashed them. It took months of legal hassles and dealing with Western Union to to prove it was her that had cashed them.

SB