Buyer to avoid/block on ebay

[dmblanch]

You can cancel before payment simply by claiming the item is lost or broken.

You can also immediately refund the payment and claim the same before shipment and you run a small risk of a negative feedback, but these transshippers are soooo busy buying goods that they won't have time to pursue "legal options", which they often threaten after you ship the goods. If you show ebay that you immediately gave a full refund, you can get the negative feedback wiped. You will lose the transaction fees, but this is immensely preferrable to losing the clubs and your money.

It's about your only option.

Ebay is aware of the situation, but currently their pro-buyer policies hamstring them. If you do take swift cancelling action and you get ebay on the phone and explain that it's a Korean golf club transshipper in Gardena, CA....they are going to be sympathetic within their policy guidelines.

[Beggars-Bush]

Indeed, this is crazy, but the more one dives into the details of the operation, the more one understands just why it continues to this day.

More details about this scam:

Firstly, when discussing this fraud, this question often (and understandably) comes up:

“How do you account for their very high positive feedback ratings?” (“their” meaning all the various eBay ID’s used by this scamming operation).

There are two primary reasons for this:

-Ebay sellers these days are only allowed to leave positive feedback for buyers. Sellers cannot leave either neutral or negative feedback for a buyer…although buyers can leave positive, neutral or negative feedback for sellers. Moreover, if a seller tries to leave a negative comment for a buyer within the context of “positive” feedback, that is in violation of eBay’s draconian rules, and the seller runs the risk of suspension for “feedback abuse.” In other words, eBay has initiated a de facto “gag order” on all its sellers. Ebay has literally purged from its venue any chance of a seller being warned about a suspect buyer by other sellers.

-Most eBay sellers leave positive feedback for a buyer right after they receive payment. Their thinking is that since they (the seller) has left positive feedback for the buyer, then the seller might be more likely to receive positive feedback from them, the buyer. In the “days of eBay” now long gone, it wasn’t that way. Back then most sellers would wait to receive feedback, before leaving feedback for their buyer.

Now for some more details:

Number 1:

After any sale or winning bid with ACI Express, the seller receives a “canned” e-mail message. There are various points about that canned e-mail worthy of discussion, but one very telling sentence is this:

“[color=black]And finally, I want you to stay with us until the end of eBay's protection.” [/color]
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[color=black]That of course is a reference to the 45 day period where a buyer can file a case with a seller. [/color]
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[color=black]You can interview longstanding eBay sellers all day long, and none of them will say that they have ever received that sort of request before from any buyer (aside from ACI of course).[/color]
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[color=black]Obviously it is precisely “eBay’s protection” that this scam operation relies on in order to gain its largest source of revenue…the dreaded charge back. The last thing this “buyer” (ACI Express) want to see is you, the seller, quitting eBay before they’ve conclude the scam. And make no mistake about it…in the vast number of cases, ACI ends up with the seller’s merchandise AND their money back. ACI is totally free to re-sell that merchandise…every dollar of which will be 100% pure “profit.” [/color]
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[color=black]Number 2:[/color]
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[color=black]The volume of purchases by ACI Express under its numerous eBay ID’s is vast. In just one recent two week period, the eBay ID kglpass12 was tracked with some 2,407 purchases on eBay. [/color]
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[color=black]Number 3:[/color]
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[color=black]The percentage of purchases under any and all of the various ACI Express “purchases” that result in a charge back to the eBay seller far exceeds the norms and averages of eBay buyers as a whole. While eBay says that it closely monitors the charge back activity of its buyers, the fact remains that the final value fees paid by eBay sellers that are generated by this singular buyer is so immense, that eBay has heretofore not taken any measures to end this scam. That said, and in fairness, some few appealed cases have been overturned to the seller’s benefit, but those are far and few between. [/color]
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[color=black]This highly successful scam operates on the principle of low amounts, high volume. The more a fraud is spread over a huge number of victims, but at low to modest monetary levels, the higher the chances of success of the scam. Indeed, those that bother to take the time to fight the scam, or to attempt to make others aware of it are a very low percentage of those who in fact have been victims of this scam. The vast majority of victims merely throw up their hands in frustration and move on…as after all, time is money.[/color]
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[color=black]More to come in the following days…[/color]
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[Beggars-Bush]

[b] [size=3][b][url="http://www.golfwrx.com/forums/user/313753-dmblanch/"]dmblanch[/url][/b][/size]…many thanks for your suggestions and ideas on how a seller can avoid this scam, but why should a seller have to take such measures to protect themselves from fraud? Should a seller be afforded any less (or more) protection against fraud than a buyer? Should a seller on eBay really be expected to have to keep up with all the various eBay ID’s used by ACI? [/b]

[b] [size=3][b]If these transhippers are “[/b][/size][size=3][b]soooo busy buying goods” then how do you account for how they are not “soooo busy” to able to find the time to creatively pursue this scam? [/b][/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][b]And, why is it that other transhippers operate without these numerous complaints of fraud? ACI is not the only transhipper that is a “global partner” with eBay and acting as buyers on eBay. [/b][/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][b]I acknowledge that you have had some personal experience with ACI Express, but are you aware of the diversity of claims against sellers, and the numerous e-mails that flow out of their office in the pursuit of bogus charge backs? I doubt it.[/b][/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][b]A great quote, and one that I live by comes to mind…[/b][/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][b]“[/b][/size][size=3]All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”[/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][b]-Edmund Burke[/b][/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][b]You write, “It's about your only option.”[/b][/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][b]I respectfully yet vehemently disagree. There are many other options for redress and justice for victims, however, complacency and capitulation are not among them. [/b][/size][/b]

[b] [size=3][/size][/b]

[Beggars-Bush]

I’m sorry, but I forgot to address another quote from your last post…

“Ebay is aware of the situation, but currently their pro-buyer policies hamstring them.”

Isn’t eBay responsible for its policies? Are you suggesting that eBay’s policies are an excuse for not dealing with this problem?

I assure you that in any second year law school student in the US would quickly point out that corporate “policy” is not a defense against criminal or civil action.

Personally I would love to argue this case in any court room “armed” with the proof that “eBay is aware of the situation.”