I’ve been active on Ebay for 6 years, and processed over 4,000 transactions here. In that time I’ve had 2-3 experiences where a seller ripped me off for $200 - $400 and because of the way it happened neither Ebay nor Paypal were able to help me.  I’m writing this guide not to complain, but to share what I’ve learned with you, my fellow Ebayers.  Hopefully this will help keep you safe.

(By the way, if you find this guide helpful, please click the “Yes” button at the bottom of the page – it will increase the guide’s rating and hopefully more people will get to see it.)

Rule #1 – You have 45 days from the date of purchase to file a claim with Paypal.  The very moment you know there’s a problem with the item you bought, file a dispute!  DO NOT WAIT just because the seller seems to be cooperating.  File your Paypal dispute IMMEDIATELY, and let the seller worry about getting the dispute taken off his account.  That will be his/her incentive to work with you.

I learned the hard way that some sellers will draw out the return/exchange process as long as possible in the hope that you will exceed the 45-day limit, after which they don’t have to do anything at all to help you.  After 45 days they have your money and you have nothing. 

As an example - I had purchased a $400 camcorder.  When it got to me I found that the battery wouldn’t hold a charge.  The seller said he was going to send me a replacement battery.  When that didn’t work I wrote him back and explained that the camcorder must be bad, so he asked me to return the camcorder and he’d send me another one.  All this sounds good, but what I left out was the fact that the seller would wait at least a week to reply to my emails.  And when he replied and said he was going to send out the replacement battery it took him a week to actually send it.  So by the time I sent back the camcorder a lot of time had passed.  And after I returned the camcorder he stopped replying to emails at all.  By the time it dawned on me that I was nearing the 45-day limit it had just passed.  So now he not only had my money, he had the camcorder too!  And there was nothing I could do.  All I could do was file a report with the police.  But because the seller was out of state the best they could do is send a copy of my report to the police station near the seller to keep on record.  I left the seller Negative Feedback stating that he’d stolen my money and my item… that was all I could do.

Looking back on this, I realize now that a person could make a decent living just re-selling the same broken items over and over again.  The seller would need about 10-20 items so he could keep one or two floating in circulation at all times.  If a buyer is smart and files a dispute the seller immediately asks for the item back and issues a refund, then puts his hook out again.  If even 1 person out of 10 falls for this tricks the seller’s making $400 a month selling absolutely nothing.

Rule #2 – If the 45-day window has passed, DO NOT return a defective item for an exchange!  If you do decide to return it, make sure you insure the package and send it requiring a signature.

A few months ago I bought a computer off Ebay for $200.  It was a brand new “barebones” system.  The auction said the computer came with a 1-year warrantee.  When I got the computer everything worked fine, so I left positive feedback for the seller.  Three months later the keyboard & mouse ports started having intermittent problems.  I contacted the seller who asked me to return the motherboard.  After waiting 2 weeks I contacted the seller to find out what the problem was.  He called me on the phone a few days later.  He claimed that he couldn’t reproduce the problem so he sent the motherboard back to the manufacturer, and they couldn’t reproduce the problem either.  When I explained that it was an intermittent problem, he agreed to go ahead and have the PS2 ports replaced under warrantee.  Two more weeks passed and I tried to contact him again, I got no answer.  Not only was I out of luck with Paypal, I couldn’t even file a police report this time.  The police explained that because the item was functional when delivered that the seller had correctly fulfilled his end of the sale.  When I asked about theft I was told that it was not theft because I willingly sent the item to him.  The closest applicable charge would be called “depriving you of your property” but I was told this was a civil matter, not a criminal one.  The amount of time & energy required to file a civil lawsuit against someone out of state wasn’t worth the $200 I paid for the computer.  But if you find yourself in a similar situation with an item worth enough to make small claims court worth your time & effort, then I suggest you insure the package and request signature verification upon delivery.  Then there’s no way the seller can claim he didn’t receive the item into his possession.

Rule #3 – If the item has a warrantee, ask if the warrantee is with the seller or the manufacturer.  If it’s with the seller, then think about whether or not the item is inexpensive enough that you’d be willing to take the risk of not getting it back.  Try to buy items with a manufacturer warrantee, and deal with them if the item needs to be fixed/replaced after the 45-day limit has passed.

Rule #4 – Check with your credit card company to see what their policy is regarding defective items, returns, and exchanges.  If your credit card company does not have a time limit like Paypal does, then on expensive items it may be wiser for you to purchase your item directly on your credit card instead of through Paypal.  For example, if your credit card company says they’ll reverse a payment to a seller within 180 days, that’s 135 days more protection than Paypal offers.  It may not be worth the trouble for a $100 item, but on a $1,000 item it would be.