help! someone is claiming i sold a broken game on ebay!


yeah i think this is turning my way but she originally claimed the disc came broken. i suspect foulplay, but maybe i made a mistake. thanks to you guys, i was able to ask the right questions with confidence, staying patient and polite. i will report on how this turns out.
 
lol she hasn't gotten back to me since i asked for pictures. ebay support has closed the case after i described the issue in detail. i am guessing this scammer has given up. should i report her somewhere? is that even possible on ebay? i actually thought briefly about filing a police report for attempted fraud, but then again that would be petty, it's just about having 30euros or not having 30euros. and i am sure the police have better things to do. still it makes me incredibly mad that people like that are able to fuck with sellers on ebay, while dragging all honest people down with them.
 
it's just about having 30euros or not having 30euros
I didn't know FF7 went for that much.

should i report her somewhere? is that even possible on ebay?
You may be able to discuss it on forums or something.  I think ebay has those.  If you know enough about this person and want to warn others you can keep an eye out for where they or others are discussing stuff about financial transactions.  This is what I do with a (con) artist who screwed over a bunch of people on ebay, and was banned.
 
Ever since ebay removed the negative feedback for buyers it has become basically impossible to warn people about scammers.
 
That can be a problem.  A buyer that wants to rip people off may do the same when selling, yet the potential buyer only gets a warning if the scammer previously received negative feedback as a seller.  Then you have buyers that buy or bid and don't pay, which is bad for other potential buyers and the seller.  There are other examples as well, such as what led to this thread.  Why did ebay stop allowing negative feedback for buyers?
 
My understanding was because there were complaints that sellers were using it as ammunition to prevent buyers from leaving negative feedback, like if the seller did something wrong and the buyer gave negative feedback the seller would immediately give negative feedback back even if the buyer was completely in the right. Or promise to only leave positive feedback if the buyer left positive feedback first, etc...

I don't agree with how they handled the situation.
 
I figured it came down to people abusing the system.  Now buyers have most of the power, which is just as much, if not more of a problem since it is now one sided.  I have heard other complaints from sellers I know as well.  I think someone said that ebay/paypal was holding onto the money from a sale for a period.  I think they said something about needing positive feedback or had to wait a month or 45 days or somnething before they got the money, if there were no problems.

I also remember a family member telling me that they were selling a purse, maybe Coach or something, that was legitimate.  Someone they had a problem with during a previous sale (not sure who was buying or selling during the earlier transaction) started trying to cause problems by reporting auctions or something, one of which was this purse.  Supposedly it was reported as a fake by the other person, and either the purse wasn't allowed to be relisted or it would have been additional hassle to do so, so it was given as a gift.

If only there was a better alternative to ebay.
 
well the alternative is selling on forums, where you handle the transaction all by yourself. same risk, same options with paypal etc, and more of a trust system. i actually prefer this method with neogeo games. you can immediately look up who has a reputation and scammers are being hunted like witches. but the convenience of just entering what you want to buy/sell and have all these people automagically available as buyers/sellers is just too great.


@rygd: 30 euros including shipping. and yeah, it actually goes for much more. i tried not to ask for too much money without screwing myself.
 
I paid $20 for it when I picked up, which is why it seemed a bit much to me.  I guess it isn't much different than Pokemon, though.  No clue why the older ones still go for so much, especially with so many copies around.  I think I paid around $20, including shipping, for a GBA, case and Pokemon Red.  I didn't even want the game, but figured it was a decent price for everything since the game alone often goes for more than that.
 
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