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Obvious fraud - eBay doesn’t help at all and won’t step in?
Summary: oskarband, a private seller, expressed frustration with how eBay handled their case involving a disputed camera sale. The buyer claimed a defect not mentioned in the listing, despite the seller's detailed description and photos. eBay decided in favor of the buyer, refunded them, and did not require the return of the camera, leaving the seller with neither the item nor the payment. oskarband felt eBay's process was automated and dismissive of their evidence and appealed for a manual review, highlighting the lack of a receipt for a return label. eBay representatives explained their decision aligned with policies due to a lack of response within the specified timeframe. The seller continued to contest this, seeking a resolution or goodwill gesture as they believed the buyer misused the return system.
eBay refunds the buyer I lose money AND camera and despite multiple attempts to contact them I get no real review
Hello community, hello eBay team,
I am a private seller and would like to describe my current case here, because by now I really can no longer understand how eBay treats its sellers. I am especially hoping that someone from the eBay team will take a personal look at case 5384100396 and maybe a goodwill solution is possible.
What happened
I sold a camera including lens for €75.00 plus €5.79 shipping. I described the condition of the camera in detail in the listing. In particular, it was expressly pointed out several times that the viewfinder contains drops/contamination and is not clean. The corresponding condition of the camera was also visible in the listing photos.
The buyer opened a return on 24/07/2026 and claimed that the viewfinder did not match the description. Specifically, he claimed that it was not dirt, but an alleged prism damage.
I immediately disputed this. From my point of view, the damage he claims was neither clearly substantiated nor does it contradict the condition described in the listing.
What happened next
What frustrates me particularly about this case is not just the decision itself, but how little opportunity I had as the seller to properly present my side of the case at all.
Instead of an employee carefully reviewing the description, photos, and arguments from both sides, the case was, in my view, handled largely automatically.
I was effectively pushed to accept a return or enable a return shipment, although I believed and still believe that the alleged defect was already fully described in the listing.
I tried to explain my point of view and clarify the case. However, instead of any real engagement with my arguments, I essentially received automated or standardized replies and, in the end, a decision in favor of the buyer.
And now comes the real problem
eBay has now fully refunded the buyer €80.79.
But the camera was NOT sent back to me.
At the moment this means:
Buyer: camera + €80.79
Me: €0 + no camera
So I have lost both my sale proceeds and my item.
eBay then informed me that a message with return instructions had been sent to me on 30/07/2026 and that they had waited five days for my response. However, I did not receive this message, or it was not visible to me.
After that, the buyer was refunded.
I filed an appeal and explicitly pointed out that I had not received a return. The appeal was rejected anyway.
What I find particularly problematic
At the moment I get the impression that, as a seller, I practically had no way to defend myself against what I see as an unjustified return.
The buyer claims a specific defect. I dispute this and refer to my detailed description and the listing photos. Still, the return was processed.
Then my money gets deducted or refunded to the buyer.
And now I don’t even have the item back.
I was effectively forced to give up the sale proceeds without getting my goods back at the same time.
That is exactly the point I really cannot understand at all.
My request to the eBay team
I therefore want to explicitly ask that a real employee manually reviews case 5384100396 and that there is not just another automated standard reply.
In particular, I ask for clarification on:
Why was the buyer fully refunded even though I did not get the item back?
Why were my detailed description and the existing documentation of the condition not taken into sufficient account?
What option do I still have as a seller to get my camera back?
Can eBay offer a goodwill payout or a corresponding solution here?
I understand that buyer protection is important. But in my opinion, buyer protection must not result in a seller ending up with neither money nor goods.
From my point of view, the current situation is simply not acceptable. If eBay deducts money from me, then in my view it must at least be ensured that the sold item is actually returned.
I want to deliberately avoid claiming here that eBay is cheating me on purpose. However, the result feels exactly like that to me as a seller. My money was taken from me, the buyer received the refund, and at the same time I did not get my camera back.
If it turns out that the buyer is keeping the camera despite the refund on purpose, I will of course also look into what legal steps are available to me.
I really hope that someone from the eBay team will take a personal look at this case again. Maybe, as in similar cases here in the community, a goodwill solution can also be discussed.
Has anyone ever experienced a similar case?
Thank you for reading and especially to the eBay team for a real manual review.
Best regards
Oskar
samantha@ebay
Mentor1 week agoHello @oskarband
A goodwill decision is not possible here, as the appeal was already justifiably rejected.
As I can see, you have now provided the buyer with a label, and that is also the right approach, which I would have otherwise recommended to you as well.
Thanks for the tag @voli-maus
Best regards
Samantha
oskarband
OP1 week agoThanks for your feedback @samantha@ebay
I was finally able to reach the buyer and am trying to find a solution with him. If he sends me back a damaged item, I will come back to the community post again.
Best regards
Oskar
voli-maus
Mentor1 week agoHello @samantha@ebay ,
is an accommodation possible here?
oskarband
OP1 week agoGood day@miriam@ebay ,
I would like to kindly ask you to look at my case 5384100396 once more personally and check whether a goodwill solution is possible in this case.
I am aware that a decision was made according to eBay guidelines and that my appeal has already been rejected. Nevertheless, I consider the outcome in my specific case to be extremely unfortunate.
From the outset, I disputed the reason for return, because from my perspective the buyer was complaining about exactly the condition as a defect that had already been described multiple times in the item description. That is why I assumed that the case would first be reviewed substantively.
The result now, however, is that the buyer has been fully refunded, I have not yet gotten the camera back, and therefore I no longer have either the item or the purchase price.
I understand buyer protection and accept that deadlines must be observed. Nevertheless, I hope that my case can be manually reviewed once again because of these special circumstances.
Since the camera is still not in my possession despite the full refund, I am now concerned that the buyer is unjustifiably keeping the item. Should this be confirmed, I will look into what legal steps are available to me as the seller.
I would be very happy if you could check whether, similar to other cases in the community, a goodwill payment or another solution is possible here. I am a student and losing €80.79 as well as my camera unfortunately affects me significantly.
Thank you very much for taking the time to look at my case again.
Kind regards
Oskar
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
Mentor1 week agoHi @oskarband
if you didn't respond within the deadline given to you, Ebay decided correctly in accordance with the Ebay buyer protection.
The buyer opens a case. Whether it is justified or not, nobody except you and the buyer can judge that. You are given a deadline for a return label and you don't respond to it. How is Ebay supposed to decide on that (automatically)?
If you don't respond within the deadline, Ebay simply decides in favor of the buyer.
In my personal opinion, the only thing you can still do here is take action against the buyer outside of Ebay. To what extent this will be successful remains to be seen.
Best regards from the Baltic Sea
Peter
oskarband
OP1 week agoI sent an appeal within the deadline. I was told this appeal would be reviewed and the case paused in the meantime. During this time, I also couldn't provide a shipping label; that option wasn't available in the menu. So I was unable to do anything of that sort.
vera@ebay
Mentor1 week agoHello @oskarband ,
Thank you very much for your post. I’ve looked into the case for you. On 30/07/2026, the case was paused for 5 days and you received a message from us asking you to provide the buyer with either a return label or the money for the return shipping. Since you did not do this within the specified period, the case was decided in favor of the buyer without the item being returned. This is the correct procedure according to our guidelines. Your appeal has already been rejected in this case and no further appeal is possible.
@perfect-sally thank you very much for tagging 😊
Kind regards
Vera
perfect-sally
Mentor1 week agoJust as suspected! Thanks, Vera 🤗
oskarband
OP1 week agoThanks for your feedback.
I’m aware that I should have responded to the deadline set by eBay. But that is exactly part of the problem I wanted to point out with my post. I wasn’t given a deadline; instead, a decision was made right after my objection was processed.
I opened a case with eBay because, from my point of view, a buyer is abusing the return system and claiming a defect that does not actually exist, or whose cause was not proven from my perspective. I had therefore hoped that eBay would actually take a close look at the specific facts and check whether there was abuse of the return system here.
Instead, the case was decided practically immediately in the buyer’s favor. I had no noticeable opportunity to clarify the situation with a staff member or to get my evidence reviewed.
So for me, it’s not about eBay not having allowed the return in the first place. My problem is that I’ve now lost the purchase price and still haven’t got the camera back.
I would have wanted eBay to review the possible abuse of the return system that I reported before the buyer was fully refunded.
I find it problematic that, as a result, a case in which I reported possible abuse was practically closed against me without any substantive review. I also wasn’t given a deadline in which I could have responded and arranged a return shipment, since the decision was made directly after my objection.
oskarband
OP1 week agoThere was also the option "To file an objection". I did that, so then it's of course clear that I wouldn't take care of a return shipping label. As you yourself describe, the case was put on hold for 5 days. I had received an email saying that eBay was reviewing it. Why is it now that after the review eBay takes my item away from me and refunds the money?
oskarband
OP1 week ago@vera@ebay I was never given the opportunity to obtain a return label. I had sent in an appeal against Ebay's initial decision. For obvious reasons, while the appeal was still unanswered, I could not obtain a shipping label. Since I didn't even know whether Ebay would decide that I had to return the item.
Now Ebay has immediately decided in response to the appeal to refund the buyer without me getting the item back.
So in practice, I was never given the chance to take the item back.
Also, I shouldn't have had to take the item back at all. That's where the problem starts. The item was as described. The identified defect was stated in the item's description. There is no prism damage on the camera, and that can even be clearly seen in the buyer's photos. There is only dirt and a few drops in the viewfinder; this was also described that way in the listing.
voli-maus
Mentor1 week agoAre you talking about this listing, @oskarband
Canon AE-1 Program SLR camera + Kalimar Zoom 35-135mm f/3.5 SLR camera | eBay.de ?
oskarband
OP1 week agoCorrect
perfect-sally
Mentor1 week agoJust name the item number and an eBay staff member can take a look at it.
Sorry, I didn't read your long novel, but from skimming it I strongly suspect that you didn't provide the buyer with a return slip and therefore don't have the item back.
And based on descriptions, nobody can decide anything, because nobody has handled the item except you and the buyer.
Fact: the buyer files the complaint, the seller pays the return shipping and refunds after it arrives!
@vera@ebay could you have a look, please? Thanks
oskarband
OP1 week agoThis is the article mentioned by @voli-maus , item number 127958355731.
The problem is that the buyer is complaining as a defect exactly the condition that was already expressly described in my item description. There is no damage to the camera beyond that, and the camera does not differ from my description.
That is why I did not immediately buy a return label at my own expense. I am a student and do not readily have the financial means to cover the return shipping myself at first, especially when I believe that the return reason given by the buyer does not apply.
Instead, I used the process provided by eBay and filed an appeal against the decision as quickly as possible, precisely because I believe the buyer is abusing the return system in this case. I assumed that eBay would then review the facts of the case and my statements.
I was then informed that the case was paused for five days. As I understand it, this was meant to allow for a renewed review of the case and not simply let a deadline pass, after which the case would be decided against me without any further consultation.
The result is now especially problematic for me eBay has refunded the buyer the full amount, while I also have not gotten the camera back. So at the moment I am left without the camera and without the sale proceeds.
That is exactly why I contacted the Community and the eBay Team. However, I had expected that my appeal and the possible abuse of the return system I reported would actually be reviewed on the merits before I end up losing both the item and the money.