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Comment by ZoFreX | Hacker News Reader

Have you ever tried to get your money back after getting scammed as a buyer?

"Item not as described" is the secret passphrase. Seller has absolutely no recourse. I've never tried it as a buyer, but as a seller it's been 100% effective in the scammer getting their money back from me.

What I don't understand is why using this passphrase doesn't obligate the buyer to return the item.

THIS.

Except, I suppose, how do you validate THAT?

If I'm the seller, and you send me back an empty box or an old iPhone 3GS, what do I do then?

Just also tell them, "Item not as described".

Item not as not as described

I had an issue, as a buyer, very recently. The item was not as described. I was frankly flabbergasted how quickly and decisively eBay worked in my direction. A little too quickly. (There were issues with my purchase that could have been fixed with a partial refund, but instead I got everything back, while I still have the item. I actually feel a little bad about it, like I don't want to use eBay again, even though they probably think they made me happy.)

Exactly. It doesn't make sense unless eBay just considers all sellers to be high volume resellers who write off small item losses as part of doing business.

If they actually had to devote much resources to investigate our claim, they would probably lose money on the transaction.

But, really, it's okay to lose money on some transactions, especially if you reduce buyer/seller stress on other transactions.

Several times, and for each and every one it was as easy as filing a complaint and having the money refunded to my paypal within a few days.

I ended up getting a knockoff XBOX game and it was pretty painless to get it refunded from ebay.

Yes. I received some counterfeit DVDs many years back and I ended up getting my money back from PayPal.

Never been scammed as a buyer in hundreds of transactions.

I have, eBay ignored all my complaints and requests. Never got anything but the odd automated 'we have received your report' emails. I'll never use eBay again for any reason.

Make a credit card chargeback

Actually, I have. I got a knock-off memory card once. I threatened the seller with all kinds of things (basically send the feds after him), and he sent me the money back. Didn't even need to involve Ebay/PayPal.

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