Fool Me Once...

A week ago last Monday I was beaming. In a few moments of free time at work, I was searching eBay for deals. I came across this auction. It had been on eBay for only an hour or so, so it seemed like one of those rare opportunities where the seller had severely undervalued her item, and put a "Buy It Now" price on it reflecting that. ALSO, it was early enough in the listing that no one had discovered yet. So I checked it over five or six times. The seller had 100% positive feedback (though apparently had rarely been a seller) and lived in the London. I swallowed, and purchased it. I figured I could resell it for 4 or 5 times what I had paid for it (everyone can use an extra $2000).

Two days later I got an email from the seller promising to ship the next morning. I have not heard from her since.

I started to get nervous a few days ago when I checked up on the transaction and found that, since the time I had purchased the laptop, the seller was no "no longer a registered user." This means either that the seller has disaffiliated himself with eBay voluntarily, or been suspended for an infraction. Not Good.

I've sent several emails asking for a tracking number and some indication that the laptop actually shipped. I've heard nothing. My anxiety has grown with each that passes with no word (and no laptop).

So tonight I posted something on the eBay question and answer board, explaining the situation and wondering out loud what I should do. Several people responded saying that the particular laptop I "purchased" was a favorite of scammers, and that I had most likely been had. I filed a claim immediately with PayPal.*

So now I'm hoping for a few things: 1. I'm still hoping the laptop will show up. It's a faint hope, but I'm still holding out for that; or 2. That PayPal will recover the full purchase price.; and 3. That my friend Dave, a recent UK transplant, can lead the Elder's Quorum from his ward over to this person's house to rough her up and get my money back. (Dave, I'm willing to give you a cut of whatever you recover--at least enough for a fancy Chili's Dinner, maybe even with some chips and salsa).

I've been feeling a bit foolish ever since I saw the seller's account had been suspended. $400 (the amount I'd lose if I only end up with the eBay item protection) is a LOT of money--and it represents the recent sale of my PS2 and games.

Ugh.


*I have learned since that many sellers are protected by Paypal's 100% Buyer Protection (which protects your purchase if you use Paypal). I suspect when I sell, I have that protection. With this seller, though, there was no such protection (and I wasn't aware before that this had to be specially noted on a listing--I thought it applied to all Paypal transactions). This limits my recovery, in the event that they can't recover the money from the seller, to $175.