Hi I sold an iPhone off eBay . Buyer has said they have received the packaged with no phone inside !.
I took photos before sending it off and Royal Mail took an image before delivered clearly showing the packaging had been unopened .
This is the images the buyer sent .
Does anyone have any advice
I am worried eBay with favour the buyer



127 Comments
sorted bySad thing is liars and thief's have become more common than simple honesty there's far too many chancers out there. Worst comes to worst you will have to raise a claim with royal mail. What tape was used? Clear tape? Next time use a fragile tape and do it in different patterns and take lots of pictures before sending so if the courier has opened it and resealed it, it won't match the unique taping method
Let us know how you get on.
Buyer cannot use the phone until they acknowledge they’ve received it, once you’re money has cleared from eBay, give them the password, or remotely remove it from the phone.
If they play funny buggers, all they’ve got is a bricked phone.
Buyer will prove receipt when they attempt to use it and will have to contact you for the PIN (edited)
I'm going to be selling some Oneplus Z2 earbuds so I'm going to do just that.
@Qesharak (edited)
Otherwise it's tricky. Unfortunately Goods are the seller's responsibility until they come into possession of the Claimant. The law in this area is a complete mess (I work in this field) and it is so vague it allows buyers to essentially take the p*ss if they know the weaknesses in the law.
A decision should be based on the balance of probabilities. If you have an account in good standing, proof of postage, weight of parcel at the point of sending and the knowledge that the Claimant received the parcel then, I would decide (if the claim came through my company) that it's more likely than not that the phone was delivered with the parcel.
I would make sure I mention the above to ebay in any communication with them.
Ebay should have things set up for accounts doing it multiple times. (edited)
As pointed out by others, this is one of three reasons I stopped using eBay to sell ages ago, use Gumtree or FB marketplace these days, you are limited to local buyers so can take a while to sell but at least there’s no associated stress.
They have said this . What shall I say ?
However, I doubt somebody in the supply chain has stolen a phone that cost £60.
Sold a PS4, buyer received item as I sent tracked.
Buyer says item does not work and wants to get a 85% refund essentially.
Buyer has 90+ good feedback but from Germany (saw this afterwards).
I have sent proof of item working beforehand (some random pics I had from my son playing it) and also messages letting Ebay know that I contacted buyer repeatedly and that I refuse partial refund and want to provide a FULL refund to buyer in return I want my item back (i am willing to even pay a pre pay postage label).
Still waiting for Ebay to probably side with the buyer and essentially give buyer a PS4 with games for £10-15 hehe.
Down on postage. Down on ebay fees. Down on the product probably seeing as Ebay always sides with buyer.
Probably get bricks in return package.
NEVER ever again with Ebay. Never.
On the plus side, at least it was only £60
That's the last resort. They haven't even opened a claim. Liar liar they will get caught out...
Thank you for your message . It says i am banned from Pm so I can’t respond to your message .
I have contacted eBay and they have said they will favour me and close the case in 2 weeks . Hopefully they do .
Thanks for all appreciate it .
I knew ebay would not side with the buyer when taking all the evidence into consideration. It's a good outcome
Merry Christmas to all who commented and tried to help the op
or you get on chat first, claiming the buyer is being fraudulent..
also, don’t sell an expensive item, to someone with 2 feedback
This is the problem isn't it, you can never be sure.
Logic would dictate the scammer would purchase a new Iphone if this was the initial intention but (A) thieves are often dumb and (B) they may not have the money to purchase a more expensive phone in the first place.
Unfortunately it is impossible to prove where the box fell empty.
i did open a case with ebay, the seller provided weight and all that they had. In the end ebay gave me a refund. Not sure what happened with the seller unfortunately.
sorry… if this is not what you wanted to hear but just put your case forward and hope for the best!!!
You have 0 chance on eBay so deal with it outside of eBay. To some not worth it for £60 but I have always pursued ebay fraudsters by whatever means possible. A guy from Norwich once tried it on me, using a doctored Royal Mail letter to try claim my tracked item to him was not received. Caught him out within seconds and told him what he was doing was fraud and could cost him legal action from RM as well as his job (searched him on Facebook). He crapped a brick and closed the case he had open. Also changed his number
However the feedback may also come into play, i watched this video recently and remembered it, reading this similar story here.
Oh and let him return the empty box if he wishes. I only once had buyer scam me by returning something different to what I sent and I recieved the item even though knew he was pulling a fast 1 and ebay refunded him and it didn't come out my pocket. (edited)
Now I just use marketplace or gumtree , yeah I know just as many scammers on there but I decide on a price and that’s it plus no selling fees.