I have been an active private seller on eBay since 2008 and have received only positive feedback so far. I always describe my items accurately and transparently. However, my latest experience shows that eBay does not protect sellers, makes completely one-sided decisions about refunds, and is now even charging accounts with false claims.

Date of experience: February 2025

In my case (Case No. *******757), the item was sold entirely correctly and as described. After the purchase, the buyer asked again about the color of the item, even though it was clearly stated in the description and visible in the photos. I confirmed the color again, and the buyer was satisfied with that. Nevertheless, he later opened a case, falsely claiming that the description was incorrect.

Unfair and legally indefensible decision by eBay:

Without hearing me or considering my statement, eBay refunded the full purchase price to the buyer.
I was not contacted, asked for a statement, or given any chance to respond, and my complaint was ignored.
EBay falsely claimed that I had not replied, even though I sent a detailed complaint by email on February 4,2025, at 5:17 pm.
By 5:19 pm, I already had an automatic confirmation from eBay that my message had been received and that they would get back to me.
I have screenshots of my sent email as well as eBay's response, clearly proving my complaint was received. Nonetheless, it was ignored, and eBay claimed I had not gotten in touch.
Later, this false claim became relevant to eBay's decision. They justified the refund by saying I supposedly did not respond – which is demonstrably untrue.
As a result, eBay's decision is not only unfair but also legally indefensible, because my objection was ignored and I was falsely accused of failing to respond.
The buyer now has his money back and probably still has the item at my expense.
But it gets worse: After eBay unlawfully withdrew the money from me, my account was simply put at a negative balance of 150 euros.

EBay not only refunded the amount but also debited my seller account with an unjustified claim.
I am now supposed to pay 150 euros, even though the refund was unjustified and eBay demonstrably ignored my statement.

Why sellers are not safe on eBay:

No opportunity to present your case; eBay decides unilaterally in favor of buyers without hearing the seller.
False claims by eBay; they ignore appeals and act as if the seller never responded.
Unfair refunds and account manipulation; buyers often get their money back and keep the item.
EBay charges seller accounts without basis; if you ever become involved in a refund, you can suddenly be suspended with a negative balance.
EBay profits from refunds and has a vested interest in favoring buyers at the expense of sellers.

Conclusion: eBay is no longer safe for private sellers I have always used eBay fairly and never received negative feedback – yet eBay treats me like an offender. Anyone who sells privately should be aware that eBay favors buyers, ignores seller complaints, and now even imposes unjustified charges.

I will now take this case to consumer protection and can no longer recommend eBay as a selling platform for private sellers.

I purchased an item and never received it. It was returned to the seller because of a mistake in the shipping address. Thinking the problem was because of paypal I filed a dispute with paypal. They said the item was shiped to the address provided so to bad. Ebay says you filed a paypal dispute so nothing can be done. Paypal notified Ebay immediately when I filed the dispute. Apparently communication with paypal is great when it is favors ebay. But they have no way to determine anything when it comes to guarentees. Stay away ebay has become very slimely and will steal your money.

Once the bot says to bad don't even bother contacting them. It is a waste of time. They will just tell you you should have read the terms and conditions. I proved that I never rerceived tthe item and they don't care. I will never buy anything from there again. For the most part anything new onm ebay can be found on google shopping cheaper because of the exhorbanet fees they charge. After looking I found what I need for much less elsewhere. Mecari and poshmark are much better alternatives than ebay. I shopped for a duffle bag and everything on ebay was over priced. I ended up buying something on Poshmark and it much better than anything they had.

If you try and leave a negative review they will not allow it and will block you from changing it because they say they have rules. The rules are dont say anyhting about all kinds of things or you will be blocked from leaving a review at all. They protect their sellers because they do not want to inpact their ability to sell things. I have now found the feedback is meaningless. Stay away they will steal your money.

I've been on ebay for 21 years now. Something they insist on pointing out EVERY time I need to call them. As if I don't know when I joined. I need to be reminded. WHY?

Today, and this started days ago actually, look at ANY listing, usually shipping info is in a tab right next to item description. But for some time that has been missing. Tried two different browsers, same thing.

Now when I shop this is one of the important bits of info I want to see. First where is said item coming from, what carrier (some are worse than others, worth avoiding.) AND if it's not right on the listing the cost.
THIS IS MISSING NOW!

(Note, THREE things I always do when shopping on ebay. Check the feedback, see where the shop is actually located, and the shipping info.)

I should not have to look at a shops about page when the very first thing I do is click US only. BUT... you better take the time to go look at any shop you land on, go to the about page, and so often it's CHINA. (Or some other country NOT USA.) Shipped from the USA but the shop is on another part of the globe? That USUALLY means it's AMAZON. Some jerk fills orders and never even touches the item. So now I always check shop locations too.
Then DO check feedback. I can usually tell, some people are just never happy and will leave a neg. Not too hard to spot those. But if you see HUNDREDS in just the past year? Negs? RUN AWAY. And WHY are those horrible sellers even allowed to stay? $$$$$ Ebay doesn't care that's why.

OH that's just another reason to always take a look at the neg feedback. If you see a whole lot of late deliveries, lost deliveries and like that, most likely it's amazon. (Gees, I kept getting assorted neighbors amazon packages at my house until I finally hung a sign on the door saying AMAZON check your package YOU ARE AT THE WRONG HOUSE. Then it stopped. They must hire the dumbest people there.) When I check shipping info and see something like "standard shipping." Just WHO IS standard shipping? That combined with the ton of bad feedback for lost, late, or missing items, sure bet it's an amazon drop shipper. Just FYI.

Today it's shipping that is missing from every listing. Clearly some teck on their end screwed up the code.
So I go around their maze to get ebay to call me. A "Rochelle" (directly from India, VERY hard to understand) She tries, has me on hold to "check something" but vanishes. FINE. Around the maze again, pick from their list of reasons that DOES NOT HAVE the actual reason, argue with an auto bot, FINALLY get to the point they will call me. This time an American girl calls me, very nice, tries to find something out has to put me on hold, at least this time the aweful hold music tells me the call is still going unlike the first one that just went dead. While on hold Rochell keeps calling me BUT she cannot hear me so she hangs up. OVER AND OVER AGAIN!
GEES FIGURE OUT YOUR PHONE IS BROKE AND STOP TRYING HUH? Then the one who I thought WAS actually helping also cuts me off.
NOW beyond furious I go through the bot, the voicemail yet again, but this time my reason for calling is answered by me LITERALLY SHOUTING into the phone AGENT, HUMAN, MANAGER, COMPLAINT. The dumb thing tells me to go to ebay's website, gives me the damn site as if I don't already have it, AND HANGS UP!

During all this mess, I figured it might be faster to just ask the seller where the thing is coming from but when I hit contact seller, it seems someone already asked. So NOT on my end then huh? Someone else already had to ask?

Lastly, and this is a whole other issue, MANY SELLERS on ebay are actually selling AMAZON. I have been told by ebay repeatedly this is most certainly against their TOS. But do they DO anything? OH HELL NO. In fact, I started simply returning any and everything that comes in an amazon package, or by an amazon truck, OR even has amazon coupons inside. I just send it back. But then I'll leave a neg feedback saying I did NOT order from amazon, but so far, every single time that feedback gets removed, and even if I report the seller to ebay, that seller NEVER gets removed.

This missing shipping info never did get resolved. I lost track of how many times I TRIED getting through to a human who might figure it out. Finally just too frustrated I gave up. Perhaps if they start seeing flaming reviews like this one MAYBE someone in charge will look into this? Yea that will happen.

Ebay is going down the toilet fast. More than a few times now stuff I use to buy there, I simply find elsewhere now. After a dozen sites turn out to be in China, or feedback is as many negs as pos. OR like today, NO CLUE what state something is coming from. Even my OWN listings no longer show where stuff comes from. Maybe that's why my sales have all but died. I might have to start just putting it in the descriptions. I should not have to. EBAY FIX YOUR DAMN SITE!

Was blocked and account suspended right after i won a bid and paid for it from seller:"KRAZZYKLEARANCE101 from Denver Colorado usa. Please be very but very careful! Do not buy anything from her!and specially do not bid on anything! She is a costumer support agent from Ebay and she is protected by Ebay! What she did to me was that she isssued a shipping label and placed the tracking number on my ebay account! But afterwards she reported to Ebay about my account being a scam and Ebay blocked and suspendend my account without helping me to contact this seller about the shipement of my paid item! It happened to me! And again my another new account were blocked and suspended when i reopened another account on ebay to try to contact this same seller and right after i contacted her to ask her to refunfd me back my money i was blocked and SUSPENDED AGAIN! From Ebay
And ebay just wont HELP ME TO GET MY MONEY BACK!t
This account on Ebay is the real SCAM!
And it is managed by EBAY its self.
IT IS managed by REAL EBAY COSTUMER AGENTS this is a scam account from ebay AND you will end up losing your money and be blocked on ebay if you buy from the seller! Please do not buy from this seller:krazzyklearance101 account EVER!
I had my av\ccount for more then one year and i never ever had any problem on ebay with my account all my transactions were smooth and nice with other sellers and went all well,till i won a MK bag from a bid of this seller!
To my surprise i was the only bidder on it so i won it easliy and i thought i was going to get my item! But i never got it! And this is not a joke! I tried so many t times to get ebay to help me but they never replied my many emails or chats! Amen tto AMAZON! THE PRICES COULD BE MORE HIGHER BUTR COSTUMER SERVICE IS THE BEST!

I was scammed by a buyer who purchased a Coach bag at a lower cost than the exact same bag I sold them. They purchased the bag on day 29 (by their own admission) and opened up a SNAD case on EBay Day 30.

I never received the returned bag but was forced to fully refund the buyer plus shipping both ways, despite being absolutely honest as a seller. It was returned to my parents' address, which I cannot find anywhere on my account.

I literally just spoke to representative 19 who couldn't find my parents address on my account either.

I'm not a reseller. Just a person selling out of their closet. I do purchase frequently, hence, the need to sometimes sell.

I'm not cut out for being jerked around on 19 different phone calls where I followed the first 16 representatives directions in real time on the phone.

The sad fact is no one is or should be cut out for eBay the way sellers are treated. I trusted them. I spent a lot of money as a buyer and paid a considerable amount of money to them as a seller.

I took photos of the package and postal receipt for the buyer. I sent tracking updates to the buyer. I had 24 pictures, a manufacturer number, and a scannable QR code for this bag.

30 days later SNAD. They even admitted they had found the bag cheaper at an outlet. I never received the return and was unable to document the condition of the bag because I didn't receive it. It was not delivered to my address or to my parent's address.

EBay chose to break the trust that 16 sales representatives created. They refused to take my word. Now I'm out a $400 bag I sold for $135 net profit and the $200 refund to a buyer who had not purchased anything in a year, prior to purchasing my bag.

It's a catch 22. They literally closed my second appeal via email while I was on the phone with a customer service representative taking notes about my appeal case. How is that even possible?

I lost more than an expensive bag and $200. I lost respect and trust for eBay itself.

Disappointed and not willing to lose anything again.

20 calls now and, apparently, although my parents' address is not on my account, the return was shipped there.

The saddest part is I trusted eBay (16 representatives) to guide me through the process, but they didn't trust me when I told them my parents didn't receive the package.

I had been a good customer for 4 years and I bought many items over these years. But sometimes I had either delivery people deliver my orders to the wrong address or sellers sending them to the wrong address far away from my address all claiming it was delivered to me.

Or as recently use a wrong tracking number, when I clicked on to check my tracking it took me to Amazn.com and it said, Sorry we can't find that package!

I sent several messages to this seller and I first asked them to please let me know if the balls on the end of the curtain rod can be removed and put back on because I noticed the openings of my curtains were small, but they never answered me but shipped it right away instead.

I also sent messages to them about the tracking number being wrong but they never responded to this either. So I sent an email to the Better Business Bureau and I called The Federal Trade Commision and made complaint reports.

I also posted this on ebay's buyer community but unfortunately the people who responded to my posts weren't the kind helpful people who responded to the many posts over the years about the fake tracking number scam.

I also contacted ebay about this too, but unlike in the past they usually sent me a message back in other cases when there was a problem like their site saying my item was delivered but it wasn't delivered to my address, and they usually said that if the seller doesn't respond in several business days they will step in and I usually got a deserved refund but they didn't even respond at all this time.

I eventually not that long afterwards did get my curtain rod delivered to me and I let the seller, eBay and The Better Business Bureau and The Federal Trade Commission know this. I recently got a shocking upsetting email from ebay saying that I was suddenly unfairly suspended indefinitely without any real explanation or warning!

I did get about 4 refunds recently but there were some problems with some items, I also tried to cancel a few items before they were even shipped yet but ebay wouldn't let me so the sellers gave me a refund.

I really thought the suspension email was a spam email until I went to my account and all it said was xxxreasonxxx and claimed that I violated their site's rules but never said how. My last communication was in messages with a seller who offered and gave me a refund was friendly and I thanked them very much as I always did.

I was bidding on an item on eBay on 12/18/2023, which had a high bid of $406.00 from another bidder. I started bidding and indicated that I wanted my max bid to stop at $520.00. EBay then increased the bid to $413.00 by me. It stayed at $413.00 until 2 seconds before the auction ended and then jumped to $530.00 and said the auction had ended. No other bids showed up on the screen. When I looked at the bid history it indicated that my bid was increased by eBay to $520.00 right before expiration and they allowed a bid of $530.00 to beat mine after the auction had expired. (See the attached screenshot) In other words, eBay increased my bid to my max amount to OUTBID MYSELF and then accepted a bid after the auctions expiration time. When I called and spoke with a bidding supervisor, she speculated that a number of bids must have taken place within milliseconds of the expiration, which caused my bid to reach the maximum amount. I asked her if that was the case, then why didn't any of them show up on the bidding screen. She couldn't answer that question nor could she see other bids on her end. I then asked her why they allowed the final bid that beat me to take place after the auction expired? She claimed that their policy is that if the auction expires at 10:47am it really doesn't expire until 10:47 and 59 seconds. I asked her to show me in their bidding policies, or any of their policies, where that is listed. She admitted that it isn't listed in their policies. Really? When you go to a sporting event and the game is over when the clock hits "0", is it really over at "0 and 59 seconds? When I complained to the BBB about what transpired, I got a totally different explanation from eBay as to why they accepted a bid past the expiration time. They said if the ad was posted at 10:47:10 seconds then that is when it really expires. I asked them if that was the case, then why don't they post the exact expiration time on the ad because their sophisticated software is surely capable of doing that? They once again, had no explanation why and it isn't posted on their website. When I asked for the total bid history to show that there was a reason for them to up my bid to my max amount they tried to tell me they couldn't give me that because it was a matter of privacy. So, the bid history they posted on their website, which they claim was not the complete history, is ok to post but the complete history is a matter of privacy. Ebay upped my bid to the max at the last second in what appears to be an attempt to maximize profits. They also create nonexistent verbal policies to allow invalid bids to win expired auctions in what appears to be an attempt to not get sued or investigated for deceptive business practices. They engage in deceptive and probably illegal sales policies and don't care.

Order info
Time placed Sep 27,2023 at 5:21 AM
Order number 21-*******-*******
Total $0.00 (1 item)
Sold by theperfectpart
Item info HYDROGEL Screen Protector For
Samsung Galaxy S23 S22 Ultra S21 S20 Plus Note 20 $3.49
Item number: **************
3 PCS Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus 3 PCS, Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus
Returns accepted through Nov 5,2023.
Unit price $3.49

I Purchased Screen Protectors fo an Android on Wednesday, 09-27-2023. Total cost $ 3.49.
Package was supposedly coming from Hollywood Ca to RI. Zone 7 to Zone 1 effectively. On 10-05-2023,
I questioned theperfectpart about the delay and providing a tracking number which was noticeably missing... Their reply was the following::
We shipped this item out asap first business day and it is on the way to you. Unfortunately for this product and sale price, we do not provide tracking on the quantity you purchased due to the small margin between cost and sale price of this OEM item. There is no tracking on this because we sell the OEM part, not copies. So our cost is higher, but we still want to be competitive in the market, so we have a low price with a part that costs just almost as much. So instead of sending with parcel tracking, which is 3.09$, we send without tracking so that we can have a small margin. It is still USPS FCM and will arrive in the normal transit time. We pass these savings to you instead of charging you +3.09 for the shipping. We take care of the shipping and make sure the price is low for you. Items typically take 4-6 business days to arrive. The current estimated delivery date is by 10/7 I am hopeful it arrives to you soon. Sorry about this,@@( name removed)@@

-- While I did not debate their statements at the time, There is no such thing as and OEM GEL Screen Protector for a Samsung Phone. Although there are some that are kind of recommended from different sources.
Also: if the package had indeed been First Class Mail it should have arrived already given it was shipped on the " first business day " which would have been the following day... I finally asked for a refund on 10-13-2023, since nothing had arrived... today is now 10-20-2023, and the package still never has arrived.
As a post script... I left a negative review on Ebay for this event, and it vanished... possibly due to the refund,...but something kind of questionable about that? However its my opinion that Ebay " Monitors, and " Washes " the reviews to help keep their Vendors stats. Looking good,... Regardless of the refund This still happened...
While it was an inexpensive purchase I thought it might be worth mentioning,... especially since Ebay Quashed the review I left there.
Also, I would give " theperfectpart " a ( Zero) except the system won't let me...

Ebay recently offered a coupon called LUXESAVINGS that could be used for 15% off the price of a handbag, with certain price thresholds depending on the amount. It was valid from 5am Pacific time (PT) 9/11/23 through 9/17/23 1159pm PT. On 9/17/23, around noon Central time (CT), I applied the coupon to my best offer of $5000 for a bag I was looking to purchase. The coupon took $725 off of the item. However I did not complete the transaction as I decided to think about it some more, and noted the expiration time of the coupon. Around 11pm CT that same day, I went back to purchase the item. I once again entered my best offer, however this time when I tried to apply the coupon, it did not work. I tried a few more times, very confused because it was not yet 1159pm PT, so the coupon should have worked. Figured I would have to contact Ebay. Monday was a busy work day for me so Tuesday morning (9/19/23) I tried to use Ebay chat, which was worthless. The chat agent had zero clue what I was even telling them and didn't know the difference between Pacific time and Central time. So I called Ebay otp, and long story short, the agent discovered there had been MANY reports of this LUXESAVINGS coupon code not working when it should have been, and that he would put in a ticket for me. He said I would hear from Ebay within 72 hours. 72 hours came and went, so I called back on Fri 9/22. This time I was bounced between 2 agents. The first was clueless and had to trasfer me to a different "buying team". The second tried to lie and tell me the coupon had expired at 1159pm Eastern time. I informed her she was incorrect and that I had taken a pic of the term&con and the expiration time was clearly 1159pm Pacific time. After 23 mins of being put on hold multiple times she then admitted the issue I had experienced was a known issue and that IT was notified of it. They would reach out when there was a solution or supply a new coupon. I am sick of waiting and feel nothing is being done. Filed a report with BBB, but have not heard a response from Ebay. Messaged them via Instagram, and got some generic reply about how they reserve the right to cancel coupons at any time, and a new one would not be issued. Terrible company. Why advertise a coupon if you are going to shut it down prior to the advertised expiration time? Will definitely not be purchasing the item unless a new coupon is issued. Unfortunate for all involved. I missed out on the item, seller missed out on selling, and Ebay missed out on $$$.

SELLERS BEWARE. If I could give a negative rating it would be deserved. Today as a new seller I found out email has a scam policy in place that can allow a buyer to scam you easily not only out of your payment but out of your product. Im change is only made when they're exposed so tell all your friends and family about this. I sold a brand new item that the customer acknowledged was brand new in the text conversation that eBay can read which I was told by them. A buyer can scam you easily by reporting that the product has a defect and even when you offer to help the buyer return the product to the manufacturer to get a replacement which they would do obviously without a problem they can deny that and let eBay know they want to return the item to you and get a full refund for the now used item. Ebay will now send you an email telling you that you need to accept the return within 4 days and if you don't the buyer will get a full refund and get to keep your item. When you call eBay about email you received they'll tell you that they ADVISE the seller to accept a now used product back while losing the payment either issued or payment that was put on hold. Even though your not a manufacturer of the product and can't and have offered to help in sending it back they'll tell you that they will investigate the case in the four days to make a decision. After you reach out to them as the seller because they won't call you back they'll then tell you that a decision was made in the buyers favor but when you ask how is that possible given the circumstance they'll then admit the decision wasn't based on any real investigation simply a person at the end of four days looking into the chat to see if have in that time sent them or offered them a shipping label to return the item that's used now back to you. After telling them that makes no sense they'll then tell you that this is their policy that clearly is catered to the buyer who spends money so they make money while you the seller are just someone they pay in their eyes. You'll now be told that a supervisor will go over the review from the person that reviewed nothing specific about your case instead just checked to see if you sent or offered return shipping label and close all cases in favor of the buyer simply because of that. With that all being said, I hate for people to use this clear and evident flaw of a policy as an exploit being a buyer but until people do they'll be no change. So remember you can just buy an item from a normal seller who doesn't have a store just a normal person trying to sell an item use it and say it has defect and if that seller doesn't send you a return label to accept return you'll be automatically deemed the winner of the situation and granted your money back as well the ability by eBay to also keep the product now gaining a profit. So feel free to buy any product you may want to test and if you don't like it or you don't put a return request in and simply say it's defective and that's it. Also eBay will tell a seller that they will only receive an email about the decision and you won't get a call but the entire time will actually call the buyer to explain to them how if the seller doesn't send the label that they'll surely get their money back and get to keep the item which I found out during a conversation with the buyer. In my case thankfully he wasn't exploiting the system and we both will work out the return to the manufacturer as I offered many times but wasn't even acknowledged as an option but is now but anyone wanted to actual scam you can do so in this manner with no protection to you as a seller. I will soon be filing a lawsuit against eBay for their scammer policy as well a few other issues related but not limited to their misleading and not clear information about if your a new seller on their platform that they'll automatically put your payment on hold for either 14 or 30 days which is also a policy but don't tell you that until you have already sent the item to the buyer. They claim your told before listing the item that you MAY have your funds put on hold which is misleading and a blatent lie based on their own policy that you will definitely without a doubt as a new seller have all payments out on hold but won't tell you definitely it'll be put on hold before selling because if they told you that you'd likely decide to pass on selling there which causes them to lose money. They've been scamming sellers like this for years and it stops soon.