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Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

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Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#281

Post by amatecha »

grecy wrote: post #210
amatecha wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I've heard stuff like this for years and years and long ago decided I will never sell anything online. Craigslist in-person only.

I've even got friends who are scared of that - apparently it's a real thing that when you show up to sell something (camera, lens, phone) multiple people will be there to distract you, snatch it and run. Even in broad daylight in a crowded area.

Oh yeah, I actively assume such a setup is in place every time I go to make a Craigslist exchange. Thus far has never happened, but even if they tried it wouldn't succeed. Multiple family members in police services has helped me know the "tricks of the trade" from a young age, hahah ^_^

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#282

Post by devilbunny »

clSTophEjUdRanu wrote: post #116
canada_dry wrote: post #56

This is such a basic issue that I don't understand why USPS or some other shipper w/ bricks-n-mortar haven't stepped up to offer some sort of package shipping certification. If I was the seller it could work as simply as me bringing the item to a shipper who would take their own photos and weigh the items being packaged up as well as some check that the item is as being described to the recipient. In turn the shipper…

There is already registered mail via USPS. The Hope Diamond was delivered to the Smithsonian via registered mail.

It's still the preferred shipping method of jewelers, last I checked. The government takes the security of the mail very seriously, and you can insure registered mail packages for up to $50k.

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#283

Post by devilbunny »

grecy wrote: post #210
amatecha wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I've heard stuff like this for years and years and long ago decided I will never sell anything online. Craigslist in-person only.

I've even got friends who are scared of that - apparently it's a real thing that when you show up to sell something (camera, lens, phone) multiple people will be there to distract you, snatch it and run. Even in broad daylight in a crowded area.

I can see this. Offer to meet them at a police station.

If it's a phone, meet them at your carrier's store and have a rep confirm that the phone will work and can be activated on their network (no IMEI block, correct frequencies, etc.).

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#284

Post by jrockway »

im3w1l wrote: post #235
jrockway wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At least for camera equipment, this does exist. You can take your camera to B&H's used department, and they will buy it from you. You can also go to B&H's used department and buy a used camera from them. The advantage of this over Amazon is that as a seller, you know B&H isn't going to screw you over in any way, and if they do, you know where to serve your lawsuit. A trusted business with a physical location is the c…

> but never sold anything because the amount of money they offer wasn't worth it to me. Ok, so this is a serious problem, wont you agree? But is it an unavoidable one? Would it be possible to get something in-between, where it's both a good deal and adds a lot of trust? I suspect the physical presence part is a big driver of cost. Both because of rent, but also wages. And because the camera is not displayed to the wh…

I don't think people pay that well for used camera gear. Nobody wants last year's model for the price of this year's model, even if it still takes good photos.

In my case, I wanted to sell the previous model of a camera after the new one came out. To upgrade, of course. They offered about $100 on a $400 camera, and sold used ones for about $300. That's a big cut, so I decided not to upgrade and am perfectly happy.

My time to make a listing somewhere, collect offers, vet a one-off purchaser, and pay for shipping was probably more than $200, so it was actually a good deal. It's not a good deal if you operate at scale and can get the efficiency up, however. So if you wanted to start a business, you could probably eat their lunch. (Or fragment the market and put everyone out of business!)

I mostly buy old film cameras used from them. People selling them on eBay bought a custom-made 4x5 camera for $6000, don't want it anymore, but can't bear to see "their baby" go for less than $5999. People selling to B&H are less emotionally attached so the prices are better.

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#286

Post by Can_Not »

axaxs wrote: post #245
undersuit wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Newegg has problems too. All my friends have RMA horror stories with them, mine is having to pay $50 and shipping because the plastic PCI-E retention clip broke when I was disassembling my new computer with DOA motherboard for an RMA. Also, Newegg gave up on maintaining their reliable filtering tools for third party sellers.

Mine is returning a phone, and having them ask for my Gmail password three times. Maybe it's my fault I didn't disassociate something prior to factory reset, but the phone was fine. And new. They claimed they couldn't complete the return until they had full access. That alone tells me they are selling used phones as new. After I refused, they told me to just change it to something temporarily so they could log in. I…

No, it's not your fault, Google gives you zero warning that factory resetting will lock out the next user.

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#287

Post by Can_Not »

_underfl0w_ wrote: post #125
sevenf0ur wrote: post #59

> If you’re going to sell on Amazon or elsewhere, take an actual video of you packing the camera. You need all the defense you can get against items mysteriously disappearing. Isn't this evidence just as bad as the buyer's account that he didn't receive any accessories? One could just unpack the box right after filming.

I think this every time someone suggests filming part of the transaction. Nowhere does video of an action imply that it was not immediately undone right after filming.

Just roll the camera all the way to the mail drop.

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#288

Post by Ghjklov »

amatecha wrote: post #281
grecy wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've even got friends who are scared of that - apparently it's a real thing that when you show up to sell something (camera, lens, phone) multiple people will be there to distract you, snatch it and run. Even in broad daylight in a crowded area.

Oh yeah, I actively assume such a setup is in place every time I go to make a Craigslist exchange. Thus far has never happened, but even if they tried it wouldn't succeed. Multiple family members in police services has helped me know the "tricks of the trade" from a young age, hahah ^_^

Can you expand on what tricks they use and what to look out for ? Would love to know

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#289

Post by im3w1l »

jrockway wrote: post #284
im3w1l wrote: post #235

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> but never sold anything because the amount of money they offer wasn't worth it to me. Ok, so this is a serious problem, wont you agree? But is it an unavoidable one? Would it be possible to get something in-between, where it's both a good deal and adds a lot of trust? I suspect the physical presence part is a big driver of cost. Both because of rent, but also wages. And because the camera is not displayed to the wh…

I don't think people pay that well for used camera gear. Nobody wants last year's model for the price of this year's model, even if it still takes good photos. In my case, I wanted to sell the previous model of a camera after the new one came out. To upgrade, of course. They offered about $100 on a $400 camera, and sold used ones for about $300. That's a big cut, so I decided not to upgrade and am perfectly happy. My…

> That's a big cut,

I was trying to reason around why they take that big of a cut.

Re: Amazon let a fraudster keep my Sony A74 IV and refunded him

#290

Post by joncrane »

axaxs wrote: post #245
undersuit wrote: post #218

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Newegg has problems too. All my friends have RMA horror stories with them, mine is having to pay $50 and shipping because the plastic PCI-E retention clip broke when I was disassembling my new computer with DOA motherboard for an RMA. Also, Newegg gave up on maintaining their reliable filtering tools for third party sellers.

Mine is returning a phone, and having them ask for my Gmail password three times. Maybe it's my fault I didn't disassociate something prior to factory reset, but the phone was fine. And new. They claimed they couldn't complete the return until they had full access. That alone tells me they are selling used phones as new. After I refused, they told me to just change it to something temporarily so they could log in. I…

Wait, you need to enter the previous owner's credentials in order to wipe a phone?
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