The Latest Scams & The Etsy Feedback System That Facilitates It

I don't know how many other sellers this is happening to.....but I've had it happen one too many times here on Etsy to not speak my mind about it. I do know some other sellers that have been dealing with similar scams.

The Scam:

The buyer purchases an item from you; then after the purchase is complete they contact you requesting that you send the item to a different address than the one that they have listed in their Etsy and PayPal accounts. If you do that, you will be forced by PayPal to refund the customer if they claim they never got it. In other words.....they have the item and a refund.....and you, the seller have zip.

If you don't ship the item to the other address they asked you to ship to; the customer will be angry because the scam didn't work in their favor....so they will come up with issues with the item; and either leave negative feedback or they threaten to leave negative feedback if they don't receive a full refund.....and they still expect you to allow them to keep the item.

Another senerio:

They will say they moved and never got the item because you refused to ship the item to their new address that they sent to you after the sale was completed. Which let me make very clear....DON'T DO IT! PayPal will take your money out of your account and refund the buyer if you did not ship to the address listed in PayPal.

The worst part of this type of scam is that you can't do anything about it. Etsy will allow them to get away with it. Etsy will go so far as to tell you to work it out with the buyer, and to refund them or give them another item.....they offer no assistance at all.

In other words; if you don't refund the customer and allow them to keep the item you will end up with negative feedback from the customer.....and that's okay with Etsy.

My latest scammer went into great detail in her feedback; stating the item was damaged, rusted, scratched, etc.; basically calling the item a piece of junk.....and said that she was "ripped-off" by me. She never once tried to contact me prior to leaving the feedback to let me know of any problems....she just told horrible lies when leaving feedback because her scam didn't work out in her favor. She thought I would ship to another address, but I decided to contact PayPal about it, and I was told "Absolutely, under no circumstance do you ship to another address.....and it sounded like a scam to them".

After she left the negative feedback the buyer finally did contact me stating she would consider changing her feedback if I refunded her in full. Keep in mind that she wants the item, and admits that it's a cute piece in her convo to me.....and that she wants to keep it. She never once asked to return the piece for a refund.....even though I had mentioned that she could have returned the item for a full refund, rather than leaving negative feedback.

She also made it quite clear that she understands the Etsy's feedback system....and that the negative feedback that she received from me doesn't show to the public or to other sellers, so she could care less. She even went as far as to gloat about that fact, and how the negative feedback only hurts me, as the seller. She even added a smiley face after the comment to let me know she was gloating about her not being affected by the feedback.

The Etsy feedback system is totally unacceptable and unfair to all the honest sellers. I think as sellers here on Etsy we need to make it clear that these feedback policies only hurt the honest seller; and should be changed to make it a fair place for both buyers and sellers to conduct their business.

I'd love to hear from other sellers.....what scams are you dealing with? I think as sellers we need to look out for each other.....and let others know what kind of scams are being perpetrated here on Etsy!

Also, as a seller.....how do you feel about the feedback system? How have the changes affected your doing business here?

FRAUDS COMMITTED ON ETSY AND PAYPAL

Hello;
I noticed that ThePeppermintTree is one of EE team members and I wanted to warn you about this buyer and seller. I do not want for her to take advantage of other Etsy buyers and sellers on your team.
This particular individual used to be a buyer on Etsy by the name of BrenBooneDesigns. She is now operating under a new username: ThePeppermintTree.

On February 13, she purchased one of my items for almost $50. On February 2011, she wrote positive feedback for me that she had received this item and was very happy with it. Soon afterwards, I wrote positive feedback for her because she had paid for this item in a timely manner and had written what seemed to be genuine positive feedback. I strongly regret giving her positive feedback now, but unfortunately it is too late.

On April 2011, I received an email from PayPal saying that this buyer claimed that she had never made this purchase and that someone was using her credit card in fraud for this item. Soon afterwards, I received an email from PayPal saying that the buyer's credit card company had reversed the charges and that I was being withheld the $50.I tried contacting her 3 different times regarding this problem and never got a reply. I noticed shortly after receiving the PayPal emails that she no longer had a shop under the user name of BrenBooneDesigns. I have 3 pieces of evidence against her:
1. I have a copy of the original transaction
2. I have a copy of the postal receipt
3. I have her positive feedback as part of my feedback history in my store.

PayPal said that it could take up to 75 days for the buyer's credit card company to make a final decision whether to rule in her or my favor.
Today, May 20, I received an email from PayPal saying that the credit card company decided to rule in her favor, despite all the evidence that I had produced against her.

She has a Facebook page under Bren Boone Designs:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bren-Boone-Designs/108984765808666
on this page, she has linked it to her new Etsy shop that she just opened on May 13, 2011: ThePeppermintTree.

I can't help but wonder why her original account, BrenBooneDesigns, was suddenly removed from Etsy. I have now noticed that her new shop, ThePeppermintTree, is "on vacation." It seems suspect to me that if she just opened this shop on May 13, that she would be putting her shop on hold this soon afterwards. It also makes me wonder because her last sold item was on May 19, 9 days ago.

I would be happy to send you copies of the transaction, the original positive feedback, etc as evidence. I also have the various PayPal emails saved.
If she did this to me, I'm pretty sure that she has probably tried doing this to other Etsy sellers as well.

Beware of this person!
Please contact me with any questions or additional information that you might have regarding this individual.

I simply feel like this person has probably gotten away with her unethical practices too many times.

I actually did call PayPal and spoke to someone very nice. But he told me that PP was not the one to make the final decision...it is up to the buyer's credit card company. They said they didn't want to become "involved" in this incident, yet was going to charge me a $20 fee just for intervening. Fortunately the guy must have felt somewhat sorry for me because he waived that fee (since the total amount was only about $50). But I was less than happy with the way PP dealt with this.

I have tried contacting Etsy several times about this buyer but never get a reply other than their generic email saying that a "real person" will contact me asap. Not so!

I have a feeling that she is a real con artist. Often times people who suddenly disappear from Etsy and then come back with a different user name are suspect. And that is exactly what she did.

I have not mentioned her name in any of my FB pages, blog, etc. And I don't want to get in trouble with Etsy for "calling out" and possible retaliation from this particular individual.

But I'm very glad to hear that you have taken this seriously, because Etsy and PayPal certainly have not.

I've tried contacting Etsy several times regarding this person but have not gotten anywhere with them. My first email to them was over a week ago. I sent them another one a few days ago and absolutely nothing.
I find that all these comment on her FB page about welcoming her to the EE team were strange and suspect.

Interestingly enough, when I search for her under "seller search" on Etsy, nothing comes up. I've only been able to link to her Etsy site via her FB fan page. Something very fishy is going on here.

This is VERY strange. Because earlier tonight she was a part of your team. Now she isn't. This is really bizarre.

Now this is really strange ...I found just about all of the comments from other EE team members welcoming her have just been deleted! We both saw all the comments, but now they are gone (at least I can't see them).

Something very strange is going on here.

Yes, she used to have another shop on Etsy by the name of BrenBooneDesigns. That one is no longer in existence. I noticed that she quit that shop soon after she filed that false claim to me via PayPal.

She also has a personal FB page:
http://www.facebook.com/btaylorboone

I didn't find much info here (unless you become a friend, I think most of it is hidden). But that is her personal site and she also has a blog.

**Anonymous** The victim have asked not to have her name or etsy id exposed due to fear of retaliation from the con artist.
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Online Scams- Protect Yourself