I sold a rare Erickson engine on eBay for AUD $545 "Buy It Now" on 3rd Nov. 2012. The Italian buyer eventually sent the money total of $616.80 (including AUD $71.80 for Air-Mail) but specified (pleaded !) that I declare a value of only $20 on the Customs Declaration form, thus precluding Insurance and/or Tracking. I was wary, but as he had already sent the full amount, I thought I was safe - WRONG !! About 2 weeks later he emailed me saying he did not receive the package. I emailed back saying that 2 weeks was not enough, so after about 4 weeks I received notification from eBay that a case had been filed against me for non-arrival of the item in question. I sent a scan of the receipt I received from the local Post Office when the item was posted (showing the cost of $71.80) but this was not acceptable to eBay, who have now advised me that they have found in favour of the Italian buyer, and refunded his money in full. They demanded that I provide proof that the buyer actually received the item, which of course, is impossible. All this now means that I have lost my $545 item + $71.80 for shipping, whilst the "buyer" not only gets his money back in full, but my item as well. To add insult to injury, I am prevented from leaving negative feedback for this buyer, so I cannot warn other sellers of his illegal activities. Sadly it seems that the onus is on the seller to prove that the item WAS received, rather than the buyer having to prove he never got it. My eBay record is 100% perfect over 10 years and 909 transactions, whilst my Italian friend has 9 transactions since he joined eBay on 28th August 2012. He has no record of being interested in the type of item he purchased (an Erickson,a rare and unique model engine) but rather, he has purchased a few cheap items such as men's razors simply to "get some runs on the board". The policy of eBay is very much in favour of the buyer, however dishonest he may be, and the seller has practically no rights at all.

The buyers eBay name is - mingmongo12

The engine's Serial # is FE1200365 Please contact me (Bob Allan - 7enya7) if you see this engine advertised anywhere.