Advise needed on ebay transaction.

[Raymond Fries]

I purchased a New Dremel Tool from a seller on 9/11 for 69.99 with free shipping. On 9/13 I received a Dremel tool from Sears.com. Included was an invoice saying it was ordered by and billed to the same individual in Tampa FL and shipped to me. The total was 94.15. Very odd. I called the customer service number on the invoice to get it sorted out and was told that the order number did not exist in their system. In addition, she said that the user who was billed could not be found either. I do not know what is wrong here.

I thought about contacting ebay but their policy is to work it out with the seller first. I got a tool as advertised. No problem there. But if it was some kind of shady deal on the seller's end, do I have anything to worry about? Should I just use the tool and let it go?

Please advise...

[Mike Henderson]

Did you pay via PayPal? And if so, was the correct amount ($69.99) taken from your account?

Mike

[Jim Koepke]

It could be a form of money laundering.

Or they are using a credit card to make money that they do no intend to pay off.

Lots of possibilities.

jtk

[Raymond Fries]

I did use PayPal and was billed 69.99 and I got the exact tool I paid for. The details are just wierd. I just want to make sure that I am not liable in any way if something was shady in the deal.

[David G Baker]

It could be drop shipped as well. In the past this was a no/no with Ebay. I purchased several items around 15 years ago from an Ebay seller and the items were shipped from the manufacturer. The transactions were fast, the items were excellent and the price was good. I checked back with the seller a few weeks later and found out that Ebay had removed him from their site for drop shipping items. This policy may have changed due to the heavy volume of sales taking place on Ebay.
If you don't have any problems with the item, I would still contact the seller for you own satisfaction.

[Malcolm Schweizer]

I'm with Jim. Either they stole a credit card and are shipping to you so that they can't be traced for using the card, yet they still made $69... Or they work at the warehouse and have found a way to ship things but if they ship it to themselves it would raise a red flag. A shipment here, a shipment there- no red flags, but they get the money.

[Wade Lippman]

Sure sounds like something is foul, but you contacted Sears and that's all anyone could expect. Enjoy the tool.

[Frederick Skelly]

Sure smells like some kind of credit card fraud, doesnt it?

Strictly speaking, you probably dont have to do anything. But you could just talk to your local police and get their thoughts whether you need to worry about anything or need to take any action. Ours has a non emergency number and yours probably has too.

Let us know what you learn, if you call them.
Fred

[Beau Cassidy]

I have bought plenty of things from one particular ebay store that are returns. Most of the time the previous invoice and purchaser's name and address are still included.

[Raymond Fries]

Sent the seller an email this morning requesting an explanation. I will post back what happens.

Beau - Great explanation but could not happen here. I ordered on 9/11. The sears order was placed on 9/12. I received the tool on 9/13.

Thanks everyone.