I helped my mom order a spare part on eBay. Before the actual item (which is due next week), a weird little package showed up. It had a cheap keychain you can write a number on (it was blank) and a strange letter. The letter said something like:
“Thank you for buying from our eBay shop. Your order is on its way. Here’s a small gift! You can now join our lottery to win gift cards to use in our shop.”
It feels like a scam, probably trying to trick us into entering some code on a sketchy website to ‘win’ something.
My mom is pretty freaked out since the package is in her name. I just want to confirm if this is harmless or if we need to take action. Can we just ignore this?
By the way, we’re in Germany. Thanks for any advice!
If the package matches the tracking number submitted to eBay, then this is most likely a scam.
Here’s what might be happening:
The seller is shipping from China, which takes weeks, but they trick buyers into thinking it’s coming from a local warehouse for faster delivery. If the listing said ‘shipped from the US’ but uses an international tracking number, they can get flagged.
They aren’t sending anything at all. When your mom complains to eBay about not getting the item, the seller has proof of delivery (even if it was just the keychain), and your dispute could be automatically declined.
You should open a dispute now and explain what happened. Waiting might reduce your chances of resolving this.
greves said: @Amber
Aw man, I’ll start the dispute now. Thanks for explaining. My mom barely shops online, maybe a few times a year, and this happens!
Honestly, this happens often with sellers shipping from China. The item will probably still arrive, but they use these tricks to avoid suspicion. That said, it’s still shady. If they were honest, they’d stock their items locally instead of pretending to ship domestically.
@Amber
I had a similar issue buying a lawnmower blade. The first tracking info showed it was delivered to an address that wasn’t mine. But then I got a message from the seller saying my package was lost, and they were reshipping it.
Weird thing is, I ended up with two blades in the end!
@bertilhughes
That sounds like a mix-up. Maybe the seller initially gave you the wrong tracking info and fixed it later. At least you ended up with extra blades!
This is definitely a red flag. Sending a cheap keychain is a way for the seller to show eBay that something was delivered, even though it’s not the actual item you bought.
Davis said:
This is definitely a red flag. Sending a cheap keychain is a way for the seller to show eBay that something was delivered, even though it’s not the actual item you bought.
Ugh, seems like that’s exactly what’s happening. I’m filing a dispute now. Thanks for the heads-up!
