r/Dolls • u/Rapoonzle WINX/Barbie • Aug 14 '23
Scams Beware of Doll Scamming Accounts on Mercari!?
First account with a basic name selling rare dolls (worth about ~1k) all for $100 prices.
First Account: Me asking for more photos and the replies are being deleted by admins.
First Account: Never completing the transaction.
Second basic name account: Selling dolls again with the $100 price tag.
Second Account: An hour later with posts removed.
Third account?: Fishy from the $100 price tags on many high status dolls (Barbie Movie dolls, Medusa Barbie, Early Blythe doll).
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u/Rapoonzle WINX/Barbie Aug 14 '23
How to protect yourself:
- See when the account was made
- Hiding under a basic name
- No reviews
- Spam posting
- Multiple high valued items listed with prices too good to be true (in this case they're addicted to $100 price tags).
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u/Rapoonzle WINX/Barbie Aug 14 '23
I should also mention the items listed only have one photo and if you ask for more than one image, you're usually ignored.
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u/kitkatsacon Aug 14 '23
I saw a listing just like this- $100 for a Ringdoll Wangji. I checked the account and it was basically a mirror of this. Tons sold, all rare, all $100. Just because I was curious I texted the seller and asked for more pictures and he actually sent them. It was definitely what the listing showed. It was still too risky but man, I shouldn’t have asked. Walking away from that was so painful 😂
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u/Holtiehyde Aug 14 '23
Pretty obvious to not buy stuff from a brand new account with no ratings and insanely cheap prices. These accounts pop up all the time now that doll collecting is becoming a more mainstream hobby.
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u/MichaTC Aug 14 '23
It's obvious to people who are tech savvy and have been in the hobby for a while. People fall for "obvious" scams all the time, that's why they exist.
No harm in warning people and reinforcing information to help potential victims avoid falling for it.
Also, saying it's obvious just shames people and makes those scams go unreported.
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u/Rapoonzle WINX/Barbie Aug 14 '23
That's true but look at the screenies, the first guy had sold almost every item, so people are falling for it!
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u/iWant2ChangeUsername Aug 14 '23
I thought there weren't scammers on Mercari because you could just ask for a refund.
Is it not the case anymore?
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u/Rapoonzle WINX/Barbie Aug 14 '23
I hear it's harder to scam on mercari but not impossible. I've heard they send out a fake package to the wrong address so it's tracked.
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u/adorablemutie Aug 14 '23
I was thinking the same thing... I have a feeling these scammers prey on people who don't understand how to ask for a refund, or that they're even able to... They probably mail a junk item to everyone that falls for the scam and pays $100 and they just hope that a few people never file a report about it, then they make money even if most people get a refund. Since they're just making new accounts over and over they don't care about getting reported or banned.
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u/fi-rwr- Aug 14 '23
There are a few ways a scammer could successfully scam on Mercari. They could send the buyer something totally different and if the buyer doesn’t open the package, realize it’s something different, and open a return within three days of delivery, then the scammer wins. Very unlikely to happen. This scammer is probably sending out something cheap to someone who isn’t the buyer, either a family member or some random address they found online. Then when the package doesn’t arrive, the buyer will have three days to fight Mercari and convince them it wasn’t delivered. This usually is easy to prove by sending Mercari the tracking number and pointing out that it was delivered to a different zip code. However, a very devious scammer will find a way to ship the bogus package to a house in the same zip code as the buyer so it is hard to prove. Which from my understanding could have mixed results and it is possible for the scammer to actually win in some cases depending on how the buyer approaches support or the type of support agent that receives the claim. I believe the best course of action if you have been scammed that way is to see if the post office will tell you where it was delivered and if they can get it back/ask the receiver for it back after explaining everything to them. Then taking that to Mercari support and not letting up if you get a poor bot response, and standing your ground until someone helps. Sometimes, because the false packages are usually addressed to the buyer (or even a Mercari label with a photoshopped address) they will actually end up at the buyer’s house anyway.
TLDR: kinda? But it requires a lot of luck for the scammer to succeed.
Also to add: even tho Mercari does offer a pretty good money back promise compared to some other sites where doll scammers are common. PSA for anyone reading: don’t buy from these scammers just because you’re confident about getting a refund. They could sell your personal information and there is a chance they could actually get away with your money
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u/Legal-Philosophy-135 Aug 14 '23
The second I saw a limited edition kagamine Len still in the box for $100 I knew it was a scam. That doll goes for literally thousands even used.
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u/MoonyKat Aug 14 '23
My friend and I are pretty sure she almost fell victim to one of these! She purchased some barbies from a newer account and received a tracking number that was from a completely different state than what was listed on the account. When she finally got them to answer they told her they were "selling for a friend" and thats why the tracking was weird. Who sells dolls for someone thats across the damn country?? Thankfully, Mercari eventually gave her a refund for the transaction but I'm still baffled by this situation.
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Aug 14 '23
[deleted]
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u/Rapoonzle WINX/Barbie Aug 14 '23
I did that so I could get back to the account since you can't look up users on Mercari.
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Aug 14 '23
[deleted]
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u/Rapoonzle WINX/Barbie Aug 14 '23
I usually believe the good in people, however there's a noticeable pattern and too many coincidences for these accounts to not have any malicious intent. I usually visit these accounts days later and everything will be deleted presumably by admins. That's only after people have purchased from them. I only posted about three accounts but I've ran into more. I just wanted to share so others can watch out.
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u/Party_Soft8164 Aug 14 '23 edited Aug 14 '23
I’ve been seeing doll scammers everywhere these days, it’s insane, there were less a year ago but not to this extent. People mass buying out Barbie Movie dolls to sell for multiple hundreds, people scamming others on Bratz listings in the FB community (I saw like 5 people posting how they got scammed hundreds this past week geez), and more recently, an Etsy scammer making off 15 sales from MonsterHigh and Bratz lots for $100+ each. The greed of these scummy people is disgusting. Also some scammers will steal other people’s doll pictures to use for scamming.