eBay confiscated cuffs being resold on eBay

One cuff I bought and another cuff bought by MattGuz who was on here not long ago are now being resold on eBay by a new seller unbeknown to the original sellers using the original sellers photos! How can this be? And they are still offering overseas shipping through the Global Shipping Program which confiscated them in the first place. I have informed the original seller of my cuffs and he is confused as he never had the cuffs returned. Only someone with inside knowledge would know these were confiscated and were able to reuse the photos and text??????? Do not contact the new seller or buy the cuffs as it is being investigated. Paul

What the…? Paul is correct. I did purchase one of those pair from UK seller via eBay, but they were confiscated and I never received them, and seller was told he was not getting them back either. Who is this seller? How did he/she acquire them, and be allowed to resell? I’ll be letting the seller of the cuffs I purchased know about this. Seems very unethical.

Unethical - it is theft, pure and simple - of the cuffs, photographs and text. Send your seller the item number so they have a record, just in case it disappears and if you feel as strong as I do, contact eBay with the original item number and the new one. This cannot go unchecked.

I’ve reported to eBay and notified the original seller. I’ll also be calling eBay to talk to them about this info as well.

I know on the U.S. side, the confiscations are being done through the third party who handles the Global Shipping Program for Ebay. Pitney Bowes is that company. I wouldnt be surprised if they also handle the Global Shipping for them in other parts of the world. However, when Pitney Bowes was contacted about a cuff i had "confiscated" by them (not by Customs, mind you), they had no answers. Ebay automatically gave me my refund and i never saw the cuffs again. I was the buyer, in that case. I stayed in touch with the seller for quite a while. He was out his money and his cuffs. His cuffs were never returned to him. We were both told that confiscated items through Global Shipping Program were destroyed when taken. Makes you wonder here, if someone at Pitney Bowes is dealing things out of the backdoor of the business? If so, why would they risk using a copy of the original ad? Seems like a great way to get busted!
-Richard Knip-

Very interesting Richard. I wonder if same is occurring here. Waiting to see what eBay has to say about it.

I lost my first pair of Chubb Escorts with key that way. Made me sick! Definitely keep us inform of what they say, please. I could never get answers out of Ebay or P.B.
-Richard Knip-

I'm pretty sure it is Pitney Bowes who handles the UK Global Shipping Program as well. I bought my cuffs from Ireland and they're now being sold from England. The original seller is fuming. I don't trust eBay to investigate Pitney Bowes and I think the original sellers should go straight to the Police. I've also been offered a discount  by the new seller on the 2 cuffs which I am now Watching. Wouldn't it be funny to buy them again and have them confiscated again, or would the new seller get them through because he has inside knowledge/connections!

eBay says they cannot disclose the results of their investigation to me (similar to what you were told Richard) as they say it’s private. At least it’s on record with them that the sale must be a fraud, because they did say when item is “restricted,” item gets destroyed and both buyer and seller get refunded. Seller also contacted eBay and reported the fraudulent listing too.

Paul, I too was offered a discount on the cuffs I previously purchased! The audacity. I wonder if they’re really in new sellers hands, or if it’s a totally fraudulent advertisement.

The seller has good feedback and lots of sales. I think he really has them and has the knowledge of the confiscation and previous sales - otherwise he would not know to reuse the previous auction photos and details and prices. I've asked him if he will combine postage for both pairs and post to Australia ie willingly break the eBay law.

Keep us informed Paul as to what happens. I informed the original seller of the cuffs I purchased (but were confiscated) the name of the company handling the GSP for EBay, Pitney Bowes, and mentioned he, as owner of those cuffs, should contact them to complain as well. Hope he does.

Purchased from the UK and they were sent ebay int shipping. Confiscated, despite there being no restrictions in law for importing into Australia and owning in WA. Did the deal again, this time Royal Mail shipping, no problem and quick delivery. 
The seller wasn’t surprised, apparently it happens regularly with eBay shipping. 
Hope this is helpful. 

Hi there,
I had similiar experiences when I bought a Hiatt hinged handcuff from the UK. I was told that was held back by eBay's global shipping program due to export restrictions & got my money back.
If both seller and buyer get refunded this seems to be a great opportunity to change that program by making lots of money from it: Selling crap handcuffs each for several 1000 £'s to friends outside the UK & gettings refunds back will make this company to consider their procedures in handling legal goods really soon...
Best regards
Björn

Yes, you are exactly correct. The only State in which there are restrictions is New South Wales, but because of that eBay have a blanket rule for Australia. I once had a pair confiscated by Customs coming through NSW into Victoria. They saw their error and apologised for it and sent on my cuffs. But what is the reason for not sending from ENG to USA. And yes, no problems sending via Royal Mail.

Confiscation thing has happened to me. Ebay horrible, Pitney Bowes even worse.

Unbelievable.  The fact alone that the Bay forces the buyer to use their global shipping (PB) is ridiculous. There is no transparency whatsoever. The Bay's customer rating score is close to 0/5 everywhere - they've never really cared about their customers, like, for example Amazon. They also want to solve everything on the phone, so there's no paper trail. I had to fight very hard to get refunded for stuff that PB lost. I won't even get into how they skim money from foreign currency exchange rates.

Let's buy and sell on the forum here; maybe there could be a subcategory. Joe? 

I had two pairs confiscated from a seller in England. But in my case we were both given refunds, so basically the customs officials or whoever kept the cuffs but refunded the money to me and the seller. The listing was for two pairs of cuffs - one was common and one was rare and valuable.


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Ariochmagician wrote: ↑

May 16, 2021

I had two pairs confiscated from a seller in England. But in my case we were both given refunds, so basically the customs officials or whoever kept the cuffs but refunded the money to me and the seller. The listing was for two pairs of cuffs - one was common and one was rare and valuable.


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Mine didnt even get to customs. I fought it for months, I gave them exact references to the ITAR. I went to great lengths to prove my case that the item was not exempt from export from the origin, or import into the destination. Finally eBay just said that their relationship with Pitney Bowes gave them discretion on what they would ship. How it ended? - My last message to them said "So, basically, your agreement with your vendor is more important than your relationship with your customer?" - they stopped responding.

I also had a good cuff sent from England via the Postal Service.  I tracked it through Customs in New York and never had another tracking update and never received the cuff.  However, I did get a full refund from Ebay.  

Several people have posted quality cuffs for sale on the Forum before.  I don't think Joe would mind and it would be a lot cheaper then Ebay.  The main feature you would loose is the guarantee of a refund.
Ron

I welcome individuals who wish to list collector items for sale on the forum.
Just be careful and be sure to verify the identity of the other party.
Commercial sales are not welcome.
Joe

United Arab Emirates, Ukraine, Spain, Saudi Arabia, Taiwan, Portugal, Panama, New Zealand, Maldives, Kuwait, Iceland, Australia, Viet Nam, Switzerland, Philippines, Mexico, Jamaica  and Japan are countries that are on the handcuff restricted list from England and Germany and maybe others as well.

If anybody who lives in the above countries buys a cuff from England or Germany (and maybe elsewhere) and goes thru the stupid Global shipping program, they will lose their cuff and be reimbursed for it.  The seller does get to keep the money so eBay bears the loss.

I have lost two items so far and there will be no 3rd time!  I will insist that the sellers sends it direct or no deal!  
I tried to find out who made this restricted list but do not have an answer yet.

PAUL;  If you or anyone has the item number of the cuff discussed here, please let me know.  The guy at eBay is VERY interested to know how a confiscated item ended up being resold and is also interested in investigating any violation by the 2nd seller by using the original sellers pictures.

Mark, regarding the cuffs that I purchased (but never received because they were “restricted” and confiscated by eBay), here’s original listing info: item # 133686001385; seller: glass-man-1. The new listing of those exact same cuffs and use of exact same photos and description info: item # 284293048128; seller: brillbuyuk.

original purchase from fiveoclocksomewhere22 #303962194759 This seller is in Ireland
reseller brillbuyuk #274796097390 This seller is in England

Most excellent, guys!

I will contact eBay again today and let them know what is happening.
I hope I can blow this situation wide open for them and end this practice.

I wonder if these guys that I just passed on the freeway have something to do with this!


UPDATE;
I just got off the phone with eBay Concierge (does everyone have access to them, as I do?)  and gave her the item numbers and seller names.  It is interesting that the reseller in both Paul's and Matt's entries are from the same reseller.
I explained that reseller: brillbuyuk is either the guy at Global Shipping that is opening the packages and confiscating them only to go out to his car on his lunch break and driving home with the goods and later selling them OR someone at Global is going out the back door and handing them off to brillbuyuk who gives him a piece of the action.

eBay reported all my notes and theories regarding this and said she will forward this to the escalation team as she agrees that the seller or Global Shipping has a serious flaw with security procedures.  As the original seller gets to keep their money and eBay has to fund my reimbursement,  explained that they are losing money by this scam.  As a stockholder, I insisted they do something before other stockholders know about this, even it is a drop in the bucket.   Unfortunately, the investigation is inhouse and confidential and she will not know of the income of their findings.  I may never know unless they reach out to me.

brillbuyuk sells a wide variety of items, and a lot of them.  He does not have a particular theme like dolls, restraints, glassware, trading cards, pens, Star Wars, etc....he is all over the place!
He sold an Irish 8 more than 6 months ago and some Speedcuffs more recently.  Wonder where these came from.

I have added brillbuyuk as a favorite seller so I can follow his sales and maybe buy back my lost items. I hate to pay this scammer but it will further my cause, if I was to receive the same item that was confiscated.

More to come?  I hope so!

By the way, does anyone know why the German  Nordhandel restricted sales to EU

Mark—

I'm sure that Nordhandel limited their activities inside EU only in order to avoid getting into trouble with the laws: European & German trade regulations limit import & export of goods that could be used for torture. There is a long and detailed catalog of trade restrictions on handcuffs and other restraints in EU regulation 2019/125. Buying / selling prohibited items like thumbcuffs or bar cuffs from / to outside the EU will result in criminal prosecution.

I hadn't realised that the original seller got to keep their money as Bjoern kindly pointed out earlier. I'd love to sell a $10 cuff for $$$$$$$ and test the theory of eBay refunding the money for a confiscated cuff but I doubt any buyer would would take the risk. I suspect that eBay/GSP would let the sale go through if it was going to cost them too much!

MattGuz wrote: ↑

May 16, 2021

Paul, I too was offered a discount on the cuffs I previously purchased!  The audacity. I wonder if they’re really in new sellers hands, or if it’s a totally fraudulent advertisement.

Are the pictures the same from each posting?  I wonder if the second seller is a fraud and reusing some pics

Pics are exactly the same. Even description is exactly the same.

Just checked eBay and brillbuyuk still has cuffs I previously purchased (but never received—see above discussion) listed. I had hoped eBay would have taken some action and removed them by now.

Brillbuy is associated with a company by the name of "S. Waterman Ltd"

The people listed as principals of said company are: Simon Roger Wardman & Steven Drinkwater

Very interesting Hawaiian Hat! Thank you.
Mark, might this additional information be useful to eBay in tracking down and investigating these transactions?

Their eBay listing makes no secret of their company, and therefore who they are, and if they are sanctioned liquidators of confiscated items then at least GSP are fully aware of them. My question is, is eBay aware that GSP are selling this things again, against their own rules?

If these confiscated cuff are sold for the second time, what is to stop them be confiscated again? All sounds very fishy to me.  Can Ebay be trusted, I think not.