Is it legal to sell an empty box on EBay?

As long as the description is clear then it's a case of a fool and his money....

Here is the condition :"Open box: An item in excellent, new condition with no wear. The item may be missing the original packaging or protective wrapping, or may be in the original packaging but not sealed. The item includes original accessories. The item may be a factory second. See the seller's listing for full details and description." If it is the box only I would say it is false advertising.

It's safer to sell your box on eBay than on a street corner.

Couldn't box stand for the console?

nfm, just saw the "no console"

I'm not on Ebay, but someone needs to report that listing.

That is ridiculous to pay $710 for an empty box, there are other empty Playstation boxes for sale there for $660 and $595.

[quote] The seller is not misrepresenting what he’s selling at all. It’s right there spelled out.

There’s your answer, OP.

[quote]As long as the description is clear then it's a case of a fool and his money....

Not in my courtroom!

Clean your fucking nails before taking photos. Damn.

People sell Hermès and Coach shopping bags on Mercari and Poshmark for $10-$20. Just the paper shopping bags.

Judy at r9, that case was a little different than what OP is talking about.

In that case, all indications in the listing were that it was a phone. Her defense was the seller should have looked at the weight of the phone, which she accurately listed as a couple of ounces. She claimed anyone who has ever bought a phone should know they weigh more than a couple of ounces.

Other than that, in her ad copy there was no way to tell it was really only a picture of a phone.

and over $50 for shipping. that's crazy

It is legal to sell an empty box, but if the buyer complains to paypal,they will almost certainly win. Paypal has really made it impossible to be a seller anymore.

Maybe there are some nuts out there who like to collect empty containers of expensive products?!

R12---You missed Judge Judy's point. The seller was saying that somewhere in her ad she stated that she was selling a PICTURE of the phone. However that was worded, people bypassed that and believed they were bidding on an actual phone. In the ebay ad, seller showed the specs of the phone, which indicated the phone weighs 4.9 oz (or whatever). If the seller was only offering a pic of the phone, the 4.9 oz should not have been in the ad because that weight indicates a real phone, not a pic of one. If she had omitted that info and still had her line about you get what you see in the picture, then I don't know if JJ would have had a reason to rule in favor of the ripped off buyer.

For some reason, I was compelled to look up the Judge Judy phone scammer and see what had become of her. Found a Reddit thread stating she eventually went to jail, divorced the husband, became a heroin addict, and then committed suicide a few years ago. Sad, but not exactly surprising.

Her kid (supposedly, anyway) left some comments on the thread that are truly sad, if he's really her kid.

How depressing to know that people can be so shady as to try to take advantage of the unwary and perhaps unintelligent. Of course, I know there are grifters everywhere, but this is so blatant. I would think Ebay would ban them. It's bad for their brand.

It would be a legit listing, but only for the profoundly stupid. Here's the description its says box only and shows an empty box.

Playstation 5 Disc Version - Box Only. Condition is been opened. Small tear on outer box. Please see pictures as part of description. Item pictured is the item you'll receive :-) Shipped with USPS First Class. box and packaging, no consule.

Someone has already retracted their bid so they must have read the description. This is gonna get good I hope, I've got on watch to see how this ends. They have another listing of an empty box and it's bidding up too.

Look at the seller's filthy cigarette/crack stained hand and nasty foot.

Like r2 already pointed out, they chose "Open Box" for the pre-filled description, which says that accessories will be included. They ship an empty box out with no accessories in it, they'll lose their case when the buyer finds out what has happened.

They're charging $44 for shipping, too. So stupid.

This person is also selling a new Xbox empty box as well. The :) at the end of the description on both items is especially shady.

I’ve also noticed a bunch of other new listings for the box only from other sellers. This won’t end well.

This happens all the time and is some sort of scam, but not the kind you are thinking. I often see thing on eBay at outrageous prices. There is a small, cardboard doll suitcase from the 1990s on eBay for $4,500.00

Invariably, the sellers have few feedback ratings and those are primarily as a buyer. Often the seller has had little activity for several months, or even years prior to the outrageous price post implying that it is a hacked account. Often I see the same scam auction repeated under different accounts. It could be a way of advertising an item on eBay without selling it through eBay, though; money laundering is also often suggested as the scam. I'd be curious if one contacted the seller, if I he tried to take discussion private and off eBay.

It does look like shill bidding but the description is legit so some stupid person just may get burned. Shill bidding is rife I almost always do BIN for that reason. If its something of value I always look at the number of ratings first to see if they have been opening new accounts as the old one gets filled with bad reviews, then I look at the actual ratings.

That's messed up. The seller does clearly state that it's just the box. But he knew what he was doing when he started bidding at over $500. People may buy empty boxes but not for that price. He's counting on idiots who don't pay attention to see a "PS5" listing and jump on it. It's a dangerous game though because ebay tends to side with buyers in disputes.

Paypal will def. .side with the buyer.

Yeah paypal and ebay always side with the buyer. Im thinking that as we get closer to the holiday they may ban sales related to this item. Just like they banned sales of ppe earlier this year. Ebay also has extremely intelligent fraud detection. If they catch you you will never sell on there again.

There was a case like this on Judge Judy and she ripped the seller a new one.

Really, r30?

Gee we didn’t know that.

Welcome to DL, R31, where my voice SIMPLY MUST BE HEARD!

It's not always a scam on the part of the seller. I sold the box and clamshell case that my Rolex came in -for $650. I needed money, and was happier to sell the box than the watch itself (my college graduation present from my parents). I have no doubt that someone bought it so they could use it to resell their own Rolex at a higher price (in original box with manual, etc.). The eBay ad clearly stated that the purchaser was buying the box, not the watch, and the buyer seemed to make a living from buying empty boxes for high-end products -ostensibly to use for selling used or knock-off versions of said items.

Well this is a tough one, but if the sellers are not lying in their listings, the buyers would have a hard time arguing with paypal or their bank if they claim "SNAD" (significantly not as described), because the sellers were selling the box only and they described it accurately in the eBay listing. Paypal or the bank of course will open a case because it sounds ridiculous, but once they start the investigation, the buyer would lose the claim, they cannot win this under SNAD. To win the claim, buyers need to use other excuses like they read it wrong and they want to return it for refund etc or they didn't receive it, but those people are dumb enough not read the eBay listing before bidding for hundreds of dollars, you bet they would argue SNAD with paypal or bank and think they would have a case, also they would completely kill their chance of claim of not received "I bought a PS5 but received a box only", so they received exactly what they bought for.

PS. selling a product box is allowed and actually a common practice on ebay, because they are other people who need the original retail box to make a refurbished product complete, or buyers lost their original case.. and this is specially true in the the video game category, you can find tons of listings of a video came case or insert up for sale, and they are not cheap, some can go for $20 for a case or an insert, the math is simple, if you are a used or refurbished game seller, a used game but disc only will sell for $5 dollars, but with the case and inserts it worth $40!

I don't think any excuse will fly with this one, it is clearly stated. I wouldn't feel bad either since you should always read the description completely. It's no different from buying in an HOA then complaining about it.

Those of you commenting how stupid people who don't read, are also NOT READING this thread whewre it's been pointed out several times that the "CONDITION" field says "The item includes original accessories." so the buyer will most certainly win the case with Ebay.

I'm just waiting for someone to say the seller is trafficking kids. Anyways-It could also be a "hidden" item listing- (I doubt it in this case but figured I'd throw it out there). They're all over eBay, Aliexpress, Walmart, Amazon, etc. Amazon recently cracked down on 2 instagram influencers for promoting "secret" counterfeit items.

Why not just buy it at retail? Isn'tb it only like $500?

[quote] Those of you commenting how stupid people who don't read, are also NOT READING this thread

We’re also commenting on misused commas.

I remember Sherri Papini used to sell empty boxes and bags from Tiffanys. The husband was selling his used shorts too. I wonder what ever happened to them after Sherri was kidnapped by the Latinas.

And accessories to a box will be included, you should know what accessories to a box are, right?

First box ended at 810.00 next one soon at 840.00 plus 44.00 shipping. I wish I could be there when they open their box to find it empty.

Two people retracted their bid. Do you think they figured it out that it was just a box?

It sold for $1275.000

R38 Because it's sold out of primary markets and only available on the secondary market, where sellers are getting significantly more than retail for it. People get nuts at Christmastime.