Fraud on Etsy.

I enjoy Etsy and I shop the site daily looking for cool vintage pieces at great prices or fabulous one-of-a-kind hand made gifts. I have done very well and have been pleased.

Last month I found an absolutely delightful pair of silver and agate earrings with comedy/tragedy faces. The price was right. The seller had no feedback but had made man other sales and the items for sale were plentiful with multiple pictures. Nothing was outrageous, no too cheap diamond rings, no almost-free Prada bags and there was nothing that would have made a person suspicious, so I bought them. Me and one-hundred and ninety other buyers took the plunge from this new seller from Bulgaria.

Nobody got their items. Not one single person. Paypal eventually refunded me for my loss, but I'd have rather had my earrings.

It was a clever fraud. Instead of pics lifted from magazines or catalogs, the pictures looked real and occasionally there was a person in the pic modeling the item. And, as I've said, not one item looked too good to be true and nothing was expensive. This was a professional fraud calculated to look honest as can be and get a lot of sales fast (plus shipping). I am still angry, but I have to admire the cunning and the lack of obvious BS. This person did not make a mint on any item, but 190 items at an average of 25.00 is nearly 5k for a few hours of posting and photographing your jewelry and vintage housewares.

I don't know how much the Bulgarian authorities, provided she really is Bulgarian, prosecute this behavior and I do not know for far 5k goes in Bulgaria, but I wonder if she is laughing her butt off at us suckers. I wonder if Paypal takes the loss?