[gatescrusher]

yesterday i had the idea to get a refund as a seller on fiverr. The idea was to be the buyer and seller myself and have Fiverr pay. I just do not know how to do that. I heard that the seller protection is bad. However, it should be possible to get fiverr to pay me the money (and refund the buyer) so that fiverr pays for it.

Are there any methods to do this? I always read methods for physical products, can it be done digitally? Does anyone here have experience and can give me a tip?

[mothered]

The idea was to be the buyer and seller myself

Your Idea Is a good approach, but It Is somewhat complex and Involves a number of steps to complete the entire process.

Off the top of my head, here's one way I see It working: 

1. The buyer purchases the service/gig.
2. The money Is put on hold awaiting the seller to complete the order.
3. The seller fulfills his end of the deal.
4. The buyer receives the service/gig, and the seller receives his payment.
5. The buyer (yourself) files a dispute through PayPal or a chargeback via his CC provider and succeeds.
6. The seller (yourself) contacts "Fiverr's Seller Protection" claiming the service (to the buyer) was provided In full.
7. Fiverr agrees and reimburses the funds Into the seller's account.

All In all, the buyer (yourself) has received his cash through PayPal/chargeback, and the seller's account (yours) has been credited through Fiverr's Seller Protection. Essentially, you've doubled your money - the transaction (and chargebacks) between the seller & buyer Is the same person - yourself.

[gatescrusher]

Update: I have tested it. After almost 3 months of writing back and forth with seller protection I failed...

I tried it with a fresh german seller account with no order history. The purchase volume was $9000. The credit card company (Revolut) refunded me. However, Fiverr did not. The reason given was that unfortunately there is nothing they can do in my case...

My method was, I sold relaxation music as a producer. Several albums in a custom order, so the amount of 9000 euros seemed legitimate.

Next I did credit card chargeback and as a seller I contacted Fiverr.

I wrote to the seller protection team why my $9000 was cancelled. They claimed that the customer's credit card was stolen and that's why I was charged back.

Next, I pleaded that I had completely fulfilled my service. I gave the client the copyrights, created the instrumentals according to their wishes and I sent them a screenshot where they could see the download proof that it was downloaded.

In response I got that this is certainly annoying for me but in case of credit card fraud, they are bound by the laws and unfortunately there is nothing they can do about it.

Well, what do you think? Are there still arguments with which I could get back my "earned" money as a seller?

[Nasram]

That's to bad. Sounded like a good method, I don't know what you can do in your case, expect maybe getting a police report. But maybe your method will work if you use an other refund reason.

[gatescrusher]

Do you think a police report would change anything? Too bad so few here in the forum are interested in the method. Unfortunately, my experience and knowledge are not enough. It would also be interesting to know how I could have possibly proceeded differently. Maybe someone else has an idea?

[Nabeshin]

You know you can just do this on any shop that has Paypal as a payment method that supports buyer protection, right?
Make a fake ebay listing, sell the item to yourself, complain it never arrived or it was broken, get a refund from PP (just make sure you cashed out and closed the seller's account first so they can't charge you back)

Good luck hitting this more than once though, and good luck opening a brand new PP account without going through a gazillion hoops to verify your identity for an account that's just gonna get used twice (or they'll freeze your money)

[mothered]

Do you think a police report would change anything?

Not at all.

It's simply a requirement to continue with the claim.

[gatescrusher]

You know you can just do this on any shop that has Paypal as a payment method that supports buyer protection, right?
Make a fake ebay listing, sell the item to yourself, complain it never arrived or it was broken, get a refund from PP (just make sure you cashed out and closed the seller's account first so they can't charge you back)

Good luck hitting  this more than once though, and good luck opening a brand new PP account without going through a gazillion hoops to verify your identity for an account that's just gonna get used twice (or they'll freeze your money)

That seems very risky to me. I do not create fake Ebay or PP accounts. I thought through a third party like Fiverr, it would be easier.