Police Called about Stolen Goods Purchased on eBay - What Should I Do?

Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 19:43
Last edited 08/08/2024 - 09:51 by 1 other user

Bought a golf driver on eBay last week through an auction.

It got delivered in a few days, but after trying it out for a day, I realized it wasn’t for me. So, I sold it on Facebook Marketplace for cash.

Today, I got an email and a call from the police. They said the driver I bought was stolen and they've arrested the guy who sold it. The officer suggested I should return the club and dispute my loss with eBay, but I told him I'd already sold it. He said he's contacting everyone who bought the club and will get back to me about what to do next.

So my dear friends on OzBargain, what should I do?

Edit*

Sorry, what I really wanted to ask is, if the police came back to ask me to get the golf club back. Am I the one responsible to get it back?

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Comments

  • ihfree on 07/08/2024 - 19:48
    +28

    Wait for the officer to call you back about what to do next.

    • CyberMurning on 07/08/2024 - 19:57

      But first, post on ozb. Oh already….

      • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:45
        +8

        Got to kill sometime before getting arrested.

  • boomramada on 07/08/2024 - 19:58
    +6

    So my dear friends on OzBargain, what should I do?

    He said he's contacting everyone who bought the club and will get back to me about what to do next.

  • nocure on 07/08/2024 - 19:59
    -6

    Tax payer money well spent….

    • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:46
      -3

      I agree

    • ThithLord on 08/08/2024 - 08:26
      +19

      I swear you people complain when crime goes unpunished, and when crime goes punished

      • EightImmortals on 08/08/2024 - 12:38
        -2

        What crime? The cop said they already caught the guy who did the real crime, everyone else are just innocent bystanders at this point.

      • cloudy on 08/08/2024 - 16:26

        what should occur is if the person who stole it makes good to the person he stole it from.

        Instead each person now is asked to seek reimbursement no matter how many hands changed? that sounds cumbersome and impractical, and does not punish the person who stole it.

  • ihfree on 07/08/2024 - 19:59
    +3

    contacting everyone who bought the club

    How many people have bought it?

    • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:15

      Not sure, officer said he had a looked at the person’s eBay account and there’s about 20 over

      • ihfree on 07/08/2024 - 20:24

        Ebay user you bought it from is the guy who was arrested?

        • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:44

          Yes, I bought it from person A on eBay.

          Person A got arrested.

          • ihfree on 07/08/2024 - 21:55

            @Pegadeals: To speculate, I think your buyer is more at risk of financial loss than you. They may, however, contact you after being contacted by the police. Recovery of funds looks to be a civil matter - no idea what that would look like if the buyer decided to pursue. I'm also not sure what I would do in this situation if a refund was requested.

            I don't think you will be able to dispute the transaction given you no longer have the item and wouldn't be surrendering it to the police.

            Anyway, as originally said best to wait until police get back to you and go from there. I don't think it is worth doing anything until you are contacted by the police. You could also ask the police on advice for getting the best outcome for your buyer, though, i'm not sure how much they could help with that.

  • JIMB0 on 07/08/2024 - 20:12
    +22

    Is this still available?

    • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:15
      +8

      Yes, are you still interested?

      • CyberMurning on 07/08/2024 - 20:33
        +4

        Are you the thief or the police? My answer depends on that

        • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:46
          +3

          Neither, but cash only.

          • CyberMurning on 07/08/2024 - 21:13
            +2

            @Pegadeals: ah if not then can i offer payment by western union, it is safe and fast. if you dont have account with them, please send me your ID and i will open one for you. absolutely free

      • 87percent on 08/08/2024 - 18:22

        Please give me your home address and I’ll come pick it up

    • Bignudge on 08/08/2024 - 09:54

      Is the price neogotiable?

  • Dollar General on 07/08/2024 - 20:16
    +8

    Get yourself a suit and tie
    And get your hair cut way up high
    Get yourself a lawyer, son
    You're gonna need a real good one

  • sumyungguy on 07/08/2024 - 20:33
    +1

    The police requested you recover the stolen merch. You're asking whether you should accede to their request? Cooperating may reduce your sentence.

    • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:48

      I have no problem cooperating.

      What if the person I sold it to on Marketplace doesn’t?

      • sumyungguy on 07/08/2024 - 20:53
        +2

        Neither of you were aware the item was stolen so you haven't commited an offence. Imagine it was your stolen driver. Would you want others to assist the police to recover it?

        • iguana on 08/08/2024 - 14:58
          -1

          It's a golf club. If I was rich enough to play golf then I wouldn't care about a driver. I'd just buy another one.

          • mapax on 08/08/2024 - 15:19

            @iguana: Whilst golf is full of privileged profanities, there are public golf courses for the poors.

  • Empharand on 07/08/2024 - 20:40

    They said the driver I bought was stolen and they've arrested the guy who sold it

    So, I sold it on Facebook Marketplace for cash.

    So…… who's going to tell him?
    Whoops!

    • Pegadeals on 07/08/2024 - 20:45
      +1

      How was I suppose to know the item I bought off eBay was stolen goods?

  • Wiadro on 07/08/2024 - 20:43
    +1

    bikies

  • Ozbar Gain on 07/08/2024 - 21:07

    Why are you so worried. Did you know it was stolen?

    • jv on 07/08/2024 - 23:57

      "In Victoria, a person found guilty of handling stolen goods under section 88 of the Crimes Act 1958 is liable to 15 years imprisonment."

  • Ozbar Gain on 07/08/2024 - 21:07
    +8

    Drive it like it was stolen

  • easternculture on 07/08/2024 - 21:20

    Make sure you dont drop that soap bar in prison showers. As Ice Cube says, BBC aint good for your health.

    • Empharand on 08/08/2024 - 00:11

      Since when is Ice Cube a physician? I'm going to need an expert opinion here

      • mantra on 08/08/2024 - 15:00
        +1

        Dr. Dre

        also, might get lucky; might be ABC, SBC or MBC

        they're more ABC than BBC but no matter which they mostly pose same risk for your health

    • Stuj on 08/08/2024 - 06:42
      -1

      Sounds to me that you have a unfulfilled fantasy there

  • dtc on 07/08/2024 - 21:56
    +1

    There are two (well three) issues

    criminal - you didnt know it was stolen so no criminal act in buying nor in selling

    civil - the law on this is a bit complex. On the whole, if you buy stolen property then the 'real' owner is entitled to take the property back and if you are out of pocket, your recourse is against the person you bought it from ie the thief. Reality is that you are out of pocket. However the rules of FB marketplace and ebay may change that general legal position. So the person you sold it to may have a right against you under FB marketplace rules (I havent read them) because you sold the person stolen goods (even though you werent aware it was stolen). Dont know the answer to this but its your biggest risk. ie the person you sold it to gets their money back from you (or from FB who claims it from you), you then have to get your money back from the seller or ebay. Or perhaps the person who bought it just has to suck it up and leave you angry FB messages.

    police - just co operate with them.

  • El cheepo on 08/08/2024 - 00:10
    +3

    He said he's contacting everyone who bought the club and will get back to me about what to do next.

    He is probably never calling back again.

    They barely have time to track the criminals, they ain’t gonna try track a golf club down.

  • sween64 on 08/08/2024 - 00:35
    +3

    Did you make a profit?

  • morse on 08/08/2024 - 04:42
    +11

    Are you sure you’re actually speaking to the police? This sounds like some kind of scam

    • pegaxs on 08/08/2024 - 08:22
      +15

      Came here to say the exact same thing. This just reeks of scam. Police usually do house calls to investigate and question people or ask you to come down to the station to make a statement…

      And police, chasing a golf club? Friend recently had a motorcycle stolen and they knew exactly where it was (gps tracker) and the police could not give a shit over a $20k motorcycle, and here the police are chasing up a single second hand golf club?

      • leiiv on 08/08/2024 - 11:27
        +2

        Yeah that's so unlikely. But it may also depend on who owns the stolen goods. If the victim is just a commoner, they won't give a sht. On the other hand, if the victim is a police commissioner or a high profile politician..

      • happydude on 08/08/2024 - 12:49
        +1

        I would say they have arrested the alleged offender and found the eBay account or vice versa. The club has to part of a bigger cache of stolen goods being pushed through eBay.

        To load up the offender will more charges they probably need to work back though the goods.

        But if this is about a single club it does seem to be out of character for police to care.

  • Danstar on 08/08/2024 - 08:08
    +2

    How did the police get your email and phone number so quick?

    As you bought it from ebay; it's not something they seller would've had handy. As you've said, all this seemed to have happened in a few days.

    I mean most serious crimes takes them week if not months to even start investigating.

  • onetwothreefour on 08/08/2024 - 09:10
    +2

    Did the club have any blood stains on it?

  • Bignudge on 08/08/2024 - 09:56
    +9

    Tbh, it sounds like a scam. Ask what the cop's name is and which station they're from. Then directly call up the station using the official number (not the number they give you).

    That should really clear things up.

    • askbargain on 08/08/2024 - 11:46
      +1

      big tell if the police are asking you to return it to the seller's address

      • onetwothreefour on 08/08/2024 - 12:24
        +1

        Also why would the cops tell op to return the club back to the person who has been arrested for stealing the club? Makes no sense.

        • ihfree on 08/08/2024 - 13:08

          @Pegadeals Can you clarify?

          I assume you're being asked to surrender the item at a police station? and then being told to dispute the transaction through eBay?

    • altomic on 08/08/2024 - 16:51

      Sergeant Peterson, Chicago Police

  • Cluster on 08/08/2024 - 11:45
    +2

    All this over a golf club? Was it gold plated and encrusted with diamonds, or the chief of police owned it? It's surprising the police would care this much.

    • kaleidoscope on 08/08/2024 - 22:45

      If it is custom made then it can worth lot of $ than your everyday driver. A fellow I know lost their set of clubs as it was stolen from his car when it was broken into and apparently was worth over $15k

  • AngusD on 08/08/2024 - 12:26
    +2

    Surely recovering stolen goods is the police's job, not yours?

  • happydude on 08/08/2024 - 12:34
    +1

    Sorry, what I really wanted to ask is, if the police came back to ask me to get the golf club back. Am I the one responsible to get it back?

    Well, you don't have it anymore.

    Who owns the golf bat will be subject to the nemo dat quod non habet rule. It is not an easy area of law and I have no opinion on what the outcome should be.

    The person you sold it to could now be the legal owner. All depends on what has transpired.

    https://www.gotocourt.com.au/civil-law/vic/the-nemo-dat-rule…

    Edit: This assumes that it was stolen. I'm not sure how the police could know who it belongs to if they have never seen it. Do golf bats have serial numbers? Anything identifying in the eBay listing?

  • star-ggg on 08/08/2024 - 12:37
    +4

    I'm suspicious police actually do this much work to recover stolen goods esp a golf club.

    • easternculture on 08/08/2024 - 13:23
      +1

      Weird. Once i went to Bankstown Police station to hand in an iphone i found. They laughed at me and told me to keep it because it was too much paperwork

      • pharkurnell on 08/08/2024 - 15:19
        +1

        They wouldnt have known what paperwork to do.. nobody in 100yrs in a 50klm radius has walked into Bankstown cop shop to hand in anything.

      • Cluster on 08/08/2024 - 15:23

        Really? That is extremely poor service. They are meant to fill in a form, take the phone, and thank you. Takes all of 5 minutes. The station then never deals with the phone again as it's sent to another department.

        If you keep an item it's theft by finding. A criminal offense, if you don't hand it in to police.

        • mapax on 08/08/2024 - 15:36

          The station then never deals with the phone again as it's sent to another department

          Are you sure? When I found an item worth ~$750 I took it to a police station and they held on to it for 3 months and then gave it to me as the original owner couldn’t be located.

        • Nillionaire on 08/08/2024 - 19:31

          That would be the procedure at normal police stations, but not at Bankstown.

          Source: I live in the Canterbury-Bankstown area and have interacted with them.

    • Xyzzy on 08/08/2024 - 14:10
      +1

      Probably stolen from a cop.

    • tomlikesbeetroot on 08/08/2024 - 15:34
      +1

      Me too.
      I had a car broken into and laptop stolen once while parked in front a store which had cctv.
      Police advised if I wanted I could go to the store personally and ask for the footage because they were too busy to do this, I didn't bother and just made an insurance claim.
      About a year later police called and said the laptop has been sold at a local pawn shop and I could go and buy it back if I wanted, apparently they had spoken to the person who pawned it and didn't think he was the thief.

  • garetz on 08/08/2024 - 15:36
    +3

    You sold it unknowingly, you have no responsibility.

  • GordonD on 08/08/2024 - 16:49

    I think the term is "knew or reasonably suspected" of being stolen.

    If you purchased something in circumstances that you knew or reasonably suspected meant it was stolen, they can and will charge you. So if the seller told you. Or you bought it down at the pub for way below a market price, expect the police at your door with a warrant charging you with dealing in stolen goods. But if there were no obvious clues it was stolen, and you fully co-operate, telling the police who you bought it from, and who you sold it to, and they believe you, and you have a clean criminal record, you've got nothing to worry about.

  • Rako on 08/08/2024 - 21:19

    Sure it was the police who called you? Have you called the station to check if it really was them?

  • kaleidoscope on 08/08/2024 - 22:38

    I realized it wasn’t for me. So, I sold it on Facebook Marketplace for cash.

    What the heck 😬

  • Poor Ass on 08/08/2024 - 23:15

    🍿

  • msmhw on 09/08/2024 - 01:05

    This happened to me way back!
    bought an iPhone 4, and sold it. got a call from the police that it was stolen.
    I explained that I sold it, they asked for the buyer's details and the Gumtree messages and never heard back from the police or the buyer!

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