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

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:47

      Thanks, will def take this approach next time.

    • Randxyz123 on 12/08/2024 - 07:39

      This!
      In a few days it is extremely unlikely the police would have gone through the persons eBay listings and started contacting everyone they sold to. One tell - is the eBay account still active? I agree with the above. Sounds like a scam. Call the station back on the official number.

      What was the email address?

  • Cluster on 08/08/2024 - 11:45
    +6

    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

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:47

      It is just a commercial taylormade driver released this year

  • AngusD on 08/08/2024 - 12:26
    +4

    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?

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:48

      Not too sure, but I doubt Golf clubs have their own serial number..

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

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

    • easternculture on 08/08/2024 - 13:23
      +6

      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
        +12

        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
        +1

        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.

          • Wayne7497 on 10/08/2024 - 20:48

            @mapax: All mobile phones are now destroyed due to privacy data issues.

        • 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.

        • SimAus007 on 11/08/2024 - 09:46

          Offence, not offense, unless you are in America ;)

    • Xyzzy on 08/08/2024 - 14:10
      +2

      Probably stolen from a cop.

    • tomlikesbeetroot on 08/08/2024 - 15:34
      +2

      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.

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:49

      Exactly. I'm suspecting the officer having a very good relation to the person / store who is the victim.

      • gromit on 10/08/2024 - 07:28
        +2

        Far more likely it is simply one item of a much bigger theft.

      • Wayne7497 on 10/08/2024 - 20:49

        Doesnt work that way never has, quite simply a normal investigation

    • Bargainitis on 09/08/2024 - 13:14

      agree - maybe the offender stolen alot of stuff and it triggered a threshold that couldn't be ignore and one of the item is said golf driver.

  • garetz on 08/08/2024 - 15:36
    +4

    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.

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:51
      +1

      I honestly have no idea it was a stolen good. Won the item via auction.

  • 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?

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:51

      Will check next time.

  • 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 😬

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:52
      +1

      I was an expensive club and I could hit better distance / accuracy with my older driver. Make sense to just sell it.

      • kaleidoscope on 09/08/2024 - 10:11
        +1

        Lol that makes sense😂. I totally misunderstood… by “it wasn’t for me part” i thought ebay had sent someone else’s order to you 😬

      • kaleidoscope on 09/08/2024 - 11:15

        anyway,

        Just verify that it is infact the police that is calling and if so just there and give a statement perhaps? Other than that they can’t force you to find the clubs or return the money as it’s not your responsibility. Good luck 🤞

  • Poor Ass on 08/08/2024 - 23:15
    +1

    🍿

  • msmhw on 09/08/2024 - 01:05
    +2

    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!

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:52

      Thanks for sharing your experience. I'll just cooperate with the officer from here if they call again

  • smartazz104 on 09/08/2024 - 07:38

    Suspicious that the police would be so interested in a golf club; how much did you pay OP and what brand is it?

    • zubzub on 09/08/2024 - 07:56

      The value is not really relevant. It’s a stolen good and the police are following up on it.

      • Eeples on 10/08/2024 - 11:12

        The value is relevant. It goes to if the OP might have suspected it was stolen as it may have been poorly advertised on eBay and had no reserve with few bidders.

        The coppers might suspect the OP is in cahoots especially after on selling it so quickly for cash.

        • zubzub on 10/08/2024 - 14:17
          +1

          I was referring to the police’s interest as in a stolen item is a stolen item regardless of value. Also don’t think what you’re saying has a leg to stand on considering it’s an auction site. I sold a $60 cpu for $12 last week and honoured it. People get amazing prices all the time with a bit of luck.

      • jmc787 on 10/08/2024 - 21:07
        +1

        The value is very relevant to the efforts being made by the police

        • zubzub on 11/08/2024 - 00:32

          Efforts in investigating it, for sure. But an item sold on eBay would take all of 5 seconds to trace and find all the details on it you are a police officer. Especially if the item is unique… I don’t believe much effort would have been involved.

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:53

      Half a gran and Taylormade

  • zubzub on 09/08/2024 - 07:54
    +1

    Easy. Reach out to who you sold it too and explain the situation and go from there. If that person doesn’t want to give it back then say ‘No problem, I’ll forward your details on to the officer’ then proceed to do that and that’s, that. You did nothing wrong and would have tried your best to rectify the situation.

    Or if you can’t be bothered. Give the details to the police and say you no longer want to be involved.

    • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:54
      +1

      Thanks. Will just take 'Give the details to the police and say you no longer want to be involved.' when he calls.

      • zubzub on 09/08/2024 - 11:33

        Yep. I’d do the same.

  • SimpleSimom on 09/08/2024 - 08:35

    I am curious, if the police ask you to return the item. Do the police also ensure you get your money back ?

    • cloudy on 09/08/2024 - 09:33
      +2

      NO, the police wont do that, that's what is unjust about this. They are telling you to contact ebay or whomever you got it from for a refund, and that leaves them hanging out to dry.

      • Pegadeals on 09/08/2024 - 09:57
        +1

        That's the same thought I have!

        Let's say I still have the club, and I returned it to the police and Ebay doesn't respond to my dispute.

        Now I am paying for the suspect's crime??

        • howcan on 09/08/2024 - 10:37

          Now I am paying for the suspect's crime??

          Correct, you'd then have to sue whoever you purchased it from. This happens with any type of stolen property the police can recover, the property is returned to the original owners, any subsequent buyers are then out of pocket. On a larger scale this can happen with stolen vehicles, where people can lose tens or even hundreds of thousands of $ when the stolen car is tracked down and returned to the owner.

          • leiiv on 10/08/2024 - 23:04

            @howcan: What an unfair justice system. The thief was already apprehended, so any victim should have been made just automatically, without any private suing needed. There should be automatic court decisions to make all the wrong things right again.

  • Windows98 on 09/08/2024 - 11:58

    If you've sold it. Pass on the information of the new purchaser to the police.

    You've done your bit. If the new purchaser hits you up for a refund, you either refund or ignore them. Stolen goods being purchased without knowing means the purchaser misses out, that can't be helped.

    It's not your responsibility to make sure the money and items go back to all their original owners.

    • gromit on 10/08/2024 - 07:32

      Not quite, you are legally liable to refund the money, you don't get to keep the money from selling stolen goods. If he is lucky the buyer will not chase it, if he does then you have no case to stand on to keep the money.

  • Cave Fire on 09/08/2024 - 12:19

    Sounds like a load of…. Why are the police contacting by email? Sounds like the ebayer you bought of is trying to get their item back. A "double dip". Emails can be easily faked (not going to tell how) but the email will appear from any address you like. Don't think police will email only and will be able to call or be called at a station line (not mobile). Plus are you definitely replying to a gov.au domain or similar?

  • expertreader on 09/08/2024 - 14:21

    I had similar incident about 5 years ago. it was a lot of corportate google pixel phone someone was selling on ebay - assuming they were in IT and were involved in fraud selling some of the company phones. Police contacted me via email and i confirmed i was in possession. I had to sign a form and send it back to them and was told that i will get notification. I got a followup email about 2 months later telling me that the case is going ahead but i dont need to send phone back - that was end of it.

    as long as you havent done anything wrong, i wouldnt worry. only advice i have for you is to be genuine and open with cops, its amazing how much they already knew including my second ebay account so no point in lying.

  • Raj09 on 09/08/2024 - 14:34
    -1

    The police might better chase perverts and rapists than buyers on eBay

    • roddy84 on 10/08/2024 - 17:10

      How do you know the Op isn't a pervert?

  • andyken on 09/08/2024 - 17:58

    pretty sure the victim is one of the police's inner family, if you are an average person, no one gives a shite

  • Farticus on 09/08/2024 - 20:46
    -2

    Tell them you have mental health issues and don't understand what's happening. They'll leave you alone pretty quick.

    • Miss B on 10/08/2024 - 08:56

      They're more likely to try to get a false confession out of you for an easy solve.

  • Name on 09/08/2024 - 21:06

    They won't call you back given you are no longer in possession of the stolen goods. Would be different if you knowingly dealt in stolen goods, but you hadn't. They'll just put this driver in the too hard basket.

  • peterw1 on 10/08/2024 - 11:03

    I wonder if Pegadeals and the perp were working together to launder golf clubs??????? Pegadeals r u a bikie?

  • King Tightarse on 10/08/2024 - 13:50

    Honestly surprised the police would put that much time into a low value eBay purchase.
    We had people breaking next door and the police CBF coming while it was happening, despite the police station being five minutes away.
    Asked me to write the rego down.

    • Miss B on 10/08/2024 - 18:30
      +1

      It sounds like there might have been a set of gold clubs. It's possible they were just easily identifiable for some reason. There may have been higher value items that were taken, or perhaps the nature of the theft. Maybe a golf cart was taken too, or one of the golf clubs was used to assault the owner during the robbery. Or maybe the owner was just well connected.

    • TEER3X on 10/08/2024 - 18:41
      +1

      In this instance, there's obviously more to it that the value of the stolen goods.

    • Wayne7497 on 10/08/2024 - 20:55
      -1

      Yeah they should station a cop on every corner for your convenience, mongrels just sitting around station heard the call n just yawned right ?

      • King Tightarse on 10/08/2024 - 21:02
        +1

        Well maybe I am too idealistic but the general idea is that a member of the public calls to report a burglary in progress and they come.
        I called them back three times over nearly half and hour while they made multiple trips to the car, 'yep they are are still there' etc, and yes, they couldn't be bothered coming.
        They did suggest that I write the rego down. Was less than impressed

        • Wayne7497 on 11/08/2024 - 00:26
          +1

          Have you ever been a Police Officer? Because i did 37yrs and from what you see on tv compared to reality is like chalk and cheese. You hardly get a chance to relax ever, your always playing catch up, there simply were never enough of us. As to who your speaking to on the phone that's communications not the coppers on the ground, they will never tell you sorry we got no one , top brass never allowed that.

          • TEER3X on 11/08/2024 - 09:48
            +1

            @Wayne7497: I heard it's mostly paperwork, not saying it's easy, but a lot of the time is basically wasted filling out forms.

            • Wayne7497 on 11/08/2024 - 12:02

              @TEER3X: Yup mountains of paperwork, add mountains of training online an in person, court appearances, arrests, summons, station duties the list never ends, 1 arrest your entire shift is gone dealing with it. Now your down to 4 vehicles on the road covering whole district until one of them gets an arrest and on it goes till no one is left attending jobs every days night is same.

              • King Tightarse on 11/08/2024 - 12:28

                @Wayne7497: So what do you make of a situation like the OP listed?

                • Wayne7497 on 11/08/2024 - 15:30
                  +1

                  @King Tightarse: To be quite honest, its not unusual to be contacted by Police over phone or emails these days a simple phone call to station can verify its genuine. But something sounds fishy by OP who keeps stating sold on market place for cash (insinuating its un traceable) ip tracing can be done to track down person who eventually bought it. There isnt alot of time involved in assisting Police in this matter, i would have thought the average citizen would have empathy for the original owner, who im sure would have lost alot more than 1 golf club. Just a feeling not all is being revealed here.

  • SimAus007 on 11/08/2024 - 09:52

    Getting advice on a police matter from OzBargain, is probably your first mistake… ;)

  • cheekymonkey97 on 11/08/2024 - 10:06
    +2

    What happened to “don’t talk to police”? They’re not on your side.

  • congo on 11/08/2024 - 10:45

    The police in my area are not great. Didnt do anything when we had stuff stolen.

  • SpicyStew on 11/08/2024 - 13:26

    no order
    no response.

    go about your day and don't waste your time.
    tell em you're already at a loss with the item and shouldn't have to also lose time.

    unless you're an L.

  • ayeleeyas on 11/08/2024 - 17:06

    Were the clubs originally owned by a police officer? :p

  • alexdagr8 on 11/08/2024 - 21:41
    -2

    Knowing the police. They called and they’ll never call again. The most they ever do is call and act authoritatively (it’s not a law and order episode)
    Real crime for them revolves around insurance:
    Homicide is only for detectives.
    Assault only occurred if they saw it (never if they committed it)
    Domestic violence is about deescalating and getting the woman away.
    Theft is a statistic.
    Deterrence is them simply being around on the tax payers dime.
    Don’t forget that their department is financially propped up by the fines they dish out.

    Their existence in Australia is purely about reporting and statistics. Eventually they might get lucky from repeat offenders, however it’s more likely due to the criminal’s negligence or laziness rather than the police department’s competence.

    • Wayne7497 on 12/08/2024 - 01:15
      +1

      Knowing the Police? How about actually being a Police Officer for the truth? Because everything you just posted is totally incorrect and baseless. More of a statement that you dislike Police in general without having any operational knowledge whatsoever. Either do your research or better still grow up.

  • southskies on 12/08/2024 - 00:00

    Why is this such a difficult question? Do people not know Right from Wrong? The good were stolen, your are in receipt of stolen goods. You moved stolen goods onwards. So, get them back, explain the situation, give them their money back. Next return the goods back to where you got them. If you get some money back through eBay or through your Credit Card, its your lucky day.

    If you can't get them to return the goods, explain to the purchaser that you will be passing their name back to the Police for follow up. If they don't respond, what fools are they?

    Even if the Police do not contact you, do the right thing and get them back and pass them back to the Police. Interestingly, even if you don't respond, its surprising how Police may eventually get back to you.

    Life isn't about whether you are financially ahead or in loss. Its actually about how people get on with each other and harmony. People have just forgotten about this. Unfortunately some people only realise this when loved ones pass away.

  • Pegadeals on 12/08/2024 - 07:44
    +2

    Hey everyone, just a quick update since the post was created.

    It's been 4-5 days, officer didn't call back.

    • Wayne7497 on 12/08/2024 - 08:00

      Days off night shift etc id wait few more days

    • Bignudge on 12/08/2024 - 09:16
      +1

      Did you end up finding out which station he/she is at? And calling to check if they even exist?

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