A recent TikTok video has a clear on-screen message for online sellers: “BEWARE OF SCAMMERS IF SELL ON DEPOP.”
The video posted earlier this month by creator Josh (@joshmillage) has almost 7,000 views and 666 likes, perhaps to match the cursed energy of the experience described within.
“Sometimes I hate shipping on Depop, because no one talks about how often people try to scam you,” Josh said in the video.
@joshmillage dont be afraid to stand ur ground you are your own boss if its ur shop! #depop #scammers #vinyltok #depopscammers #vinylrecord ♬ original sound – josh
As his story goes, Josh sold a rare, pink-and-green vinyl of pop singer Kim Petras’ Turn Off the Light that was out of press. It was in perfect condition, he said, and he even took photos of the item’s condition.
When the buyer messaged Josh before purchasing the vinyl, he asked if one provided picture showed a crease in the vinyl’s sleeve or the plastic cover over it. Josh said he confirmed it was the plastic. He showed viewers a similar crease in the plastic cover of an Azealia Banks record as an example.
“Let me add that I have a five-star rating, and I’ve been selling ever since senior year of high school. I’m now a junior in college,” Josh said in the video.
Josh said he ships records in the appropriately sized cardboard boxes. “I go out of my way to do everything that’s right, because I care, because I’ve been that customer that’s upset when my s**t’s damaged,” he said.
He added, “I don’t sell anything that I wouldn’t buy myself. … I’m not Amazon Prime. I’m Josh.”
Josh said that after completing the sale and shipping it out, he got a Depop email that the customer claimed the item was damaged. Josh said he sent proof to confirm otherwise, and then he blocked the buyer.
Josh explained in the video that he had a similar experience previously and never got the record returned after sending the money back.
In the video, Josh showed screenshots going back and forth with someone he claimed is the buyer. The person in the screenshots requested to return the record for a refund, which Josh declined. One message accused Josh of lying about the item’s condition.
“If you sell on the internet, beware of people like this. They exist,” Josh said at the end of the video.
One commenter wrote, “for that app i put all sales final after being shipped out in the bio so i dont deal w problems like that.”
Another commented, “This has literally happened to me twice so far this year … these people are a bunch of losers i can’t.”
In an interview with the Daily Dot via Instagram direct message, Josh said he made the video as a PSA for other sellers.
“I’ve always heard about people in the vinyl market getting scammed but I never thought it would happen to me,” he told the Daily Dot.
And there’s more to the end of the story than what he explained in the video.
“Depop actually a week later took the money out of my account without me knowing and I was negative after that,” Josh told the Daily Dot. “(The) guy ‘returned’ the vinyl but it’s not at my door.”
Josh thinks that Depop doesn’t do a good job supporting its sellers. “I unfortunately still have to sell on there since I’m unemployed and trying to save some money before I go back to university. I just need to look out for people like that,” he told us.
He appreciated the response from viewers, “because I had people in the comments say the same thing happened to them and I was getting support. Unlike Depop lol.”
The Daily Dot reached out to Depop via email and did not receive an immediate response.
Depop’s support page contains information for both buyers and sellers about refunds and claims that items shipped were not as described online. For sellers in such situations, Depop says it will “mediate a resolution between yourself and the buyer,” according to the support page, and “If a resolution cannot be found, we will ask the buyer to return the item using tracked postage. You will then refund the full sale price (minus shipping).”
Other Depop users have taken to TikTok to describe negative experiences, like the creator who said last year that multiple Depop sellers never shipped her orders.
