Advice Wanted: eBay Sale

lisss on 30/10/2013 - 15:43
Last edited 30/10/2013 - 16:14

I recently cleaned out my wardrobe and sold around 60 items on eBay. Out of that many sales, I suppose I should have expected at least one issue. I'd like some advice on what you would do in this situation.

The listing was for some leather shoes which have only been worn twice. I stated in the listing that there are some marks on the outside of the shoes which occurred from storage, referred buyers to the photos and then uploaded photos of every angle of the shoes, clearly showing the marks. I stated that the marks are hardly noticeable when worn (true in my opinion).

The buyer now says he is very unhappy because the marks are "quite severe" and that the soles of the shoes are "sunken". He wants a full refund.

I disagree that I inaccurately described the shoes and that the soles were or could be "sunken".

The way I see it, I'm happy to refund him if he sends them back to me but I don't think I should be out of pocket for the cost of shipping the item to him or the cost of returning them to me. Also, I'm well aware that even if I refund the full amount including all shipping, he might leave me negative feedback anyway despite me going out of my way to accommodate his demands.

What would you do in this situation? I am not too concerned about getting a negative feedback from him (I already have 40 new positives from my recent clean out) but I would be annoyed if I was out of pocket AND got a negative feedback.

General Discussion

Related Stores

eBay US
eBay US
Marketplace

Comments

  • RandomNinja on 30/10/2013 - 15:58
    +2

    I'd offer to refund the cost of the shoes if the buyer returns at his expense. I don't think you're obligated to bear the cost of return shipping unless your auction promised this.

    It might help if you open a case on eBay/Paypal and resolved it via refund. At least there's a paper trail (so to speak) of the issue and your actions to resolve it - hopefully it will protect you from unfair negative feedback.

    • eve on 30/10/2013 - 16:05
      +1

      In general, I think that if the buyer can show that the item is significantly not as described, then the seller should bear the cost of return shipping out of courtesy, even if the auction states no returns.

      • lisss on 30/10/2013 - 16:08

        I agree with this and if for example an item had a fault that I didn't notice, I would refund shipping out of decency. In this situation, I disagree that the item was not as described.

  • eve on 30/10/2013 - 16:01

    Have you discussed this with Ebay customer support?

    Could you ask the buyer to consider not giving feedback if they aren't willing to give good feedback since you've been quite accommodating?

    • lisss on 30/10/2013 - 16:10
      -1

      I wouldn't trust them tbh - they could say "I won't give feedback" and then give me negative. I suppose I could refund the item cost minus shipping, and say I'll refund shipping if they first give me positive feedback. Then it just depends whether $15 shipping is worth a positive feedback (LOL) and I would NOT be willing to refund the cost of return shipping if they do not "return to sender".

      I could try discussing with eBay customer support but in my experience they are pretty useless/unhelpful…

  • Moots on 30/10/2013 - 16:15
    +6

    I've been dealing in eBay for many many years, in-fact. I have a YouTube Channel that only has 6 videos and over 200,000 views. I know what to do in these situations.

    • Do not contact eBay Customer service. It's a waste of time for the time being unless a negative feedback has been received.
    • If you can, try and get him to say something about negative feedback and refund in the same mail. It'll fall under feedback extortion and if in the case you receive a negative, it'll be removed per eBay Feedback Guidelines
    • Tell the customer your welling to refund the purchase amount, less postage and handling. The return postage will be covered by him (refer to your listing, did you give the option of returns?) and did you state the postage of returned items will be covered by yourself, or him?

    Try and keep him away from PayPal Resolution Centre. He will most probably be in favor of a refund, they will request him to send the item back to you and provide PayPal with a tracking ID but the entire refund amount will be given if he has requested that.

    Keep your messages in eBay only, always be polite, eBay will read every mail between you both in the case of you disputing a negative feedback if worse comes to worse.

    • lisss on 30/10/2013 - 16:20

      Hi Moots, thanks for that very helpful advice! I have been polite in my email reply. My listing did not give the option of any returns.

      That's very helpful to know re feedback extortion.

  • plmko on 30/10/2013 - 18:11
    +1

    If you intend to stay as a 'buyer' on Ebay, rather than a 'seller', why do you care about Negative feedback? negative feedback received as a seller will under your 'sold items' tab in your profile. Hardly a sign for sellers to not deal with you, especially when you do have 40 positive points.

    Besides, Ebay specifically mentions that if the items falling under 'significantly different' from listing cannot be what was already pointed out in the listing or simply a few extra stratches etc.

    I'd say whatever the case, do whatever it takes to hold on to the money, one negative feedback as a casual user is nothing. I say this as a power seller.

    • lisss on 30/10/2013 - 18:22

      Hi plmko, I am only a casual seller but I do sell occasionally. I suppose 1 negative wouldn't matter that much.

      Re holding on to the money - the problem is I have found in the past that Paypal sides with the buyer without even investigating or looking at the case properly. In a situation like this, it is my word against theirs as they can't really photograph the additional "damage" they are alleging as evidence (not sure how you can photograph a "sunken" sole and the photos on the listing already show the marks).

    • Tal_Shiar on 31/10/2013 - 03:42

      regardless of the situation, you basically have to inform ebay that you will be taking legal action for them to act on bullshit negative feedback. I got the biggest essay of my life when I complained to ebay about someone that didn't even have the decency to contact me, and more than likely left negative feedback because they could import the item new and cheaper!

  • lisss on 30/10/2013 - 18:19

    The buyer says that "it is a given" that I should refund the cost of postage and that if I don't, they will go to Paypal.

    They have suggested instead that I refund 75% of the cost of the item, and allow them to keep the item as well. They claim that in this scenario they will just throw the shoes out anyway because "they are too worn", which is obviously a lie because if they were going to do that, they'd be better off returning the shoes for a full refund (even if this excluded postage).

    If I agree to a refund of 75% or similar to just get rid of the buyer, and they leave me negative feedback, what chances do I have of disputing it through eBay?

    • sparkles on 30/10/2013 - 21:07
      +1

      ASAIK if they go to PayPal they will have to send you the shoes back in order to get a refund.

      Sounds like the buyer wants most their money back and the shoes. Don't fall for that.

    • Tal_Shiar on 31/10/2013 - 03:46

      id reimburse him postage costs if they do come back to you as he says they are, but only after you have seen them for yourself

  • wbeer on 31/10/2013 - 01:34
    +1

    Let him go to Paypal, worse case scenario he has to send it back to you,.. or offer him a 10-20% refund as a measure of goodwill - definitely not 75%.

Login or Join to leave a comment
Login Join