unfair for buyer paying the return shipping cost (shiping wrong item due to seller mistake)

[guofpa6]

I bid and won a product (inflatable boat). However I received completely different items from what I bid for (size, model difference)

When I contact with Seller, he acknowledged that is his mistake and agree to refund.

As refund, I need to ship this at my cost. I believe this is really unfair to let me pay for seller's mistake.

Is there any place I can protect myself?

[femmefan1946]

Not only at your cost, but with Confirmation of Delivery. On a large item like this,that would normally be part of the Canada Post service, although on small items it can raise the cost of return considerably.

If the seller is in North America, check the cost of shipping by courier (UPS or FedEx) or by bus (Greyhound etc.) Sometimes that is cheaper.

The reasoning is that the buyer in NOT always right, although it seems to be in your case. The policy is in place in part to defend sellers against buyers who 'rent' items and then return them for no reason.

You can ask the seller to cover your return cost. He is not required to do so, but since it is his error, ethically he should.

Your tools are politeness, feedback and of course Detailed Seller Ratings. DSRs are much more important to sellers than buyers realize because: arithmetic. The normal Rating is Five Stars. The lowest is ONE Star.  If a seller's ratings drop below 4.3 his ability to list and to sell are greatly reduced.

Politely-- Captain Malcolm Reynolds

[nubian_treasures]

After you return the item, you could go to paypal and a "request money" transaction for the out of pocket shipping. There is no guarantee you will get reimbursed but it won't hurt to try.