Buyer Opened Not As Described Return, I declined,Ebay favoured the buyer

[trustidee]

I sold a 25 year old box of cereal, In the description i clearly listed any wear,damage. INCLUDING the fact there was no cereal in box. IN fact that was the first header of the description.

The buyer receives , and immediately opens a not as described return. The buyer claims the reason is because there is no cereal in the box. I disputed the reasoning . Eventually the case was closed by Ebay in the BUyers favour. They kept the box and i lost 30 out of my pocket to pay for the original shipping.

I am reallly astonished by Ebay decision. As it clearly goes against their Buyers Abuse Policy. 

What is even the point of having to waste my time with descriptions?

[ricarmic]

INADs can happen for a variety of reasons, in the current environment the buyer will always win regardless whether it is valid or not. The best we can do is minimize the impact on us in terms of return/partial refund or whatever happens to be the right solution to resolve it (buyer being "stuck with it" isn't an option of course).

Generally speaking one can't count on the buyers reading the description at all, sometimes they can't even be counted on to read the whole title. In my own case, for this reason my modern day descriptions are very minimal, I try to put everything "INADISH" in the titles as best I can.

If one sells enough stuff one is going to get problem buyers, I think of these folks the same as MIA parcels, and I treat the related "loss" incurred as a cookie jar insurance situation.

[femmefan1946]

You can appeal the decision.



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https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/How-do-I-contact-Customer-Support/m-p/32016431#M1783851 -> Automated Assistant, type AGENT -> enter. You will then get more options.



You can't be sure that you will get your box back, but with luck you may be able to qualify for a courtesty refund of your customer's original payment.

[pjcdn2005]

The fact that the box was used should have given the buyer a clue that it wasn't a sealed box in new condition but ebay does not look at things like that so it is almost always best to accept a return if the buyer opens a not as described return request.

Keep in mind that descriptions are often missed, especially when a buyer is looking on their phone.  Even on a PC a buyer has to scroll past at least 2 rows of 'sponsored listings' so they may not even realize there is a description.  Although it isn't a guarantee that the buyer will read the full title, it's always best to put important info like that in the title as well.

Some categories (including the one that you listed in) also include a extra condition box after you click on 'used' . In there you can put that the cereal is not included, worn box etc and that info will show up at the top near the title.  That gives you one more chance that the buyer will know exactly what they have purchased.

[femmefan1946]

Keep in mind that descriptions are often missed,

That's one of the reasons I have a colour background to my listings and use a larger font.

<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0"><font rwr="1" style="font-family:Arial" size="4"><!-- Auction ad begins here --><center><table cellpadding="10" border="2"><tbody><tr><td bgcolor="#CCFFFF">

Slap that at the top of your next description and see what happens.

(I'm not actually sure since I put that together when I was 20 years younger and 50 IQ points smarter.)

I think many of my customers are older and use computers rather than phones, but I agree that a Description that is just plain text on white, and often very short, is not very visible.

[trustidee]

Thanks, Its still alarming that Ebay did not enforce their own policies.the appeal is in i will see what happens. Yes i try and make my description in short points list for easy and clear understanding. I never brush over any defects and over describe flaws to where it likely hurts sales

Here is my solution to reduce this type of probem and likely others.I have thought about this,Ebay could fix this problem . At the purchase time before money is payed. Ebay should have a small box for the buyer to check, agreeing that they read and understood the description.  And send the seller a box to check agreeing that described the item accurately and truthfully. If Ebay wants to implement this solution i am open to offers of using my idea.

[ibccshop]

Have you considered adding to the description "That buy purchasing, buyer agrees that they have read, accepted and comprehend the description, terms and conditions and agrees to be legally bound by terms and conditions and holds sellers harmless as a result of any misinterpretations of the description and terms and conditions of sale".

IBCCSHOP

[ericsells75]

Adding your own terms is fine and all but a) buyers still won’t read them and B) eBay couldn’t care less about your own terms they will use their own.

[pjcdn2005]

Those terms are unforceable on eBay so imo, it's pointless to add them. 

[mcrlmn]

"25 year old box of cereal"

Not a "box of cereal" if empty.

Was your title and description of a cereal box or "box of cereal"?

[sledsandatvs]

All I can say is that buyer must've been really hungry!  I hope you were able to resolve the issue.

[mommykins41]

Exactly what I was wondering. "I sold a 25 year old box of cereal" I can see how this could be misleading.

[travis7s]

 Yeah it sucks because they should have read the desription but It's always good practise to make it very obvious there is some kind of issue, even if it means making your listing look less appealing. I would have literally put "(NO CEREAL)" directly in the title. Also consider that if your buyers are using the ebay app on their phone the description is literally hidden and must be clicked on to make it appear, it is very easy to miss this as a buyer.

Also next time try reaching out to 'eBay for Business' on Facebook, they actually help to resolve these things.