Fraudulent return

[ontariosurpluscanada]

Hello,

I am fairly new to selling on Ebay, and have just experienced my first return request. The buyer claims the item is not as described, saying there is " skin residue" on the item, and that the charger is bent. He has included pictures he took. I can absolutely guarantee that the charger I sent him was not bent, and as for "skin residue", well I did not see any when inspecting it before shipping. Unfortunately, I used stock photos instead of taking detailed photos, so I realize I am probably screwed as far as this return goes. This has really soured my experience selling on Ebay, and for now I have removed all my listings. In the future, I will be taking very detailed photos of all the items I list and making sure they are included in the listing. Any other suggestions on how to avoid this sort of thing in the future?

Thanks.

[rose-dee · Accepted solution]

Despite eBay's push to get sellers to use the catalogue and stock photos, this is the reason why taking your own photos of the actual item for sale (especially if it is a used item) is still a good idea, so you're right about that. 

The other thing of course is to carefully inspect the item and clearly describe the item's condition in your own item description -- don't rely only on the item specifics to do that job.  I don't know whether this was the case for your item, but avoid using descriptions like "pristine" or "mint" for any used item ("excellent" or "very good" are better).  

As for the buyer's claim of SNAD (significantly not as described), the best you can do to protect your seller rating is to accept a return (if you do want the item back), and issue a refund once you've received it, which I presume you've already put in motion. 

BTW, although it's moot now, I don't understand how "skin residue" couldn't be cleaned off by the buyer, but whatever.  It does sound as if the buyer cooked up complaints in order to get his money back for what was probably a perfectly good item.  As for his claim that the item is "bent", without original photos it would be difficult for you to do battle with eBay over this being a possible fraudulent claim. 

So yes, lots of good, clear photos of the actual item (including some close-ups to show condition clearly) would have helped, along with a detailed description.  

[reallynicestamps]

No returns does not mean NO REFUNDS.

Is an American buyer asking for a return shipping label?

You can send a USPS shipping label using Shippo. Some buyers don't know this is now possible and think that Canadian sellers can't send return postage allowing them to win Disputes and keep both money and item.

When you receive the item back, you can resell it. With both stock and your own picture. Set your own as the first Gallery photo.

Your loss on this transaction is a learning experience and a tax deduction.

Maybe your buyer is lying. Maybe he isn't. EBay won't take sides in this.

Refund promptly when you get the item back and avoid a defect.

Not every transaction will go perfectly.

That's why shops have Customer Service desks.

[reallynicestamps]

That negative just killed your business.

When you start to relist, open a different account.

But before that, do some buying on the new account to learn the real eBay experience from your customer's viewpoint.

This will also allow you to build up feedback which, while eBay doesn't use it to measure your selling account, is very important public relations for new buyers.

Low feedback/ new sellers are red meat for scammers.

It's also a good plan to sell low value or unwanted items first to get a feel for selling.

This is retail and mail order retail. It's not easy.