No eBay Seller Protection for 2020

[antiquesincanada]

Hello everyone!

I've recently had an abusive buyer and have noted that the instances of fraud and of buyers abusing the rules has been on the increase.  

It seems that "buyers" are resorting to extorsion; "I'll return the item and leave "appropriate feedback" unless you give me a refund of 50%..."

I strive to take exceptional care of my customers with fast shipping, accurate descriptions, clear pictures and polite communication, so I'm stunned that eBay sides with people who are obviously doing a post-sale shakedown.

I sell vintage and antique goods through Facebook as well and in 6 years, I've never had any of the problems I encounter with eBay - and this is with 121,000+ subscribers on my site.

Sadly, I've recently again been subjected to unreasonable judgement at eBay and I'm left wondering if Sellers have any sort of protection at all? 

I feel the harder I try to do right by folks, the more I get taken advantage of and not protected by eBay.  Can anyone please help me understand what's happening here?  

I am most grateful for any help!

God Bless,

Andy 🙂

[femmefan1946]

"I regret you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund."

If he demands a partial refund:

"I regret you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund."

If he threatens to leave negative feedback:

"I regret you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund."

No refunds without return.

Even if you have to pay for the return.

If your buyer is in the USA you can send a Return Shipping Label through Shippo, but first tell him to open a Dispute through the Resolution Centre.

Stay calm and professional.

"I regret you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund."

EBay does not allow Feedback Extortion, although it is sometimes up to a minimum wage clerk to decide if the threat fits the definition.

In any case, eBay does not use feedback to assess seller accounts. While a few buyers do, the seller can also leave a Response to any feedback. My suggestion would be :

"I regret you are unhappy with your purchase. Please return it for a refund."

And on a less professional note, you just know your repetitive answers will drive him up a wall.

[femmefan1946]

You can also add any member to your Blocked Bidder List at any time with no explanation and put an automatic Block on bidders/buyers with Strikes for non-payment from any seller.

But I assume you knew that.

The usual percentage of "failed transactions" or problems in retail is about one percent.

If you are doing less than that, and it looks like you are, then the occasional problem is just a tax deduction.

[ricarmic]

It is very very hard not to take these things personally.

One never knows what is going on in the other persons life and/or what problems they've had with other sellers in the past. Just as we tend to paint problem customers as criminals, I suspect many customers paint us the same.

I've begun to think of all these things qualifying for "cookie jar insurance"

-lost packages of course

-partial or full refunds for claims of faults or returns, fraudulent or not

-upgraded postage costs on my own expense because my "spider senses" are tingling

When one looks at it this way it is easier to treat it as a "normal" business transaction, and in that case the goal is to:

-minimize my time "resolving" it

-minimize my cost of "resolving" it

-maximizing the likelihood it does not happen again (by blocking the bidder, adjusting my titles or descriptions etc)

Whilst especially in some situations it is almost "painful" to be polite and courteous, remembering the above helps. I also keep an inventory of pre-written responses and these have been INVALUABLE to me because it helps keep one from writing what one feels instead of what they should be writing.

Even including all of the above, I don't think my "costs" of problems are over 1% and from what I understand in the B&M world, that's way better anymore....

[pmlinne]

I agree that "I regret you are unhappy with your purchase.  Please return it for a refund."  may help with buyers trying to get a partial refund.    I am wondering though what protection a seller has if the buyer sends back an item that is damaged, missing pieces or just not what was originally sold.   From conversations I have read this has happened to sellers.  They end up losing the original item, the original costs paid, and the return shipping.    The buyer gets to keep the "good" item at no cost and gets rid of a lesser quality item all for the cost of taking to the post office to mail.   

What advice can you give to honest sellers who are scammed?

[ricarmic]

I think if you sell to enough people, no matter the category it is going to happen to us all.

This means you have to consider it a cost of doing business and include the anticipated/actual loss rate in your margins.

As I mentioned above, I think of it in the same category as legitimate lost in the mail items, and I prevent the buyer from doing it again.

"Burn me once shame on you, burn me twice shame on me" is my motto....

Some categories, like cell phones for example probably have a high enough problem buyer rate to make it untenable for most of us to sell them. But that too is just my opinion.

[antiquesincanada]

Thank you so very much for helping!!

[reallynicestamps]

@pmlinne 

Back to the "one percent" of problem transactions and the Cookie Jar Insurance solution.

However, I understand that eBay does support appeals when the proverbial "brick" is returned instead of the original item.

And eBay also flags buyers with "too many" Disputes and Claims (won or lost) and boots those hard to please customers (to be as polite as possible) out of the Money Back Guarantee program.

Not all transactions will go perfectly.

In my own opinion, one way for the seller to protect herself is not to use a No Returns policy.

No Returns does NOT mean No Refunds.

And it discourages communication, while encouraging a nutty buyer to make sure what is returned is Not As Described, with a hammer if necessary.

[us.f634]

I would like the ability to block "guests", or guest from outside a chosen country. Apparently, there have been cases of blocked members entering and bidding/buying using that loop. We had a similar problem on a combined forum and sales site and moderating it was time consuming.