eBay

miklamot · ‎03-31-2016

I am a business owner. I repair electronics, mostly TVs. From time to time, I sell circuit boards for extra income and to reduce inventory overstock. I sold a board to some guy in California. He opened a return request saying the board doesn't work and that it doesn't match the picture on my listing.

I never stated that the pic was of the exact same board. All of the part numbers match with my listing. I fee that this guy has no background or training in electronics, and is just an ordinary Joe who wants a DIY fix. He doesn't understand how these TV circuits work, and was probably expecting to just plug in the board and his tv should work. If he misdiagnosed the problem and blew up the board I sold him, how is it fair for me to have to refund him for his own stupidity and inexperience. If he ships the board back to me and it is damaged, how does eBay handle this. They always take the buyers side. In this situation I would be very angry if they forced me to refund him for damage he caused. I though I covered my butt in my listing.

Could someone take a look at my listing below and let me know if there is a better way to cover my butt so I don't have this happen again.

http://www.ebay.ca/itm/272164824104?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1561.l2649

miklamot · ‎04-05-2016

thanks for all the info everyone. I decided that in the future, I will be sending instructions on how to install the board without damaging it.

So from what I have read, there is no way to cover my butt, no matter how I word my description, eBay doesn't care. I might look into selling on Amazon, at least give it a go and see what happens.

I will not refund the buyer without getting the board shipped back first. The problem is, for some reason I can't figure out how to send the buyer the funds to ship the item back. I have also emailed this knob a couple of times asking for tracking info or if he has shipped the board back, and got no response.

He kept insisting that i refund him right away, but I refused. I think he may be trying to scam me. I already accepted the return, so how long will this return stay open if the buyer doesn't ship the item back or respond to my emails.

sylviebee · ‎04-05-2016

@miklamot wrote:
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I will not refund the buyer without getting the board shipped back first. The problem is, for some reason I can't figure out how to send the buyer the funds to ship the item back. I have also emailed this knob a couple of times asking for tracking info or if he has shipped the board back, and got no response.

He kept insisting that i refund him right away, but I refused. I think he may be trying to scam me. I already accepted the return, so how long will this return stay open if the buyer doesn't ship the item back or respond to my emails.

I was going to comment on the general issues you're having but then I read ricarmic's post above above and he said it all. Totally agree with his post. Selling online means that you have the benefit of having potential buyers from all over the planet, but the cost is that among those customers there will be an occasional "knob."

Sending the buyer funds for return shipping is almost always an issue, and that's especially true if there have been communication problems along the line with that buyer.

However, I strongly urge you to get the funds to the buyer. If you don't, and the buyer escalates the case, eBay will step in and do it for you and that never ends well for sellers.

Go to paypal and send the money to the email address you'll find on the initial receipt. Do not process it as a partial refund. Just send the funds.

It's best if you can get the buyer to let you know how much return shipping is, but if the buyer is not co-operating go to the USPS website, estimate the cost, and send the funds.

You can hope that the case runs out and goes away, but it probably won't.

If your buyer doesn't actually return the item you can view it as a partial refund. (Case closed.)

femmefan1946 · ‎04-05-2016

Go to paypal and send the money to the email address you'll find on the initial receipt.

I'd be more cautious with this.

First, the buyer is claiming that he sent the board, but has not presented any proof of mailing.

I'm not worried about tracking or proof of delivery here, but he won't even show that he has put the board in the post.

In effect, the OP would be paying the buyer to keep the (probably damaged) board.

And you know, the buyer is going to leave negative feedback if he can.

I would have refunded without return of the (probably damaged) board, on the 'good money after bad' principle, but if the buyer won't show some indication that he is sending it back, while belligerently demanding money..... that's a nope.