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"four of the items were significantly different from the listing"
How many items were involved in this purchase?
All in one listing? or several listings?
What is the value of the unsatisfactory items in relation to the total transaction?
Were the four unsatisfactory items purchased from a US seller through GSP (Global Shipping Program)?
Can you evaluate the shipping cost of four items only?
That may be the base of the rejection for refunding the original shipping charge.
For example, it may have cost $25 to combine the shipping of all 8 items while combining just 4 may have cost $20 or even the same $25.
There is no way for eBay or PayPal to determine what actual extra shipping costs (if any) were involved in the original transactions. It is possible these four unsatisfactory items did not cost any additional shipping amount. As such, no refund for shipping would be available.
"Shipping cost for four items I believe was $25-30"
Could you go back to the eight payments you made through PayPal and break down the eight shipping charges - or - was everything combined into one payment, one shipping charge?
Sorry for the late reply. Just woke up from my morning nap!
So basically you paid $20 for the original shipping of those four unsatisfactory items ($5 each) and the seller should have refunded $20 shipping upon receipt of the returned items.
What reason(s) did the seller give for not refunding the four shipping charges?
"Their explanation was that only the goods are guaranteed through buyer protection, not the shipment of them.:"
That is not a valid reason.
With the eBay Money Back Guarantee, we ensure you get the item you ordered or your money back. We will cover your purchase price plus original shipping on virtually all items on ebay.com.
If you didn't receive the item you ordered (either received nothing or something that wasn't as described), you can use our eBay Money Back Guarantee process to resolve issues quickly.
Learn more about eBay Money Back Guarantee or get started by opening a request in your Purchase history page.
If you check the eBay Money Back Guarantee link, eBay advises:
- Go to My eBay
If your item hasn’t arrived or isn’t as described, go to My eBay, find the item in your purchase history, and select return or item not received within 30 days of delivery.
- Not resolved? Let us know.
If your issue’s not resolved in 3 business days, contact us.
- We’ll get your money back fast.
You’ll hear from us in 48 hours.
Hello 'sequinsnvelvet',
<< I opened a request to return . . . through eBay, and [seller] agreed to refund me the return shipping costs, ... I would not
be refunded original shipping costs, just the costs of the items.
. . . I closed the eBay case, escalated to a Paypal claim, . . . Paypal decided in the seller's favour, informing me to return the
items for a refund. When I asked yet again if I would be refunded original shipping costs, again the answer was no.
I ended up just closing the case and counting it as a loss>>
I haven't read the emails and so cannot comment on who said what to whom, but when you open a case for return in ebay
or paypal and are directed to return the items you will not be refunded anything until the tracking shows the seller has the
items back. Then, if the seller does not refund the item price + original shipping, ebay/paypal will do it for you.
It does not matter what a seller tells you, - a seller cannot withhold the original shipping fee. If you open a case on ebay
within 30 days and provide proof that the items are significantly not as described, the seller will also be required to pay
for return shipping. The difficulty there is how to do it internationally.
I don't understand why you closed the ebay case. Presumably you thought a paypal case would offer you a better deal.
Paypal would not have decided in the seller's favour before you had returned the items. You said pp decided first, then
instructed you to return the items. That was not a decision in the seller's favour, it's how the system works.
Were you hoping for a refund without actually having to return the items?
Moreover, you say you ended up closing the case. If you closed the case it seems it was at that point undecided, -- or
do you consider the requirement of returning items to be tantamount to a refusal? At any rate, when you open a return
case in paypal, you get the item price + original shipping fee but there is no promise made of getting return shipping.
<<I didn't bother returning them because a) who's to say the seller would for sure refund me . . . and b) I . . . made more
of my money back reselling the items on ebay than returning them and only getting half the refund for them.>>
Unfortunately you know how that's going to look, now, don't you. You didn't get a refund, kept the items, and if the seller
sees you resold them (obviously they were good enough to resell) she will think you are just another bad buyer looking
for a discount or a freebie. Ick. So don't let this happen to you again.
You may already have seen these policy links, but even so a little refresher never hurts.
The ebay Help page explains about having 30 days to open a case on ebay, and clearly states that "a full refund is one
that covers the cost of the item and original shipping," adding that "if you've received an item and want a full refund,
you usually need to send the item back to the seller."
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/item-not-received.html#more
Ebay's Money Back Guarantee page bolsters this view with the statement that, "When an item is returned to the seller,
the cost of return shipping is the seller's responsibility", for items that are not as described. According to this page,
ebay will refund the return shipping via paypal.
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/money-back-guarantee.html#description
And paypal's Buyer Protection allows 180 days (nearly 6 months) in which to start a claim. There is no mention of
any return shipping reimbursement so the buyer must pay that if a claim is opened through paypal. In Section 13.4
it says "If . . . PayPal finds in your favor on your Claim, PayPal will reimburse you for the full purchase price of the item
and original shipping costs",
https://www.paypal.com/us/webapps/mpp/ua/useragreement-full#13
It's dull reading but good to know if you are willing to spend a wee bit of time going over it. 
