I no longer feel safe selling on eBay due to chargeback

[zeplaneboss]

Recently I have been afraid to open my messages because I am getting “odd” buyer disputes. 99.9% of my clientele is decent and I sell t-shirts, I couldn’t imagine selling anything else on eBay. There is no way that I would sell anything of real value at this point because there just isn’t enough seller protection. It’s become “buyers, buy on eBay and we’ll let the seller and the credit card companies deal with the problems”.

Back to what I was saying. This morning of March 29, 2022 I get a dispute from an item sold on March 11, 2021, 383 days ago. Let’s get serious here, is there no time limit for these people to file claims? Not only that the “gentleman” that opened the claim had wanted to return the t-shirts when he first got them because he “couldn’t use ‘em”, that’s all he said, gave no explanation and said that if I didn’t take them back that he would take legal action.

During the following days, months I was expecting him to open up a claim through eBay or even leave negative feedback but he didn’t, he just waited. To make matters worse I have to provide a screen print of delivery confirmation. First of all how does that prove a problem with the transaction? Second of all how can I access the tracking information if it’s been longer than 120days? I do have the tracking slip from when I sent it and the emails he sent me but who do I send them to? They only ask for one lousy picture. This time eBay didn’t freeze my funds but prior to this I had a buyer open up a transaction not recognized case and my funds were held for 30 days. That certainly isn’t fair, especially when you have the tracking info to show for it, which again how does that prove their request?

At this point I have become very worried and untrusting as it seems buyers have discovered a loophole in the system. It’s basically become that my buyers wear a T-shirt for 383 days then wake up one morning and dispute the transaction and win because I have no way of proving delivery of the item after so much time has passed. Hey everyone free t-shirts! Like come on, eBay has to put a stop to this.

[recped]

Don't change your plans because of 1 in 1000. I don't know what your loss is on this transaction but whatever it is divide that amount by the number of sales you've made in the last year, I'd speculate the amount per sale is pretty low m aybe at the insignificant level.

When buyers want to return stuff it's usually best to be agreeable and as you found out you can cut your losses dramatically.

What exactly was the stated reason for the chargeback?

[recped]

Forgot to mention.........

I had a buch of credit card chargebacks in the 2006 - 2010 period, most were covered by PayPal (which at the time had the very best protection of any processor) but a few were not.

Since 2010 I've had exactly zero, lower volume than in the early days but still.....zero!

[msau4301]

I agree with recped, for less than 1% of your transactions to be bad that is not worth stopping over!

In regards to the buyer claiming dispute after 383 days that is just crazy! Anyone knows there is a window that closes (anywhere) for returns. eBay's window closes after 60 days, PayPal's after 180 days. Many retail stores are 30. There is no way to access the transaction information here as it disappears after 90 days. To threaten legal action is just a scare tactic. 

I wouldn't even respond to him at this point. I don't know how he still had your information to contact you after so long which is too bad. I once had a buyer contact me after 4 months saying they never received their package. I panicked at first but then when I realized I couldn't even track down his information any more I just told him so....and said sorry but he should have contacted me sooner since the information leaves eBay after 90 days and I couldn't even access it anymore to look anything up. I was lucky and never heard back.

Just think of the 99.9 % of the "decent clientele" you have and try not to worry about the odd weirdo!

[reallynicestamps]

Not only that the “gentleman” that opened the claim had wanted to return the t-shirts when he first got them because he “couldn’t use ‘em”, that’s all he said, gave no explanation and said that if I didn’t take them back that he would take legal action.

You are allowed to have a No Returns policy, but you cannot have a No Refunds policy.

Threatening legal action is a strong sign that you are dealing with and angry and possibly mentally ill person.

Hindsight being 20/20, asking for and even paying for return of the shirts for a full refund would be a sensible move.

But again: 20/20.

I do have the tracking slip from when I sent it and the emails he sent me but who do I send them to?

Good.

Attach it as a pdf to the response you make to the chargeback announcement.

While most cards (and Paypal) allow 180 days (three months) for claims, I think American Express is more lenient with some customers.

Note that this is not actually an eBay dispute. EBay only allows claims for 30 days from delivery.

[reallynicestamps]

The reason why "legal action" is a stupid threat, is that there are three easy automatic processes in place for eBay disputes.

EBay's Resolution Centre for up to 30 days from delivery.

• Feedback can be left for up to 60 days, but that is not part of the claims process.

Paypal's Resolution centre for up to 180 days from payment.

The customer's credit card. Chargeback policies differ from card to card, with most being 180 days from payment, but AmEx does have some cards with longer dispute allowances.

The customer who does not know how to use any of those is not going to be easy to deal with.

[teenytrinkets]

Returns and charge backs seem to come in waves for me. I think when people need money...lol. It is almost always 1-2% of total sales. Enough to irk you and make you want to throw in the towel sometimes, but really insignificant in the grand scheme of things.