eBay

musicyouneed · ‎03-20-2018

This morning I woke up to a return requested from the US. I sell CD's and apparently the buyer stated that the CD skips. Now the CD looked to be in excellent condition, but I don't test all of them. Sometimes the CD looks perfect but one song usually there is an issue, this has happened before so I know it is possible. The CD was $14.99 US with $4.25 US shipping. I no longer have another copy.

My feeling is just to refund the buyer and let it go. I will never be able to sell the CD so why would I want it back. I also checked the buyers feedback and they seem quite honest.

What do you think?

momcqueen · ‎03-20-2018

Hmm. Well, I don't sell CDs but I would want the item back to determine whether in fact it skips. Don't different Compact Disc player machines have different levels of sensitivity to that kind of thing? But then if you resold it, you'd wonder about the next person, right? The feedback being okay is only one indicator, as a smart 'scammer' makes sure their Feedback Left For Others is squeaky clean or it exposes their modus operandi. Only a particularly dumb scammer would leave a trail of Negatives in their wake.

I'd send Return Postage to get it back, easy to do via Shippo. And then refund when I did. In principle. No refunds without returns. The buyer shouldn't want to keep a CD that skips for them anyway.

momcqueen · ‎03-20-2018

"Don't different Compact Disc player machines have different levels of sensitivity to that kind of thing? But then if you resold it, you'd wonder about the next person, right?"

To clarify, I'm not suggesting you resell a CD that skips. I mean, if you got it back and tested it, and determined it didn't skip, and that the buyer just maybe pretended it did because he decided he didn't want it after making his own copy of it, and sent it back at your expense by claiming SNAD as opposed to Remorse. If you tested it and found the CD to be skip-free, you could resell it, but then you might wonder if it might skip for someone else with a touchy CD player.

momcqueen · ‎03-20-2018

It doesn't change my advice. Return postage, refund buyer after return received.

If you test it and find it A-OK, it's entirely up to you whether you'd want to talk to ebay about a false SNAD claim or let it drop. For $20, I'd probably let it drop.

pierrelebel · ‎03-20-2018

"My feeling is just to refund the buyer and let it go."

I totally agree. It is the pragmatic thing to do.

musicyouneed · ‎03-20-2018

Mo, thanks for responding. Yes, that is true, sometimes, different CD players have different sensitivities.

This was a Time Life CD and in that particular series, I have had another CD that there was an issue with. One song skipped. CD looked like new but couldn't play this one song, I ran it through EAC to test it and it came back with a bad sector.

That has happened to me with other CD's too, one new CD that came out of the wrapping skipped from the start.

This is the first one that I have sold that has had an issue. Usually it is caught before I list it or ship it.

Why do I want this CD back? Why do I want to spend the money for them to ship it back? This way I am only out the cost of the CD and the shipping, if I send them postage, then I am out that too.

momcqueen · ‎03-20-2018

If you have additional information that suggests it is more likely there is a potential manufacturing issue with this particular product, then by all means, refund and let it drop.

Like I say, I don't sell CDs. I sell toys. If someone claimed they had a manufacturing issue with something I sent, I'd want to see it myself. I'd issue Return postage and refund on return. If, however, it was well-known that product line often had issues that weren't apparent while sealed in package, I might simply cut my losses.

But the CD sellers' experience does not necessarily mirror the toy sellers'. My approach would absolutely be different. Personally, in my field of sales, I'd want to see it myself to verify the problem claimed.

momcqueen · ‎03-20-2018

"Why do I want this CD back? Why do I want to spend the money for them to ship it back? This way I am only out the cost of the CD and the shipping, if I send them postage, then I am out that too."

To verify it's a true SNAD, that's the reason. A tenacious or argumentative seller might fight it as a false claim if the CD was fine on return. I'm not suggesting you battle your buyer and ebay for $20 USD. Others may.

ricarmic · ‎03-20-2018

To my mind, if I were in a similar situation (for me perhaps it would be a damaged stamp that I did not notice when I sent it) where it would be unsaleable if returned, and I have no replacement I would simply humbly apologize and fully refund.

This saves all the paperwork and conversation time (which translates to lost $$ because I could have been selling other stuff instead).

I would only block the buyer if something seemed amiss. It doesn't from what you say here so it would be simply apologize, refund and leave it at that.

lukey9 · ‎03-20-2018

I would just give them the Refund and get it over with, why bother spending more money on it.

As far as sending postage why spend more money on it and when you get it back and it does skip you are only going to chuck it away any way.

jt-libra · ‎03-20-2018

@musicyouneedwrote:

My feeling is just to refund the buyer and let it go. I will never be able to sell the CD so why would I want it back. I also checked the buyers feedback and they seem quite honest.

What do you think?

I agree. If it was a more expensive item and one that you wouldn't mind keeping for yourself, I might recommend otherwise. But I don't like to have transactions pending .... or throw good money after bad. I just want to close the file.

sylviebee · ‎03-20-2018

I would refund the buyer immediately.

I'd leave it completely up to the buyer, but if there is some reason to actually want the item back (although I don't know what that would be) you could ask the buyer to take the CD out of the case and drop it in the mail for the cost of a postage stamp. Their choice (no obligation whatsoever.)

Of course send a buck or so to cover the cost of the stamp if that's what the buyer opts to do.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎03-20-2018

The other questions with a CD/DVD is does it skip in one place or several places? If it were one place then to me, no big deal. Maybe a discount could be in order. If it's in several places its very annoying and defective. In that case I would like my money back. And then buyer if so chose could hang it up on by the patio window and let the sun reflect off. Instant crow repeller. Really not worth the cost to return unless as noted it was of higher value. Would want to confirm condition. It's really all a personal preference.

-CM

recped · ‎03-20-2018

Hopefully return shipping would be much more than what you had originally invested in the cd. In which case paying to return makes no sense and little sense even if you could resell.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

musicyouneed · ‎03-20-2018

I would like to thank everyone for their input. Before I do anything, I usually come to the ebay community to double check and get input.

Of the 3,000+ CD's that I have sold this is the first time where one has skipped that I hadn't caught, so it is pretty good. I believe the buyer in this case because there was an issue with another in this series that I had to throw out because it skipped.

I did give a full refund and let her keep the CD. It was $14.99 US plus 4.25 US shipping and personally I wouldn't want one that skipped either not at that price. I did send her a personal email apologizing for the CD and explaining that it is impossible to predict that, especially since it looked in like new condition.

Hopefully she will not give me a negative or a neutral because of it.

reallynicestamps · ‎03-20-2018

and in that particular series, I have had another CD that there was an issue with. One song skipped.

Which to me says the quality control on the discs was not high.

Refund without return.

KISS.

How much did the disc cost you? A buck? Less? (Yes of course you had expenses later).

And as usual, how many minutes at your local minimum wage have you spent on this already? Here in BC that's 18 cents a minute.

(The total payment for the CD was about 33 cents a minute)

goldnideas · ‎03-20-2018

Smart choice. Just refund your buyer, it is not worth the fight. One time I asked for my item back and after that spent a week arguing about shipping cost, by buyer calculation it should be $30 (registered with tracking!) when in fact she paid only $8

If you think it's true and CD maybe defective, just make it right.

ladybug2785 · ‎03-21-2018

From our experience most americans are really stupid when it comes to sending something to Canada. They are so dense that all they see is the $36.95 price on the USPS site and are too dumb to click on the drop down menu for the other prices.

Just refund and avoid the hassle.

We had one bad buyer pull a scam on us by microwaving a cd after copying it then filing a claim. He also did this to another seller of music that we know. Ebay was oblivious to his obvious scam.

hlmacdon · ‎03-21-2018

@ladybug2785wrote:
From our experience most americans are really stupid when it comes to sending something to Canada. They are so dense that all they see is the $36.95 price on the USPS site and are too dumb to click on the drop down menu for the other prices.

I wouldn't make such a broad generalization without understanding how their mail system works. For returns people are frequently told to ship with tracking and it is baked into the mind of the US consumer as tracking is the norm there rather than the exception. USPS, and in particular, their website, has done a poor job of communicating which services are eligible for tracking. In the past first class with tracking was only available for a select group of countries and only when postage was purchased electronically. For infrequent international mailers (ie your typical buyers) it is understandable they wouldn't note that distinction. Even now the website doesn't make the process clear. This is why many US sellers and consumers think they have to use Priority Mail for international for tracking, something not helped when postal outlets constantly tell them that.