buyer claims the item as defective

[filamenthead]

the  item  condition in  question  was  clearly  shown  and described    with  close  up  pictures  showing  its  condition  .   repair  was  made  to  the  item  prior  to  listing for sale  and  this  also was  declared .  buyer makes  all  kinds  of  false   claims  on its  condition .

 buyer  filed a  dispute  anyway  saying  the  item  is  defective .  e bay  sides  with  buyer.

now  i am supposed to  pay  for  return  shipping  and  then  refund  the  buyer.

ebay  and  its  resolution reps  are a bunch  of  idiots  and  unreliable ,  incompetent  nerds.

ebay   policies  towards  sellers  is  sick  and  totally  discriminatory .

how  does a seller  protect  himself  from  this  kind  of  situation 

[google64]

I don't really have a good answer but I'm curious how you had it listed. What was the item ID?

Did they just auto-accept the buyers request or did you get some back and forth going before eBay defaulted to the buyer?

I sold a lens with a defective focus motor, clearly listed and labeled as best as possible, and filed under "For parts or not working"  https://www.ebay.ca/itm/184503842576 .

I haven't had an issue with this one situation but I also had a quick message back and forth prior to shipping confirming the known defects.

The only thing I've had happen in the past similar was my first negative feedback 13 years ago, new user left a negative feedback on the wrong seller. eBay refused to reverse it, so I quit for a few years.  I thought they had fixed it where you couldn't leave feedback on someone with a cancelled transaction but I feel like it was giving me the option on a non-payer a month ago.

[femmefan1946]

You send a Return Shipping Label.

If the buyer is in the USA you go to Shippo to buy a USPS shipping label.

Here are the costs-- you want to use  Shape and Size-> First Class International Package which is at the bottom of the list but which has Tracking.

https://postcalc.usps.com/?country=10440

You already know the weight and dimensions, but USPS works better with Imperial measures.

If the buyer doesn't return the purchase, you win the Dispute and do not have to refund.

Eventually the Return Shipping Label will be refunded to you.

If he does, when you receive it, you refund promptly.

And add the buyer to your Blocked Bidder List.

Now either the item is just fine, in which case you relist it, or the buyer has identified problems you missed.

Yes, from time to time the buyer is right. Who knew?

The point is, you can refuse returns, but you cannot refuse REFUNDS.

If you try, you will lose the Dispute, the buyer keeps the item, gets a refund, you get a Defect, the buyer can leave feedback.

Defects can mean restrictions on the number or value of the items you can list, higher fees/lost promotions, and even closed selling accounts.

Even if your policy is No Returns (which does not mean No Refunds) you can still demand the return before refunding.

Get it back in resellable condition.

[teenytrinkets]

Honestly, there's no protection for this. Ebay doesn't even check most of the time. I've had several claims like this... two within the past year. I've always been extremely apologetic - despite the buyers inability to read, in some cases... lol. This puts them in a better mood. Then I've offered partial refunds to avoid having to pay return shipping. For the ones in the past year, one was accepted and for the other the buyer offered to pay half the return shipping.

The key to avoiding this (for me) is to not sell things that the buyer may be too picky about - like collectibles, and such, or anything too far priced over retail (they'll expect it to be dipped in gold when it arrives). I also rarely ship anything over $40-$50 outside Canada, since return shipping is so expensive (and complicated).

If a buyer wants to scam you on ebay, they'll find a way. 99.9% of the time, buyers are great.

[filamenthead]

HI !  THE PROBLEM   IS  THAT  WHEN  BUYING SHIPPING LABELS  FROM   US POSTAL SERVICE  TO  SHIP BACK TO CANADA THE  COST  IS  IN  U.S  DOLLARS  AND  THE  RETURN SHIPPING COST WILL END  UP  BEING  HIGHER THEN  THE  ORIGINAL COST   PAID  TO  SHIP  TO  THE  BUYER.

HOW CAN THIS  BE  FAIR ?

[google64]

It's not fair. Though something must have changed in the last 6-7 years. I'll give you an opposing view.

Back in 2013 I purchased a replacement motherboard for a newer computer, cost was around $150 from a Chinese seller. 25 days later I receive a motherboard for a HP G60, which was an older Vista era laptop board. So we open a ticket for "item not as described" and had to explain to eBay it was like getting a PS1 when you ordered a PS3. They then said we had to pay postage, tracked to China, to process the claim. I think postage at the time was something like $100 for a tracked shipment. Pretty sure we dumped it in the basement.

Depending on the value of your item, it's a hard call. Are they banking on the fact that it wouldn't be economical for you to pay the return postage back and then they get to keep the item and get a refund?

Like it's also been said, maybe the seller is right, and there's an issue you missed.

[mosom_86]

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[teenytrinkets]

I had a situation like this too, about 10 years ago. I bought a very expensive specialty Jeep spare tire cover from the US that took forever to arrive, and when it did, it arrived with a giant slash through it. I had to submit photos, jump through a bunch of hoops, and then pay $20+ shipping to return it, and then wait eons for my refund. Think I wanted to buy another one through Ebay? No way.

So while I think it's fine that ebay is forcing sellers to pay for return shipping for cases like this now, I think it's despicable that they don't prevent buyer's remorse returns disguisedas SNADs. I'm guessing it's just far too onerous for them, but you'd think if you fought it you'd get somewhere! But it's nearly impossible...

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

Maybe those special buyers who refuse to read a listing in its entirety or use creative reasons for a return get some sort of a jolt as they hit the Commit to Purchase button? Hey just spitballing!!  😉

-Lotz

[teenytrinkets]

You make me giggle, Lotz! 😉