Sold something on ebay recently, listed it as Used and described it accurately.
Now the guy who bought it is trying it on, saying that they are not as described.

It is the first time I’ve had this happen, despite 500 odd 100% feedback. Anyone else been through something similar and what was the outcome?

If I give him a full refund, which I don’t feel I should then I loose out as I have to refund postage costs as well and don’t think I get ebay fees back.

If I feel I am right, can I let ebay decide and what is the likely outcome?

I’m not convinced that you have to refund postage, but to be honest I think you have to suck it up either way..

You can get the fees back from ebay, but not the postage. I would ask him/her to send it back to you, with no mention of refunding postage for starters…

ebay will decide in buyers favour.

there was a case in the states where someone sold a vintage guitar or violin for $3000 dollars.

the buyer said it was a fake. ebay told them to smash it up and post a picture to them and they’d get a paypal refund. Seller lost money and didn’t get the item back either 🙁

tell em to walk. its a private sale conducted legally i believe the latin is caveat emptor.

ebay will side with them so play nice

Ebay is great as a buyer and dreadful as s seller

you pay loads so the other side get lots of protection and you even pay Paypal fees whihc protect the seller and not you ..madness

I never sell on Ebay

If you accept it’s faulty then I think you have to refund his postage.

If you say you’ll accept a return without liability then you can argue about the postage.

I am told ebay sides with the buyer generally.

“caveat emptor” doesn’t apply if the item is mis-described.

I’ve just been on the other end of this a week or so ago

bought some brakes on the bay described as working fine, bled and ready to go, when they turned up the master cylinder wasn’t returning properly in either lever, might have just been bad bleed, might have been fubar’d, either way I didn’t want to go trying to fix them and run the risk of then being told I’d made them worse so requested refund and return.

I posted them back at my expense, seller refunded me original purchase price but not postage, despite me sending scan of receipt so going on that I think you don’t *have* to refund their postage, but you can get the fees back.

I probably should have asked the seller to refund my postage cost though, as its not right that the buyer should be out of pocket if the goods are not as described.

depends whether your buyer is trying it on or if there is something genuinely wrong that you missed.

I’d say request they return it recorded delivery at their expense, if it arrives and there is a genuine fault you should refund the buyer in full. If it turns out there was nothing wrong an they were trying it on then refund the sale price but not return postage as the item was not faulty.

A guy bought some Levi 501’s off me last month, got them then complained they weren’t as described. They were, but it’s not worth the bother so I refunded him the price he paid minus postage which I advised him I would do and he didn’t have an issue with. He sent them back then the tosser gave me neutral feedback which was totally uncalled for.

gave me neutral feedback which was totally uncalled for.

Maybe in his mind you’d flogged him some shonky gear and he wanted to warn other people? Not that I’m not believing your version of events.

To the OP – I’d suggest (like everyone else) just offering a return, add the buyer to your blocked list and relist them.

…the tosser gave me neutral feedback which was totally uncalled for.

Neutral feedback, i.e. nothing bad to say, and you’re complaining? Care to explain?

Well I sold them w week later and the buyer was delighted. Some buses on eBay want a bargain, buy a used item and expect it to be brand new no matter what the description.

He got a refund so no real reason to leave any feedback for that particular item. He didn’t get what he hoped for.

OPen a discussion with ebay, you can do it online. bit difficult to judge as don’t know the details but the ebay rep can go through both files and messages and give a judgement.

Regarding the postage costs they are only eligible for a refund on the price of the item for sale. It”s at the discretion of the seller whether he wants to make the refund or not otherwise whats to stop the buyer sending the parcel back on a service that could potentially cost 10 times as much as the original price if that buyer wants to screw you over.

Thanks for the information. Hopefully it can be resolved without too much hassle.
Really don’t see why a full refund would include the postage cost mind, to me that is unfair to the seller.

Maybe I am a mean git by why would anyone who did a deal as it should be give anything but neutral. Positive is for service above and beyond etc just as negative is for crap service.