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Post by xTIMMYxCOREx on Aug 19, 2011 23:40:06 GMT -5
So I just sold two 11 year old light up Yamato toys on eBay. The buyer is claiming they do not light up. They were brand new in the box. Never opened or touched. I got them as part of a set of three, I kept one character and sold the other two characters. I have a feeling he is trying to scam me. My auctions all show clear pictures, say no returns, and said it was a new and unopened item. He wants a refund and he will send them back, or $10 off and he will keep them. Sounds a bit fishy to me. He has no negative feedback but has PRIVATE comments in ebay, which i didn't even know you could do. What should I do?
I know eBay will not side with me. A similar issue happened last year when a buy claimed a Yamato macross toy I sold was broken. Since it was in the original box and was fine when I packed it neatly in all the original packaging and surrounded it with bubble wrap I find it hard to imagine it broke in shipment. Funny when I received it back there was clearly a stress fracture in the leg. And not in a place that could even be bent within the package!! The buyer probably broke it while transforming it.
So what would you guys do?
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Post by moop on Aug 19, 2011 23:56:44 GMT -5
As much as I hate to say it, you're screwed.
I've handled this situation in a few different ways. If you don't care about feedback, then explain to him that you will take it back for a full refund but you do not do discounts. This sometimes dissuades the sketchy losers who are trying to scam you from actually following through with it. This may make him angry enough to just not return it and leave you bad feedback. On the other hand, if the feedback is important to you, then acquiesce to the request for $10 in partial refund. Or you could just let eBay handle it and hope for the best because it was brand new and you had no way of checking it to see if it would work. I doubt eBay wil be any help though, and you may end up having to refund him and not get the item back if they decide in his favor without him even shipping it.
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Post by ancer on Aug 20, 2011 12:18:41 GMT -5
i find that when this sort of thing happens getting the item back and then doing a refund is the best way to go . Other than time lost no one really loses out. A dishonest person just wants the item and money. If the item is really broken then the buyer won't really complain. The only question is who pays for the return of the item?
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Post by lurkerx on Aug 22, 2011 8:21:24 GMT -5
Personally, I'd take the negative feedback, and add a comment explaining my side under the (-) feedback especially since you described the item as brand new "unopened". But I haven't had a negative feedback for awhile and I believe 1 wouldn't really hurt me.
If the (-) feedback bothers you more than giving him a $10 refund then you could always go that route.
Having him return the item and issuing a full refund would just be too tedious, Its just not worth the hassle (for $10), then you'd have to re-list the item and possibly end up in the same place you're at right now.
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Post by supergetterv on Aug 22, 2011 22:53:47 GMT -5
Wait, you list it as is right? No returns. Ebay should be on your side if you listed it as is. Even if it is broken or if the batteries dies. How am I supposed to know if something work or doesn't when it is new in the box? They can't complain about parts not working and damage if it is as-is and you have to explain that way. If it is damage from shipping it is up to them to claim insurance from the shipping. That's why you offer them optional shipping insurance. If they choose not to buy the insurance then they are SOL, no returns and not responsible for shipping damage.
Personally, I wouldn't take it back or give a discount. For all you know, he could already have something similar and still don't return the same item back to you. It isn't serial numbered or has some unique identifiable markings. And what good is getting the item back now, it's open and you can't sell it again as an un-open collectible anymore. I wouldn't care about the negative feedback. I don't believe there are that many Scammers like him, just place his Ebay ID on the negative section of our boards here so that we can cancel his bids and members here can blacklist him.
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Post by xTIMMYxCOREx on Aug 23, 2011 10:10:32 GMT -5
Wait, you list it as is right? No returns. Ebay should be on your side if you listed it as is. Even if it is broken or if the batteries dies. How am I supposed to know if something work or doesn't when it is new in the box? They can't complain about parts not working and damage if it is as-is and you have to explain that way. If it is damage from shipping it is up to them to claim insurance from the shipping. That's why you offer them optional shipping insurance. If they choose not to buy the insurance then they are SOL, no returns and not responsible for shipping damage. Personally, I wouldn't take it back or give a discount. For all you know, he could already have something similar and still don't return the same item back to you. It isn't serial numbered or has some unique identifiable markings. And what good is getting the item back now, it's open and you can't sell it again as an un-open collectible anymore. I wouldn't care about the negative feedback. I don't believe there are that many Scammers like him, just place his Ebay ID on the negative section of our boards here so that we can cancel his bids and members here can blacklist him. I listed it as Brand New never opened and NO RETURNS. I usually do list as is just because these are usually 10-20 year old toys, and they are what they are, I take care of them but things break down in old age sometimes. In this case especially... I can't test it as you said. And if it was broken that would be a manufacturing defect n a toy that has been on a shelf somewhere for 11 years!
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Post by xTIMMYxCOREx on Sept 12, 2011 19:34:00 GMT -5
So eBay solved this case by refunding the money to the buyer and letting me keep my money as well. The items were returned as well. Upon inspection just as I had thought, the battery contacts got dirty, probably because batteries were sitting in there for 11 years. Being cheap toys they were not made with battery compartments but with a small screwdriver I was able to fix them both.
So in the end I guess everyone was happy but I would be cautious when momo*comomo bids on any of your auctions!
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Post by shiro on Sept 12, 2011 20:42:04 GMT -5
Wow, is eBay that generous? Refund the money back to the buyer and let you keep the money at the same time? That's kinda nice.
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Post by moop on Sept 12, 2011 20:46:17 GMT -5
Sometimes that happens if the case is not clear cut which would be the case here with something brand new but old.
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Post by chachipower on Sept 13, 2011 0:31:23 GMT -5
one more thing, I dont think Insurance is optional anymore, they expect you to include it in the shipping which is funny cause I tried to sell a DVD and they wouldnt let me charge more than a specific amount of shipping which wasnt enough to cover the shipping and insurance so I dont know what kind of crack they are smoking at eBay
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Post by moop on Sept 13, 2011 8:30:46 GMT -5
it's a very potent crack. Hopefully one that allows a good competitor to put them out of business.
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Post by chachipower on Sept 13, 2011 10:04:28 GMT -5
it's a very potent crack. Hopefully one that allows a good competitor to put them out of business. Im sure one day there will be a better option, right now there are many other sites but its getting people to use a new site that would be a problem. Remember that Myspace ruled the social networks until facebook came along. Only a matter of time I guess. eBay needs competition otherwise what they say goes.
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Post by xTIMMYxCOREx on Sept 13, 2011 12:36:05 GMT -5
Amazon just needs a make offer button for 3rd party sellers and eBay would go away forever!
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Post by lurkerx on Sept 13, 2011 12:54:41 GMT -5
one more thing, I dont think Insurance is optional anymore, they expect you to include it in the shipping which is funny cause I tried to sell a DVD and they wouldnt let me charge more than a specific amount of shipping which wasnt enough to cover the shipping and insurance so I dont know what kind of crack they are smoking at eBay Funny you mention that, I recently tried to sell 20 Game Boy Advance game catridges under the "electronics" classification. It wouldn't let me charge anything over $5 for shipping. Stupid me, I ended up selling them to someone who did pay the $3 in shipping. I didn't want to loose any money in shipping so I shipped all the games without a tracking number or insurance. 3 weeks later I hear from the buyer saying he did not recieve the games. I had to refund his cash. Whether he recieved them or not.....remains in the hands of karma. This is why I have separated a bunch of stuff to put up for sale on ebay but somehow am quite unmotivated to make the effort to list them.
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Post by locidm on Sept 27, 2011 21:27:10 GMT -5
I need to Vent!
Bought an item from eBay, seller claimed it is "immaculate" and "absolutely Collector condition". Well I received it and it had some pretty bad crease marks and severely dented window. My non-collector wife also agreed that it is nowhere near the claimed immaculate condition. So I contacted the seller and let him know about it, he didn't agree that the items weren't immaculate and refused to do partial refund, but would allow full refund and money to cover my cost for return shipping. I didn't want to encourage a dishonest seller and went ahead and returned the items the very next day after we agreed on terms and provided tracking info immediately.
The seller opened a case for canceling transaction and requested me to accept it. Instructions from eBay on the "take action" page specifically stated that I should not accept unless I either haven't paid or have received full refund. Following eBay's instructions I did not accept and told the seller about eBay's instructions.
Today, the seller keeps saying if I don't accept the cancellation request he cannot do full refund. On top of that, according to USPS tracking the return items were delivered and received yesterday, but the seller had the guts to ask me whether I return the item and what the tracking number was. Now I'm worried that the seller won't refund any of my money at all and would just claim that he never received the items.
Either the seller has some serious reading comprehension problem, or he is just a flat out liar trying to trick his way and make money one way or another. What should I do if I still don't receive a refund from him?
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Post by moop on Sept 27, 2011 21:41:11 GMT -5
You need to open an eBay case immediately for items not received as described. You can escalate it to eBay and provide the proof of sending it back and they will refund your money
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Post by xiombarg on Sept 27, 2011 23:57:53 GMT -5
I agree with Moop. There's no way I would accept the cancellation until he refunds your money. It just doesn't make any sense to do otherwise. He can claim whatever he wants, but the tracking number will show otherwise. I would try and avoid arguments with the seller, but at the same time make him bluntly aware what the course of action is you plan to take (opening an ebay investigation etc.). From that point he either refunds you money or you just have to ride it out with Ebay.
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Post by locidm on Sept 28, 2011 17:39:35 GMT -5
Thanks guys for the advice. I'll start the process with eBay if I don't get the refund by tonight. This guy I'm dealing with is a complete a-hole who is impossible to reason with. When and if I finally get my refund, I'll send him a good message so he'd hopefully grow up.
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Post by locidm on Oct 5, 2011 14:13:00 GMT -5
got the refund from seller after escalating the case to eBay. At the end I didn't even want to waste my time talking to the seller anymore and just had eBay take care of it instead. Kudos to eBay.
Lessons learned: when communicating with seller/buyer, use very simple and easy to understand English. You never know whether the buyer/seller is competent in English comprehension.
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Post by xiombarg on Oct 5, 2011 17:03:43 GMT -5
got the refund from seller after escalating the case to eBay. At the end I didn't even want to waste my time talking to the seller anymore and just had eBay take care of it instead. Kudos to eBay. Lessons learned: when communicating with seller/buyer, use very simple and easy to understand English. You never know whether the buyer/seller is competent in English comprehension. True. Sellers tend to take you more seriously when you just get right down to business and skip all the bull$hit. State your position strongly without being argumentative, state your plan of action, and give them any updates (case numbers etc.) as Ebay moves forward on your end. The less personal you are with bad sellers, the better your chances of having a good outcome.
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