Buyer claims item damaged....advice pls!!!

lkk88

Morning all,

Recently had a big clear out and put some items on ebay.

My OH sold an item (winning bid £7, postage £4) so we are not talking alot here to someone in southern ireland. The postage cost was to United Kingdom but we didnt want to make much of a fuss so sent the item anyway as a standard parcel as this costed as much as what recorded in UK mainland would be. The item was a toy car in the original box so the car itself was protected by the plastic so all we put the item in was a mailing bag. With hindsight I can now see that was a bad idea, maybe we should of realised the box would get squashed so maybe we should of also wrapped it in bubble wrap.

Anyway, buyer has contacted saying he has just received item (whats left of it) all battered and squashed and that he is bemused as he paid for packaging. well as ive already said maybe yes we should of packaged it better but the postage to ireland cost the £4! I havent replied yet so I'm guessing I should ask for him to send a photo and to find out if the toy car itself is actually broken (I have a feeling the guy collects these kind of things looking at his feedback in the boxes so maybe the box meant alot to him aswell as the car itself?) soooo how do i go about this?

Do I make a claim with royal mail and give him a full refund? do i offer a partial refund? I might as well just ask him what he wants as the general feel is that the buyer always wins and is favoured by paypal.....any advice greatly appreciated! Thanks...

pinkgem

you can't claim from royal mail if you didn't package the item sufficiently

see if the buyer would be happy to have a partial refund, if not then i would refund in full and ensure you package all future items sufficiently

rsykes2000

Personally I doubt you will have a claim with RM as it is entirely your fault it was not safely packaged. I would refund the buyer and write it off to experience.

chja

Speaking from experience, there is nothing worst that collecting something only to find that the seller sticks it in a jiffy bag or badly wrapped so its damaged in the post. The plus side of the new feedback rules means that sellers that skimp on packaging can now be neged without comeback and I would have loved this option in the past.

Sorry to be harsh, but you really should have packaged it properly and trying to save a couple of quid on that is going to cost you a full refund.

lkk88

Lesson learnt! i thought the box would protect it well enough but obviously not enough!

frivolous_fay

The box is half the value

jasmineswhiskers

If the item was a collectors piece then the condition of box is very important. Chances are at this time of year it is for an Xmas pressie so coudn't really be given all bashed even if the contents are fine.

Contains_Mild_Peril

lkk88 wrote: »

Anyway, buyer has contacted saying he has just received item (whats left of it) all battered and squashed and that he is bemused as he paid for packaging. well as ive already said maybe yes we should of packaged it better but the postage to ireland cost the £4!

Is it possible that when he says he paid for packaging he meant that the price he paid was for a boxed item, and since the box was damaged it's now only worth the same as an unboxed one which would be a lower value?
I'd apologise and ask him nicely if he could e-mail a photo of the damage, then offer a choice of either a part refund if he keeps the car or a full refund if he wants to return it (in which case I would also offer to pay return postage).
You could try claiming from Royal Mail but I wouldn't bother, since they don't normally pay out for inadequately packed items. If you sell something as boxed (especially at this time of year when many people are already buying Christmas pressies) it's reasonable to assume that the buyer wants the box in the same condition described/ photographed in your listing.

lkk88

Hi Guys, thanks for all your replies so far.

Contains Mild Peril - yes I think he is proabably upset that the box itself is squashed - which I accept full responsibility for! I will be surprised if the car itself is damaged - in which case I would give a full refund no questions asked. I think we naively thought they would just want the car but again with hindsight I can totally see now it might have been a present or a part of a collection. I have replied apologising and asking if the car itself is damaged (as they havent made that clear) and if possible could they send a photo. I will then offer a full/partial refund if they want to keep the car.