Buyer trying it on. What to do?

vangirl_2

It is possible that the buyer is just informing you that hes not completely happy with the purchase. I have done this before when i have received goods that were not as listed, not for any money back, just to let them know instead of just leaving bad feedback.

the182guy

Get back to him saying you believe the description was accurate and ask him if he wants a refund (not partial), if he does let him return the items to you and relist them. But if he's already selling them he certainly won't want to do that.

d4n13773

Thanks for your advice everyone - I've noticed the distinctive game (that I am confident was from my lot has now been sold on ebay) so I am planning to respond with the following:

" I am very sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the gameboy consoles recently purchased from me. I listed the lot in good faith and believe the description I posted was accurate as I described the lot as "used" I was unable to see any damage or scratches to the consoles. I am at a bit of a loss as to what I can do to resolve this as you have already split the bundle and resold some if its contents."


I hope this response comes across as open and not accusing as there is nothing in their feedback that says they make a habit of doing this - but I am also confident there was no noticeable damage to the gameboys! They have not lodged a paypal dispute or left me feedback yet.

the182guy

Thats good, your message sounds perfectly reasonable to me.

Sounds like this guy is just trying to get a few quid back from you. He's probably had success with this before with inexperienced sellers.

He has capitalised on your job lot - nothing wrong with that but if you want to maximise profit it's worth splitting a lot like that so that it targets the widest audience possible. By selling multiple gameboys you're cutting your market down hugely.

ukjoel

Evening all,

Think the guy was just hoping they were in a condition he could then resell them at at a profit.

I would ignore the email - if he wanted money back he would ask and he hasnt.

_sleepless_

I think that is a great response, you should definately send it and let us know what he says.

sleepless

d4n13773

The response I have received is:

[FONT=arial,sans-serif]"Hi. I decided I would not return it as it would cost me such a lot in postage and I would lose out. I do feel disappointed because I try to earn a bit of extra money by buying and selling gameboys. It takes up a lot of my time and effort and even by splitting up your lot and selling it I will lose money because of your description. I'm sorry that we disagree on your description but in order for me to sell these gameboys with a clear conscience to someone who will not be disappointed I will have to put a vinyl skin on them to cover the scratches. These cost me £3.50 each. Would you be willing to refund me this £7.00. Please let me know. Thanks"

[/FONT]In a previous message negative feedback has been mentioned, so do I report them to ebay for feedback extortion or stump up the £7? or both?

I've done the maths, They sell gameboys on in a bundle with a charger and 1-4 games for £30-£35, the bundle bought from me was 2 Gameboys, one charger, 10 games and they bid £42.27 so I don't believe they will make a loss - I also still believe that the consoles were in fine conditon.

This is now more about the principle of the matter - TBH I didn't do this to maximise my profits (though thanks for the advice 182guy), the gameboys were not getting used, as I only had the one charger and an odd mix of games I thought it would make a nice lot for someone with a couple of kids -wish I'd put it on freecyle now! I wonder if the fact that I listed it as £6 p&p gave away that I wasn't expecting it to reach >£36 and hadn't really done my homework! (I ended up paying £8.25 to send it special).

Any thoughts folks?
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Sloganjerry

I feel for you as it can be very worrying and very annoying when something like this happens.
You still don't look as though you have requested photo's of said damage? I would request that before parting with any money. The reason I suggest this is because I was recently scammed by a buyer when I sold some items on Ebay. The buyer alleged damage to the items his end when I knew they were in perfect condition and well wrapped for transit. I requested photographs and that was the last I heard. This buyer is obviously hoping you will just cough up just to avoid any further hassle or a neg as I reckon a lot of inexperienced or more vulnerable sellers do. It seems that Ebay and Paypal have made it too easy for sellers to get scammed now and where there is a weakness in the system a scammer will find it and exploit it.

I was convinced I was being scammed and I was proved right. My items also showed up in the buyers Ebay shop after a few days of no response from the buyer. This buyer is probably trying it on too and has probably got away with it before.

You say that the buyers feedback all looks ok. My buyer’s feedback was the same. I think it’s the case (and no doubt someone will correct me if I'm wrong) that sellers can't leave negative feedback for buyers - as Ebay says that buyers shouldn't be afraid to leave neg feedback for sellers under threat of seller leaving neg feedback for them?!? So you end up with a stalemate where these scammer buyers go undetected and unreported. I can't neg the buyer that scammed me as he will prob then neg me - so people tend not to leave any feedback on these incidents at all - no one then knows the buyer may be a scammer. Could be the same with your buyer.

It's up to you if you want to pay up and put a line under this or whether you decide to call the buyers bluff and stand your ground?!? But unfortunately where it used to be easier for scammers to do their scamming as sellers , now it seems that its easier to scam as a buyer. I wish you all the best with sorting this out.

StaffsSW

d4n13773 wrote: »

Any thoughts folks?

As they admit to buying and selling, I'd be expecting them to be registered as a business seller... HMRC, Distance selling regs, sale of goods act compliance and all that.

If they wanted to try to get one over on me they'd have to be whiter than white themselves.

d4n13773

Sloganjerry wrote: »

... You still don't look as though you have requested photo's of said damage? I would request that before parting with any money. The reason I suggest this is because I was recently scammed by a buyer when I sold some items on Ebay. ....

I considered asking for photos of the damage including the serial numbers - but decided they could easily scratch them up before taking the photo! Which wouldn't solve anything as this would mean I had to refund.

You are correct, if they leave me neg feedback, I can post a reply but cannot neg them back - There is a little bit about feedback expliotation on ebay's help though I'm not sure if this would apply if the buyer states item not as described.

My feedback is currently 108* 100% but I've only made 11 transactions in the past year so a negative will massively affect my percentage (knocking it down to 90%)