ebay refund question.....advice please!

amy4

I sold an item of clothing on ebay recently and advertised it as "never been worn, but no tags as was a gift".
To my knowledge this was true as I had been given the item by a friend and it had sat in my drawers unused as it wasn't really my kind of thing.
Before putting the item on ebay I did check it over and in my opinion, was in great condition, and of course I would not have put it on ebay if I thought it was not in a condition I would be unhappy to recieve.

I sent the item off to the winning bidder this week, thought all was well, but then recieved an email from the buyer stating that she was unhappy with the item and she believe that it had been previously worn, several times. She specifically stated that the stiching was all undone, and the colours were faded "from repeated washing".
I replied saying that I was very sorry she was unhappy but that to the best of my knowledge the item had never been worn, I had washed it ONCE prior to sending but did not notice any fading of the colour and I think I would of noticed if there had been such a huge problem with the stitching! (i did not make the comment about the stitching, wanted to keep it friendly )

The item is a brand name and she won it for a VERY VERY low price. She has got a total BARGAIN here.

I told her I was happy for her to return the item and I would refund her money, minus the cost of p&p (i am a private seller so had to go and buy packaging on top of the cost of postage).

She has just replied saying she wants the full amount refunded, including the p&p PLUS she wants me to pay postage costs for her to return it. She stated this would be an extra £1 despite the fact that when I posted it it only cost me about 50p (it's a small item).

Whenever I have returned items in the past, I have not been refunded the original postage and have also had to pay to send it back, so I am just wondering if this woman is just trying it on with me, as I will be refunding her more money that she payed me originally. However, I don't want to risk my 100% feedback...
I do not want to argue with her about the condition of the item and make the situation worse, I believe it is in perfect condition, yet she thinks otherwise, I am slightly worried that when she sends it back it will be in a different condition to how I sent it.

Do you think I am within rights to say I will give her a full refund including p&p but not pay for her to return it to me? I know it's not a lot but I think she is ripping me off asking about double for postage!

Any advice would be appreciated!

custardy

you do not need to cover return postage

StaffsSW

Ask her to open a paypal claim, so you can do things "By the book".

This will mean that she will have to return the item at her cost, with tracking, and then paypal will automatically refund her what she paid. It means you lose out on the original P&P costs, but then she can not demand that you also pay the return postage.

The other way to look at this is the value of the hassle - depending how much it is all worth in ££ against the time and effort taking to resolve.

Don't make a big thing about 100% feedback either - this will only give the buyer more leverage in getting more out of you. If you lose it, you lose it.

amy4

thanks for the fast replies.

Just a question, how can I ask her to pay the return postage without starting an argument, as it's quite civil at the moment and would like it to stay that way!

Is it really worth asking her to open a paypal dispute? Is there an easy way to do a refund without this?

custardy

how much are we talking about for the item inc postage?

VanyaHargreeves

from what i'm aware, if you open a PP dispute they'll tell her to return the item via a trackable method at her own cost.

StaffsSW

amy4 wrote: »

thanks for the fast replies.

Just a question, how can I ask her to pay the return postage without starting an argument, as it's quite civil at the moment and would like it to stay that way!

Personally, I'd ask for it "to be returned for a full refund of what you paid", and make no mentiopn of the extra cost of sending it back - afterall, if something was bought from a high street shop, she'd still need to pay for fuel/bus/taxi to get back...

amy4 wrote: »

Is it really worth asking her to open a paypal dispute? Is there an easy way to do a refund without this?

At the bottom of the Paypal transaction screen is a link to Refund Payment, which simply reverses the sale back to the buyer.
However - I pretty much always ask for paypal claim to be raised, if only to keep a record of the refund should the buyer make a habit of claiming refunds or non-delivery.

amy4

As advised, I politely asked the buyer to open a paypal dispute. I gave my reasons being as that I wanted to do things by the book and it was the easiest way to give her a refund and keep us both covered. Kept my message very friendly and polite.
She just replied very rudely and is NOT happy about me asking her to do this, sounds VERY angry as if I had asked her to step outside and fight me to the death. I don't understand some people, surely it is better for her too incase I do not send the money back (i will, of course) she can use the dispute to get her money.
I am now positive that she will be leaving me negative feedback, when I have done nothing but try to be helpful. The joys of the ebay system! OH said I was being nice giving her a refund in the first place as checked the listing and I had stated no returns...

Some people!!

pinkshoes

Just tell her that as per the ebay rules, she needs to return the item via trackable method at her own cost, then when the item is received, you will refund the amount she paid for it.

How much money are we talking here???

Perhaps you could suggest she re-sells it?

v8owner

That's why I left Ebay. Check out Ebid as an alternative. Granted, not as many buyers but oh so much less hassle.
I think she's trying it on, trying to get more money back than she paid. There's probably absolutely nothing wrong with the item.
If she leaves negative feedback you have no option but to take it on the chin; you can't leave her negative feedback in return (thanks to Ebay's new feedback changes; yet another reason I left).
I agree with the posters above, tell her to make a Paypal claim so that things are done "by the book."

amy4

oh dear...

well before I had a chance to reply to her email, she sent me another email being VERY VERY rude and making out like I am doing something wrong despite the fact I have been very nice in offering her a full refund.
The email was one of the nastiest things I have ever read, even included a personal insult! :mad:

How can people get away with this, I don't understand why ebay removed the option for sellers to leave buyers with negative feedback.