Buyer Mistake

highguyuk

Sold an item, the winning bidder paid via Paypal and has now contacted me telling me that it wasn't the item they originally thought it was and could they have a refund?

I am quite happy to refund, but I know that this is going to put me out of pocket in regards to listing and FVF fees.

What is the best way to go about giving a refund, or at least a partial refund, to the buyer?

mrsb_5

I would work out what you would lose in fees and return posteg etc then say that is what you are willing to refund

soolin

Sorry but I'm going to do my 'Miss unreasonable' act again.

Why do buyers think they can just change their mind and leave seller with fees and such like?

Firstly, have you sent the item, if so accept the return but say you will refund the item cost only, ie not the p and p element as although you do not have a returns policy you will do this as a gesture of goodwill on this occasion. let them know you are doing them a favour.

If it hasn't been sent basically say that you are disappointed that they did not read the auction properly and this has, of course, left you considerably out of pocket. Say that you expect that they will understand that by releasing them from their obligation to pay it will put a strike on their account, and leave them to decide what to do.

Whatever you do don't refund 100% *and* opt for a mutual FVF claim. Never ever do a mutual, if they can bid by mistale then they ar elikely to wreck your FVF claim as well, so go through the full NPB process.

I do usually refund in these circumstances only becasue of the buyer is dishonest enough they can alswys claim the item was broken or damaged and get a refund that way anyway.

Soo

Murtle

Sounds very reasonable to me Soo

I wish people didn't bend over backwards to sellers like this cause then everyone thinks they can do it.....

x x

Rebekka_2

Hi, I have bid on a couple of things, and when they have turned up i have realised i have not read the description properly and I would not dream of asking for a refund, they should leave you positive feedback and put it down to experience (I now never bid in haste, well almost never:o )

highguyuk

a) I have not posted, or replied to them yet.

b) They have already paid for the item, and are now requesting a refund.

I will contact them and see how they act. Will probably offer them a refund of around £4 - they paid £4.98. Does that seem fair?

rose_sparky

I agree with Rebekka, they made a mistake and should have put it down to experience. It's not a huge amount of money after all.

I think offering a £4 refund is very generous.

soolin

Unfortunately offering a partial refund might well backfire on you as all the buyer needs to do is chargeback for the balance and they will win, but meanwhile have your paypal account tied up and useless for weeks.

Hit them where it hurts, refund in full then do an NPB on them and get a strike put on their account.

Soo

mike230652

I agree with soolin.................... why go through weeks of hassle over 98pence...especially when it's 99% certain you'll come out of it worse.

I'd refund in full...and then hit them with a NPB, get a strike on their account.....If they get 2 more strikes that's goodbye to eBay from them...........

Mike

user051105

How can you hit some one with a NPB if they have already paid and can prove this, i.e paypal emails as proof, they would not get a strike as you have already agreed to refund them.

As it stands accept the loss and learn from this situatuion, eBay, the buyer and paypal are the only ones who will win in this situation.

Sellers have no protection at all if they use paypal, as mentioned on this forum before all a buyer has to say is item is damaged or not as described and paypal will issue a refund.

www.paypalsucks.com

soolin

user051105 wrote:

How can you hit some one with a NPB if they have already paid and can prove this, i.e paypal emails as proof, they would not get a strike as you have already agreed to refund them.
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Buyer has paid but now wants a refund. Seller will be out of pocket due to listing fees and FVfs, as well as the time and effort involved, so why shouldn't the seller do a NPB..once the refund has been made the buyer will not have paid for the item?

As for the oft posted anti paypal sites, they are full of people misunderstanding the situation and not appreciating that sellers don't just do this for free or out of charity. We list because we want to sell.

As it stands accept the loss and learn from this situatuion, eBay, the buyer and paypal are the only ones who will win in this situation.

Learn what, that the buyer is an idiot? Leaving the buyer to walk away without doing an nPB strike benefits ebay not the seller. The seller has paid fees, which can be considerable which ebay have accepted, if the buyer now decides not to go ahead then ebay keep all those fees unless the seller does an NPB.

I don't know if I am missing something here but I'd rather ebay lost out on their fees, than the seller