selling problem buyer wants refund

tweenie1

Hi I don't sell very often on ebay but have sold two items this week, the first sale was absolutely fine the second has caused me a problem

I sold an item which i had previously bought off ebay myself but never got around to using it, I put it back on ebay but now have had an email stating the item is not fit for purpose as a part has been taken off it, now as I received it like this i didn't know there was another part that was supposed to be attached, I did include photos from all angles of the item.

Today have received an email from the buyer stating that he isn't happy with it and would like me to refund including his postage costs and he will return it to me

Im reading it that he wants me to pay for a refund as well as his return postage cost and Im not sure which step to take next he hasnt escalated it at this point but I don't know the best way to respond
Many thanks

hermum

Has he opened a dispute, or just emailed you saying that it's no good?
The best thing is to offer a full refund on return, including the p&p he paid for you to send it to him, you don't have to pay the return costs. That is what he'll be told by ebay or paypal if or when he opens a case.
If when you get it back you can see from the pictures that there is a piece missing then I would refund the return costs as well.

tweenie1

Thank you this is what I thought and I will mail him back telling him this.
I know the piece that should have been on there is missing but that is how I received it and didn't realise there was supposed to be another part attached till it was pointed out to me after the sale but as I had put plenty of pictures you could see that the piece wasnt on there I can't understand why he bought it in the first place.

tweenie1

Ive just received a message asking if I will refund the return postage as well!!

CoreDefect

If you already know a piece is missing then it might be courteous to refund return postage as well and put it down to experience. As far as he knew it was the full and complete item. Regardless of the photo(s), any missing parts should be detailed in the description. I accept you only found out after the sale, and if you explain this to him and that you will refund his return postage costs you will keep him on-side and will hopefully avoid further action.

Fred_Michael

This is very sad but on the contrary the buyer is right..Why should he pay for ebay's faults and a little bit of yours.You can tell ebay that i returned as the way i got it.And you can also raise few witnesses if you want.You must have got details that what the product contains.

hermum

tweenie1 wrote: »

Ive just received a message asking if I will refund the return postage as well!!

As in my previous thread I would if you know that a part is missing.
Depending on how much it's going to cost & the price of the item initially then I would possibly just give him a full refund of the initial payment & ask him to bin it.
Is it something that someone else will want without the missing piece?

tweenie1

yes think I will on this occasion as not his fault then relist it adding to the description and see if anyone else wants it, it is a CD player thank you everyone

hermum

tweenie1 wrote: »

yes think I will on this occasion as not his fault then relist it adding to the description and see if anyone else wants it, it is a CD player thank you everyone

Now I'm really intrigued, what was missing?

ilovelacoste

tweenie1 wrote: »

Ive just received a message asking if I will refund the return postage as well!!

if you are happy to issue a refund tell him to return the item and you will issue a refund on receipt of the item, you do not have to pay return postage costs that is up to the buyer

hermum

It's not really whether the OP is happy to offer a refund if the buyer opens a case they will almost definitely be told to refund on return & have a mark against their account.
Despite the missing part obviously not being in the photo, if a part's missing then the listing wasn't clear & so morally the seller should refund the return p&p as well. Ebay can't enforce it but the seller is at fault by not describing the item fully.