Ebay...fooled again

Crowqueen

I gave the advice I'd follow myself, with the caveat that I wouldn't sell two-year-old electronics, let alone twelve-year-old electronics.

When you sell something on eBay, like it or not, you're liable to your buyer, whatever you think of their reasons for purchase or whatever you think they should do (which for some people invariably is 'lie down and take whatever I throw at them while pocketing the dough'). I'd agree that a partial refund is a silly thing to give out unless you know you are 100% in the wrong and it is offered by you first, but not only do you think your buyer is a scammer when they are probably not, or have no proof thereof, but you also gave into them and essentially proved yourself right.

By insisting politely they returned the item for a full refund you could have held them to that in any dispute situation, eBay would have backed you up 100% or refunded at their own cost. They may have backed down - as they were doing - so you'd have lost nothing. That's the way to handle customers - politely, fairly, but firmly. If you were treated that way by a seller I'd imagine you'd be just as upset if a seller who'd taken your money turned round and called you a scammer.

All the ad hominem insults bandied about here - which just demean the posters making them - will not change the fact that on eBay you have to take at least some responsibility for what you list and for what people out there pay for. Buyers are not there to pay to take your old crap. They're there to get items which are of some use to them and they have rights - in law as well as through eBay buyer protection - when things go wrong.

If you are worried about being scammed then don't list anything that could possibly go faulty or is nearing the end of its useful life or whatever. You want people to buy something that is twelve years old - I personally wouldn't, but if you list it for sale you can't turn round and say 'why did you buy it?' It's not compulsory to sell on eBay - take it to a car boot sale where someone can see something working before they hand over any money.