buyer wants refund but wants me to pay return postage

cherilady

hi there,

thought i can help the household by selling stuff in ebay instead....anyway..

sold an adapter through ebay which was working fine when we had it.
buyer now claims it is faulty and now wants a refund.

he initial given me an option of partial refund which increases my suspicious( partial refund and that he can keep the item) , so i deny this option and given him the ebay full refund option with the condition of him sending me back the item.

now he had open the case and insisted that he would only do that if i would paid for the return postage which is a no obligation to me, the seller.

i dont know what's gonna happen next or what he intend to do. he wants full refund and he will only get it if return the item but he refuses to sent the item until i paid his return postage and what if he damage the item on purpose?

i just would like to know where do i stand in this? upsetting:(

sha1512

Hi,

I've just had a similar issue and after asking for advice on this board decided to refund the return postage but only when the item came back to me. I know it doesn't seem fair but sometimes its just easier to take the hit and hope the buyer leaves good feedback. Hope this helps.

Meadows

Yes the onus is on the buyer to pay return postage and it has to be sent tracked to prove it was sent and received. Then the seller refunds all the initial cost but does not have to refund return postage, a good seller would if they were at fault but always one word against the other if things are "Faulty" and what proof do you have on return that the item was not the one you sent, buyer have return something different just as long as they have proof of delivery back to the seller.

So I think buyers have to weigh up the cost if it is not an expensive item as it could cost more to return than they paid for the item. Unfair if the seller sent goods that were not as described, not working or damaged. And some times the partial refund from the seller is also the best option depending on what it is and what it costs.

cherilady

chances he might sent me a diff item wont be a suprise as i can see his
buying and selling history and that you can tell he is doing refurbishment.

i also see his recent feedback for others are negative, claiming item not received or faulty....

so if i dont receive 'my item' , i dont have to do any refund? what can he do beside leaving negative feedback which i can counter reply.

i am just very reluctant to cover all cost whom i suspect ppl like him is not genuine taking a p*ss out from me.

RFW

Meadows wrote: »

Yes the onus is on the buyer to pay return postage and it has to be sent tracked to prove it was sent and received. Then the seller refunds all the initial cost but does not have to refund return postage

Just to clarify that for private sellers that is pretty much the case, business sellers are legally obliged to pay for return postage (even before item received) if the item is faulty or not as described.

I'd assume that even private sellers would be forced to pay return post in the extremely unlikely event that they were sued for the cost.

cherilady

just to add...

i have seek an agreement with of partial refund, which he will be able to keep the item.

the partial refund amount he requested is less than the full initial refund which i am willing to give provided he sent me back the item even after minusing his return postage.

now tell me, isnt he such a 'scam' but what can i do? Lesson to learn and prolly puts me off selling things through ebay forever.