Buyer says item is broken but has already thrown it, what to do?

lovelyx

Hi!
I recently sold three eyeshadows on eBay - the listing is here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/271184553866?ssPageName=STRK:MESOX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1559.l2649 so you can see in the picture what kind of eyeshadows they are - two are in plastic pots, one is in a sort of cardboard-type container.

Anyway, the buyer received the item today and has sent me a message saying they were all 'smashed to bits' and thus unusable. Because of this, she said she's thrown them away.

I posted them in a grey mailing bag (one of these: http://i.ebayimg.com/t/100-MIXED-GREY-MAILING-POST-POSTAL-BAGS-PACK-2-CHEAPEST-ON-EBAY-/23/!BojszC!BWk~$(KGrHqMOKisEuZLMURsgBLn7Lj(-b!~~_35.JPG) 2nd class.

I'm not sure how to proceed now - I would've asked her for a picture of the damage or to return them to me before giving her a refund, but if she's thrown them that obviously won't be possible.

What do I do?

Also, when I refund her do I refund her original postage costs? She paid 99p for the eyeshadows and £2.00 for the postage.

Thanks in advance.

pk04

As a seller I would want proof of the damage and wouldn't refund anything until I got it.
As a buyer the first thing I would have done was photograph the damage

lovelyx

pk04 wrote: »

As a seller I would want proof of the damage and wouldn't refund anything until I got it.
As a buyer the first thing I would have done was photograph the damage

That's what I thought. I've emailed eBay, but I'm worried about getting negative feedback when I can't see the damage...

soolin

I would think there is a very high chance they were smashed, plastic containers etc need protection as they shatter so easily when another parcel is thrown on top of them.

However, regardless of that I would expect photos of the damage. Tell her to recover items from Bin and either send photos or just return them for a full refund. If they are damaged though and she chooses to return them then you really ought to pay returns costs.

RFW

lovelyx wrote: »

I posted them in a grey mailing bag (one of these: http://i.ebayimg.com/t/100-MIXED-GREY-MAILING-POST-POSTAL-BAGS-PACK-2-CHEAPEST-ON-EBAY-/23/!BojszC!BWk~$(KGrHqMOKisEuZLMURsgBLn7Lj(-b!~~_35.JPG) 2nd class.

What do I do?

Refund £2.99 and pack items in decent packaging in future.

Kite2010

For the sake of £2.99, refund and use better packaging. And hope the buyer doesn't hit you hard on the stars/feedback

eaglesrjh

Ideally the buyer should have photographed or sent back.

however it is all now down to if you want to be able to sell again,

your obviously an infrequent seller looking at your feedback, but within the last year you have 1 neg "Took a week to get here, item in poor condition, very disappointed"

You wont have stars because you dont have 10 in the last year, but working on the neg and probably another one here if you do nothing and I think your probably on the way to bad stars and selling problems!

For £2.99 i'd refund and apologize and hope they are kind!

eaglesrjh

you also have a previous positive

"Thanks, but could have been better packaged - small chip in bottle on delivery!"

and on the basis of now 2 comments (including the current one) on packing you need to rethink it!

mcjordi

id be removing the link to your auction.. plenty of auction wreckers frequent this forum

apesxx

I would ask the buyer to retrieve them and take a photo, once you have photo proof, I would refund. In future I would send anything like eyeshadow wrapped in some bubble wrap or something. I had a gorgeous no7 pallet that I got for Xmas, put it in my handbag and when I pulled it out all the powder in the eyeshadows had come loose and merged together

techspec

I was asked if i could replace part of an item i sold 3 months ago - as the handle had broken.

I said send it back (at my expense) - and they said they have thrown it.

Why would you chuck a broken item you want replacing / refunding?

I said there is nothing i can do.