First sale going horribly wrong

starving_artist

I made my first sale three weeks ago. I sent the invoice immediately but it took 8 days before the buyer contacted me and another two and half weeks before he sent payment. I posted the item the next day. The day he received it he sent me an email complaining it was in poor condition. Now the item, an old fashioned dial telephone, was dented and I stated this clearly in the listing together with a clear picture of it. I have emailed him to say that if he returns it to me in seven days that I will make a refund minus the postage and the return costs will also be at his expense. This was also stated in the listing. (The item itself cost less than the postage). My problem is that either way he is obviously unhappy and will leave negative feedback. Since this is my first sale it's going to make it difficult to sell anything else. I'm not a business but there are one or two miscellaneous items I wouldn't mind selling. Any advice?

greenstreetprince

one thing you dont mention is whether or not you yourself have left feedback yet?

if you have then you are now open to a negative as this buyer looks to be one of those who dont bother reading a listing and complain afterwards regardless.

if you haven't yet left feedback, then this may stop them from leaving you a neg, not just becuase they may fear a retaliatory one, but quite simply becuase their actions so far warrant one too.

as regards a refund, did they pay via paypal or another method?

frivolous_fay

You're offering a refund, I don't see what else he could expect you to do.

he may not leave a neg - it depends whether you get the impression he's the unreasonable type.

How much feedback do you have so far?

starving_artist

Thanks for replying. I haven't left any feedback yet but the buyer has over 200 and a star thingy. He paid by paypal. If I make a refund when my postage costs have been deducted it will cost him more to send the phone back to me. If there is a dispute can paypal force me to refund the postage costs too?

frivolous_fay

Paypal will tell the buyer to return the item before asking you to refund. They won't insist on you paying return postage.

It's best not to let it get to dispute stage if you can avoid it.

What postal method did you use, by the way?

freddysmith

If you have very low feedback he has more to lose if negetive feedback is given, as you can just open another account. If your listing was clear and concise he has the problem and the next move.

Snooze_Control

I don't grasp why you are offering a refund when the item was exactly as described. If I were in your shoes my reply to the buyer would be "tough !!!!" along with a link to specsavers.com and then closing by leaving a nice red mark on their feedback. End of.

SC

greenstreetprince

Snooze_Control wrote: »

I don't grasp why you are offering a refund when the item was exactly as described. If I were in your shoes my reply to the buyer would be "tough !!!!" along with a link to specsavers.com and then closing by leaving a nice red mark on their feedback. End of.

SC

i agree, they can only really win a 'not as described' dispute with paypal if youdont described it as faulty, which OP says they have? if i was in the sellers shoes i would be happy for them to start a dispute.

Dave_Brooker

starving_artist wrote: »

I made my first sale three weeks ago. I sent the invoice immediately but it took 8 days before the buyer contacted me and another two and half weeks before he sent payment. I posted the item the next day. The day he received it he sent me an email complaining it was in poor condition. Now the item, an old fashioned dial telephone, was dented and I stated this clearly in the listing together with a clear picture of it. I have emailed him to say that if he returns it to me in seven days that I will make a refund minus the postage and the return costs will also be at his expense. This was also stated in the listing. (The item itself cost less than the postage). My problem is that either way he is obviously unhappy and will leave negative feedback. Since this is my first sale it's going to make it difficult to sell anything else. I'm not a business but there are one or two miscellaneous items I wouldn't mind selling. Any advice?

This is the problem in taking paymeny by paypal, you end up with very little control when it comes to difficult and unrealistic buyers.

Provided that you have not left a positive feedback, the buyer is unlikely to neg you for fear of getting a neg.

It's a shame your first ebay sale has gone pear shaped...

frivolous_fay

For heaven's sake, it hasn't gone pear shaped yet. Griping buyer does not = total ebay transaction meltdown.

Dave_Brooker

frivolous_fay wrote: »

For heaven's sake, it hasn't gone pear shaped yet. Griping buyer does not = total ebay transaction meltdown.

It's not really gone to plan though, if he'd taken a cheque/postal order he could just tell the buyer not to be so silly...