Sold Item Turned Out Faulty - My Dilemma

DazedByTheLight

Advice needed please!

I purchases some MP3 players from a national store and sold them BNIB (brand new in box) on eBay for a small profit.

Now, within a few days of receiving one, I have had an e-mail from a buyer who has complained that it is not working and keep switching off. She has requested my refund policy but I don't really have one!

Should I refund her money? I definitely don't want to refund the full amount because there are costs I have incurred (eBay, Paypal, postage and packaging).

Even refunding the rest seems like too much hard work because I will have the issue of trying to return the product to the retailer and getting a refund or an exchange from them.

However, I would feel bad if I tell the buyer that I do not offer refunds.

What should I do?

steviebabes

I would ask for it back and if you find it is faulty you should replace it or offer a full refund. These are the perils of trade I'm afraid.

shelly

DazedByTheLight wrote: »

Should I refund her money? I definitely don't want to refund the full amount because there are costs I have incurred (eBay, Paypal, postage and packaging).

Ask the buyer to send back the item. If it is faulty you should give the buyer a full refund. Whether you refund the return postage is up to you. Personally I think a seller should refund return postage as it isn't the buyers fault they were sent faulty goods.
If the buyer paid by paypal and does an item not as described claim you will have to refund anyway so you might as well do it yourself.

Also, the costs you have incurred are not your buyers problem IMHO. You choose to sell on ebay so have to pay the associated charges.
Oh and if you worked out p+p correctly, your buyer paid that, thats not a cost you incurred.

BLUEWKD

The problem you will aslo have if you do not refund the buyer is that you will be given a negative feedback by the and obviously a bad comment. This will make it quite difficult for you to buy and sell on e bay in future. Sometimes it is better to cut your losses and look to the future!

mishkanorman

Of course there is always the possibilty that the buyer is a numpty who cant work it properly so remember to cover yourself for this in whatever reply you give them, something like, " upon receipt, and inspection of the item to assertain the fault ,a refund will be issued, if however no fault can be found I am unable to issue a refund."


HTH

mishka

Dave_Brooker

DazedByTheLight wrote: »

Advice needed please!

I purchases some MP3 players from a national store and sold them BNIB (brand new in box) on eBay for a small profit.

Now, within a few days of receiving one, I have had an e-mail from a buyer who has complained that it is not working and keep switching off. She has requested my refund policy but I don't really have one!

Should I refund her money? I definitely don't want to refund the full amount because there are costs I have incurred (eBay, Paypal, postage and packaging).

Even refunding the rest seems like too much hard work because I will have the issue of trying to return the product to the retailer and getting a refund or an exchange from them.

However, I would feel bad if I tell the buyer that I do not offer refunds.

What should I do?

Refund, how would you like it if you were sold a duff player?

tomstickland

Customer relations is important on Ebay and buyers appreciate a bit of effort if there is a problem.
Ask for it to be sent back and if it's faulty take it back to the shop where you bought it.

I definitely don't want to refund the full amount because there are costs I have incurred (eBay, Paypal, postage and packaging).

Even refunding the rest seems like too much hard work because I will have the issue of trying to return the product to the retailer and getting a refund or an exchange from them.

You can't expect to make money on Ebay without putting some work in.

If they paid by Paypal they can put a dispute in motion and recover the full amount from you.

jayok

Refund... By selling BNIB, you obviously cannot vouch if each item is working correctly therefore this kind of thing comes with the territory. Ask for the item to be sent back to you first though.

Your profits are meant to cover eventualities like this!

Contains_Mild_Peril

mishkanorman wrote: »

Of course there is always the possibilty that the buyer is a numpty who cant work it properly so remember to cover yourself for this in whatever reply you give them, something like, " upon receipt, and inspection of the item to assertain the fault ,a refund will be issued, if however no fault can be found I am unable to issue a refund."


HTH

mishka

I would also add that if your supplier says it is not faulty then it will be returned to the buyer: you don't want them thinking you're trying to con them. Unforttuantely you will lose money, but that's the risk you take when trading. If you do sent it back to them, make sure you use a trackable method (e.g. recorded delivery) so they can't fraudulently deny having received it. It might be easier just to refund anyway as a goodwill gesture (except, of course, if the fault is caused by accidental damage while in the customer's possession).
If the customer is agreeable, you can file an unpaid item report and choose the mutually agreed not to proceed option, which has a "customer returned item" option. Ebay would then refund your final value fees, and once that process in completed, you would then qualify for a refund of your basic listing fees (not extras like Gallery) if you successfully sell the item or anohter identical one using the Relist function.
As has been mentioned, if the customer paid by Paypal they're likely to get a refund anyway, so you may as well co-operate and avoid negative feedback and refusal of mutual acceptance not to complete the transaction (which would mean you'd be stuck with paying the FVF)

durham_girl

Could you not take it back to the place you bought it from if it is found to be faulty? You don'y have to say you sold it, just that you bought it and its now developed a fault.

DazedByTheLight

Thanks everyone for the advice.

I will contact the buyer and ask her to send it back. I will check and if the item is faulty as described then I will give her a refund.

Should I refund the postage costs she paid me as well? If I do then I will have lost money on this item because obviously postage is unrecoverable.

I like the suggestion of opening up an unpaid item report but am not sure if this is still possible as the transaction has been completed on eBay and paid for through Paypal with feedback completed from both sides.