ebay buyer opened a return request (?)

messia07

hi, any help would be good, thanks

i dont think ive had one of these before, but ive just got a request for a return for a new/sealed item, based on "ordered by mistake" with a comment that states that its the wrong item for their device. the title of the ebay return request says "The buyer requested a return although you don't have to accept a return for this item."

my listing was correct with no returns. do i have to accept a return? 

i am concerned that if i refuse, from what ive read, they might use another method to force a refund but if i accept a refund, the item might be used/damaged. 

can the buyer still claim the item is not as described to get a refund, if they have admitted it was bought in error and it was the wrong item for their device? also can they do a charge back or something else?

whats the best thing to do?

thanks

FFHillbilly

the annoying thing is theres no way for you to charge them return postage inside the return system on eBay.
If it was me, tell the buyer that it was described correctly and you don't accept returns, but if they wish they can send it back to you using tracked delivery and then you can issue a refund, minus the original postage.
I've done that a few times an heard nothing back, likely as my items are worth about £20 and they couldn't be bothered 

GadgetGuru

If you have the option to refuse a return, then you can do so. The buyer cannot then open another case after this one has been closed. 

If the buyer paid via PayPal, he/she could open a PayPal case. But upon contacting PayPal and showing them that the case has already been through eBay and was closed in your favor, PayPal will just close the case in your favor.

I've had this in the past - you will receive an item back that has now been opened etc. It's value is no longer the same as a sealed item. 
Of course if the item is still sealed and hasn't been opened, then the choice is yours.  

I have had a buyer purchase an external RAID drive before and request a refund via eBay - reason being he thought it was completely silent and didn't realise there was a HDD fan inside (even though this was in the featuresset in the listing - active cooling was a feature of the device!). 
I refused the return. 
He opened a case with PayPal, now stating item was faulty. 
I contacted PayPal by phone, explained the situation, and provided evidence of the eBay case.
PayPal closed the case in my favour. 
Buyer threatened court action etc - I remained polite throughout and said I was happy to proceed. Considering the item was exactly as described in the listing, I do not accept returns stated on the listing, and the fact that he tried to lie via PayPal - all the odds were in my favour. 
Never heard from him again!

soolin

FFHillbilly said:

the annoying thing is theres no way for you to charge them return postage inside the return system on eBay.
If it was me, tell the buyer that it was described correctly and you don't accept returns, but if they wish they can send it back to you using tracked delivery and then you can issue a refund, minus the original postage.
I've done that a few times an heard nothing back, likely as my items are worth about £20 and they couldn't be bothered 

If this is a change of mind return then buyer pays for the return postage, unless the sellers policy states they offer free returns. As the eBay message says seller has the right to refuse it would seem that OP is a private seller who does not automatically accept any returns for change of mind.