Question About A Return

mimi1234

Hi all,

Can someone help me with this. I am a private seller who sells a few bits and bobs here and there. I pay taxes via my self assessment return.

I sold 3 boxes of vitamins to a buyer in Oz. She initially asked if the boxes were sealed (which they were and could be seen in the photos and was listed as such) which should have rang alarm bells. They were all factory selaed and completely unopened.

She received the items. According to her, the batch numbers on the boxes were different to the batch numbers on the tub. Also, the best before end on the box did not match that on the tub.

I had 2 unopened boxes left at home so I opened them and checked, all the batch numbers and box numbers matched.

I am not saying she is making this up, as obviously, if it is something that is going to eaten/swallowed, you don't want it to be dodgy.

She is asking to return the items which I will have to accept. If the said items sold for £15 and the postage (she paid) was £20, I will have to refund both. If she returns the items, will I be liable for the postage too? In other words, would I be better off just refunding her and telling her to bin the items?

PennysIntoPounds

Has she sent pics of the not matching batch codes? She's probably already got old ones so could send you anything but if she can't provide that then I think a dispute with the marketplace would be worthwhile before you part with money if you're confident you sold the right thing

mimi1234

She sent me photos of the opened boxes with the tubs inside and the non matching barcodes etc. For all I know, she might be 100% genuine. The boxes were completely sealed so I could not open and check beforehand.

Shall I just refund her? If she posts them back, she might send me old ones she has had in the past…..?

Spoonie_Turtle

Are the tubs (that she's claiming having the wrong batch numbers) sealed like new ones should be?

GrubbyGirl_2

Sounds like a swap and she's trying to scam you, personally I'd ask to see full pics of the remainder of the bottles to check they are British produced not Australian. It is however entirely feasible that customs may have opened them to check contents as they would have raised suspicion on x ray.

Woodstok2000

Is this ebay? Ebay pay international returns themselves under EIS, you don't pay anything.

mimi1234

One of the tubs is opened, and two are closed. I think she has swapped them too, but can't prove anything.

If the buyer paid the amount I stated for postage, would eBay still cover the return? The payment for the postage was on top of the purchase.

Do you guys get scammed often? I rarely sell anything these days but this is the second time someone has tried something like this (I've only sold about 5 items this year). The other buyer was adamant the item had not been received but she signed for it two days after I had sent it and it had her signature on the Royal Mail tracking.

sammyjammy

Never been scammed, only sell to UK sellers and never sell anything of any value

Pollycat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82195732#Comment_82195732

Re your last comment:

What happened with that parcel? How was it resolved? If you had proof of signature, did eBay side eith the buyer?

I sell my old unwated stuff.

Currently I've got about 50 items listed.

The most expensive clothing is £20, most expensive BNIB footwear is £60 (retails at £190), and the most expensive piece of jewellery is £300.

I've never been 'scammed',

mimi1234

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82195966#Comment_82195966

I told her the royal mail tracking and she eventually closed it and said she had received it. It wasn't worth much, about £9, but still.

eBay didn't get involved, she gave in after a bit.

Pollycat

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82196137#Comment_82196137

OK.

So she tried it on but got found out.