Stung by eBay refund policy. Help!

Josh_Wilkin · 22 January 2019 at 4:03PM

I recently sold an item on Ebay in entirely good faith. However the buyer was not happy and requested a refund. This meant that the funds he had paid were held in PayPal. Once the matter was resolved, the funds were sent back to the buyer.

However, I then received an email from eBay advising me that there were insufficient funds in my account to pay the refund.

I have advised them that I've never had the money. they have acknowledged this, but have said I still need to pay.

Currently I stand to lose both the item I sold (postal issues - not bays fault) and also have to fork out the cost of the item back to eBay! I am flabbergasted.

Any advice?

ballisticbrian · 22 January 2019 at 4:28PM

How can the funds both be sent back to the buyer as you state and there be insufficient finds for a refund? You must have had the funds in your PayPal account (frozen or not) or surely you wouldn't have sent the item?

forgotmyname · 22 January 2019 at 4:29PM

If the buyer paid how could you not have the funds?

I think the buyer got their refund with the money they paid you, but you have no funds to pay the ebay/paypal fees. You need to pay those.

Did you refund promptly or did ebay/paypal have to step in and do the refund?

Run_Forrest_Run · 22 January 2019 at 4:44PM

Hi Josh. I’m an eBayer of fifteen plus years. I’ve come across lots of scams in my time.

First things first. If the buyer is unhappy with an item they need to return it to you for a refund unless you state that they are allowed to keep it.

The money originally paid into your PayPal account will still be there providing you haven’t requested it (or any part of it) be transferred to your bank account or you haven’t used it to pay for other items.

If the money is refunded by ebay back to the buyer after a dispute then eBay and PayPal do not get paid.

If you telephone eBay you will be able to talk to someone about the problems you are encountering and they will explain the situation in terms that you may well find easier to understand.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head · 22 January 2019 at 5:14PM

Josh_Wilkin wrote: »

However, I then received an email from eBay advising me that there were insufficient funds in my account to pay the refund.

Have you looked in Paypal? You should see the payment and that it has been refunded.

Only thing I can think of is your Paypal balance was zero, you got this payment which then went back to the buyer but Paypal keep 20p when a refund is made so maybe eBay are only asking for a shortfall rather than the full amount?

If eBay provided the return label and the parcel went missing on it's way back contact eBay (by phone) about this.

If you used eBay's label they will also bill you for this as part of your seller fees.

If it was delivered but not to you let us know and someone will post some more advice.

forgotmyname · 23 January 2019 at 5:49AM

Run_Forrest_Run wrote: »

Hi Josh. I’m an eBayer of fifteen plus years. I’ve come across lots of scams in my time.

First things first. If the buyer is unhappy with an item they need to return it to you for a refund unless you state that they are allowed to keep it.

The money originally paid into your PayPal account will still be there providing you haven’t requested it (or any part of it) be transferred to your bank account or you haven’t used it to pay for other items.

If the money is refunded by ebay back to the buyer after a dispute then eBay and PayPal do not get paid.

If you telephone eBay you will be able to talk to someone about the problems you are encountering and they will explain the situation in terms that you may well find easier to understand.

Are you sure you have been on ebay 15 years? Its the sellers job to pay for return postage for faulty or not as described items. Its not the buyers job/cost.

Scams? A buyer claiming a refund is not a scam. I had a case recently on a computer part where the seller had obviously modified it and ruined it. Totally forgot to mention any of that in the listing. I plugged it in and it didnt work, only when rechecking everything did i spot trace amounts of their mod causing shorts on the board.
Sometimes a buyer and sellers ideas vary on whats wear and tear or whats normal. Its part of selling unseen items online.

Ebay/Paypal dont get paid, not quite right, 20p fee from paypal and will you get all your ebay fees back? Varies.

Phone ebay, well we know thats pot luck. You may get someone sensible, mostly not.

I phoned them with an issue where a seller was claiming an item was only 1p but it was 1p + £99.99 postage. Ebay saw no issues with that and yes the items value is 1p not £100.

Another issue where ebay kept logging me out, it used to stay logged in 24/7. They blamed me, my computer, my internet.
Then shortly after they rolled out where it would log you out every 24 hours. Glad that doesnt happen anymore. But they swore blind they had not implemented anything to cause my constant logouts.

Obviously testing the water to make things safer but needed to know how often they can log you out before you complain.

Stung by eBay refund policy. Help!

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