Possible Scam by a buyer?

[pachuko]

I recently sold a record here on ebay that is 45 years old and still sealed in the original shrink wrap.  When the buyer received the record, they immediately opened it and played it.  The buyer claims the sound was very fuzzy/staticy.  States that they tried to clean and de-stat the disc with no improvement in sound.  Requested a return.

I asked why in a message.  They explained.  I explained that the value of a sealed record is in the fact that it is sealed.  They sent a message stating that ebay doesn't work that way and at that point I felt like ebay's policies could be used against me as a seller here.  The quandary:  Do I accept the return?  If I do I am out the entire value of the disc.  At this point offering a partial refund of 50%, while still awful from my perspective, was better that losing the entire amount.  I have bought thousands of records in my life.  While I admit anything's possible, I have never encountered one that that had poor sound quality issues (other than those as part of the music).  In polling my friends who also collect, they also have never gotten a record from a legitimate record company that had anything but the sound quality the manufacturer intended.

I'll admit, I am a neophyte with regards to ebay's protections for sellers, but what are my protections here?  This situation made me feel like the seller could easily get me "flagged" in some way with ebay or at the very least leave a negative review of the transaction on an otherwise 3000+ flawless positive review stack.

• Buyer opened the record immediately reducing the value.
• The buyer could have unintentionally done  something to effect the sound quality prior to playing.
• The problem could be with the buyer's equipment or the buyer's equipment could have caused the problem.
• I sold this as a collector, "As-is" & "Returns Not Accepted" clearly spelled out in my listing.
• As a collector, am I to be held responsible for a prospective manufacturer's defect on a record that is 45 years old?

Im' not necessarily suggesting that the buyer did anything nefarious above, but it is possible, and in this case, it just kinda feels like I have been scammed.

So, making this post even longer, what are my protections as a seller in situations like this?

[fab_finds4u]

eBay has changed. Cleaning it and applying something was altering it and therefore  not eligible for MBG. But eBay has thrown away the rule book and they don't  decide case by case so you have 2 choices.

Offer a partial refund and let them keep it.

Provide a return label and refund in full when they return it.

[pachuko]

First, thanks for the tip/reminder about cleaning/de-stat, etc.  Helpful to remember for the future.  I get it on what the options are, but because the value of an item can vary so widely between being sold as sealed/new and whatever condition the buyer returns it in, where's my protection as a seller?  The second it is opened, it is no longer re-sellable as sealed/new.  So that value is lost.   With this in mind, the following scenario is possible with the seller having no recourse whatsoever:

• Buyer bids on, wins and receives a rare, sealed/new collectors record with a sold value of $500.00
• Buyer opens record, plays it just to hear it then decided they no longer want the record.
• They use ebay's process where the seller only has two choices;
  • Accept the return and refund the full purchase price AND totally lose the collector's value of the record. or-
  • Offer a partial refund and the buyer gets to keep the item.

So, as a seller, either I am out much of the collector's value of the item and all of the money from the sale or I am out half the money from the sale and the buyer gets to keep the item.  How am I protected as a seller in that scenario?

[pikeup45]

I have had the same issues as you, where a Buyer will make statements that aren't true, or change something, just to get out of paying for an item. Years ago, eBay let Sellers leave negative feedback against a Buyer, which made Buyers think twice about screwing around with a Seller. They also got involved in disputes a Buyer had with a Seller, or in reverse. They would especially rule against a Buyer if they altered the item in anyway, such as a Buyer opening up a sealed item, trying to fix an item they thought didn't work, or a host of other things that changed the item they purchased from you. But not anymore!!  It's like what eBayer fab_finds4u said, eBay has thrown out the rule book and does everything just like Amazon does now, and that is this;  THE BUYER RULES SUPREME!!  So if you can't work anything out with the Buyer, do the refund and move on.  Because you will waste more time, and a lot of hard feelings if you don't do that, trust me. After 25 years with eBay, I know!

But a Seller can do an Appeal after 30 days from issuing the refund. The Buyer will still gets his money back, but eBay could rule in your favor on an issue, and refund all of your money back too. I know this sounds crazy (eBay giving you money out of their pocket)  but that's what they do.  They say going this route weeds out millions of issues they would have to be the judge on in a dispute, which they do not want to do. And only a few of the hard-core Sellers who are really **bleep** off, ever come back after 30 days to try their case with eBay.

I have done an appeal 4 times to date, and have been successful on 3 of them.  Not a bad average.  But you have to pick and choose which battles you want to fight with eBay. Because if you bring too many of these challenges to them, they will get somewhat angry and start denying everyone of  your requests.

I hope this has been somewhat helpful to you pachuko. And good luck in your future endeavors with eBay.

[fab_finds4u]

There is ZERO Protection when the buyer wants to return it because they said it isn't as described. 

If you're a top rated seller and they return it because they changed their mind/no longerxwant it you can deduct up to 50% if they return it in worse condition.  The thing is most buyers won't use changed mind/no longer want it as the reason. They'll use not as described so they don't have to pay return shipping and lose any of their original payment.