Am I being scammed by a buyer?

[Anonymous]

I shipped an item in perfect condition. It is a pewter statue (a very soft metal). The item was completely encased in bubble wrap and secure inside packaging. After several weeks the buyer contacted me saying the item arrived damaged with a small dent and demanded I return their money or they would open an issue. I’m new to eBay and that seemed odd to me. It’s not a light or inexpensive item. I can find no help from eBay directly. If this is common then I think I’m done with trying to sell on eBay. First experience selling has been horrible and costly to me. I think a local flea market vendor is a better option. 

[richard1rst]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I shipped an item in perfect condition. It is a pewter statue (a very soft metal). The item was completely encased in bubble wrap and secure inside packaging. After several weeks the buyer contacted me saying the item arrived damaged with a small dent and demanded I return their money or they would open an issue. I’m new to eBay and that seemed odd to me. It’s not a light or inexpensive item. I can find no help from eBay directly. If this is common then I think I’m done with trying to sell on eBay. First experience selling has been horrible and costly to me. I think a local flea market vendor is a better option. 

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Do not EVER yield to a threat. Your one and only response is "I'm sorry for the problem. Feel free to return it for a full refund". If they open a case they are required to include a picture of the damage/reason for return. Do not continue to respond to their emails. If they open a case send a prepaid return label. IF the item is genuinely damaged then a return is justified. IF this is just a scam to get a refund they will not send it back and unless they open a case just turn a deaf ear..

[richard1rst]

Oh and by the way he only has 30 days from the date of delivery. You did say ot has been "several weeks". If he misses the 30 day deadline you are home free.

[Anonymous]

They are just shy of the 30 day window by a few days. It’s interesting because pewter does have a small residual value as a scrap metal ($3-5/lb). It’s about a 9 lb item. My guess is that they purchased it, dinged it, wanted a full refund outside of reporting an issue and intended to keep it and sell it as scrap. Lesson learned. Too bad this first experience has been negative. 

[inhawaii]

@richard1rst gives good advice.

Stop communicating with the buyer.

If they file a damage complaint with ebay, deal with it then.

[soh.maryl]

Have you, as a seller, read eBay's Money Back Guarantee for buyers?  

[njcardsandbreaks]

Don't let this stop you from selling more on eBay - you have protections given to you by eBay as long as you follow all of the rules.  If you step outside the rules, then you lose those protections.  This is why when I sell expensive items I make sure I have the correct amount of insurance, I package it properly (or charge the buyer for a professional like UPS store to package it) and ship to only the address provided by eBay.  If you do all of that and there is a shipping damage then you have the buyer open a case and you will be protected. 

[bonjourami]

Hopefully you double boxed that fragile item.

[mtgraves7984]

After several weeks the buyer contacted me saying the item arrived damaged with a small dent and demanded I return their money or they would open an issue. 

@Anonymous 

Your buyer has it backwards. If they open an 'issue' (Return) and send the statue back to you, they get their money returned. Advise them to open that 'issue'. Good luck.

[reallynicestamps]

Note that buyers can also make claims through Paypal if they used it.

But PP demands that the buyer return the unwanted item and pay for the return before refunding.

OTOH the buyer has 180 days to make the claim.

Most credit cards allow chargebacks for up to 180 days.

Policies differ, but there is a small amount of support from eBay, mostly for INR cases where the seller has Proof of Delivery.

[soh.maryl]

In the scenario you describe and reassure sellers about, if a seller does all those things, but a buyer still opens an item not as described case, you imply that the seller will be protected.

From what? and how? 

[Anonymous]

The item was wrapped entirely from top to bottom, side to side in bubble wrap, and then secured inside a tight-fitting box.  Based upon their initial "ask" that I simply return all their money to them based upon a single grainy photo showing a small damaged piece telling me they would like to keep the item AND get their money back (their logic being I would have to pay the shipping if they requested a return), I am of the opinion that it was an attempt to sell the 9lb block of pewter for scrap along with getting all their money back.  I have many, many more of these types of items (a deceased relative collected/hoarded them) and I am disappointed to think my best option moving forward will be to put them all in several boxes and head to the scrapyard.  I'm not going to play this game anymore.  Now that I have paid for a return shipping label as the seller (effectively paying to have it shipped to them AND returned to me) it is easy enough for them to whack it with a hammer before bundling it back up.  Thanks for all the advice but I think I'm out.

[mtgraves7984]

@Anonymous 

Before you sell them all as scrap... revisit shipping in bubble wrap, an inner box, more bubble wrap and an outer box.

[inhawaii]

Every seller/shipper who has ever had anything damaged in shipping claims it was packaged adequately.

[yuzuha]

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@Anonymous wrote:

The item was wrapped entirely from top to bottom, side to side in bubble wrap, and then secured inside a tight-fitting box.

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Unfortunately, that's not adequate packing for an item like that. As mtgraves7984 and bonjourami said, it needs to be double-boxed in order to protect it from impact. In fact, the tight-fitting box was probably a significant part of the problem.