eBay

tahoe-sports · ‎10-22-2019

This is a beauty. The buyer requested a return because a white jersey isn't white and it has a gasoline or possibly a mothball smell the buyer did not notice for a week. Took a photo of the same white jersey against a white sheet of paper to prove that, yes, the jersey is white. It wasn't blue, or red, or green, or pink. It was white, exactly as described. Not only was it white, it was really white because it had been cleaned by the team equipment managers.

So the story changes. Now, yes, the jersey is white. But now it has an odor, possibly gasoline or possibly mothballs. The jersey was stored and shipped in a sealed plastic bag. The team did not dip the jersey in gasoline and neither did I. Nor the the buyer mention when he opened the bag that the garment smelled like anything. It didn't smell the first day, the second day, the third day, etc. How many people would not know immediately if gasline was spilled on a garment?

I looked up solutions to the odor. The ranged from airing out the garment, to using cedar chips to absorb the order, to using charcoal to absorb the ordor, to washing the garment in a vinegar solution to get rid of the odor, to just plain putting the garment in the washing machine to eliminate the odor. The buyer refused to accept any of these easy remedies and insisted on returning the garment.

I was told by CS that they had to accept the buyer's word, even though nothing in their actions suggests there was any actual problem with the garment. I was told by CS that if I did not accept the return, despite my stated return policy explicitly saying there are no returns, they would close the return in the buyer's favor and give me a strike.

This is absolute madness.

What would they do with someone wishing to return a car because it had a new car smell? Return it, of course, because the smell was too strong, or not strong enough, or the wrong smell, or the wanted a better smell.

Get your **bleep** together, Ebay.

femmefan1946 · ‎10-28-2019

but not the Letter of Authenticity that proves it came from the team. Buyer says he never received it.

I'd be contacting Customer Service about that.

The buyer may not have to pay, but he does have to return the item in the same condition he got it.

If you have a picture of the cert. in your listing you could refer the customer rep to that.

And ask to be referred to a manager, very very politely, if she says no.

There have been reports over the years of refunds being refused because the buyer washed a smelly garment. (Probably because the garment was actually damaged by the washing, we hear those stories from the unhappy buyer who may have left that part out. )

tahoe-sports · ‎10-29-2019

I told CS about missing the Letter of Authenticity and they said unless I could prove that the letter was received by the buyer, I'm screwed and they would be the one's screwing me if I didn't let the scam buyer screw me. I have no idea how I would do that unless I happened to be filming him while he opened the package.

Seller protection is a scam.

trustedbasset · ‎10-29-2019

eBay have no idea who to believe. They always err on the side of caution which is the buyer.
I quest we need to understand that when we choose to sell here.
Maybe the buyer just needed the letter to go with his Jersey. I wouldn’t doubt it.

Dear God, please help me to be
the person my dog thinks I am.

judymasters · ‎10-29-2019

Hi,

I understand your frustration. I sent a pristine leather jacket to a buyer. It had pictures of all label's and views to show everything about the jacket. The buyer returns it to the wrong address (thanks to e bay). The buyer returned it saying I misrepresented the product. Shipping was to be paid by buyer and e bay took that too.

What I have learned from this experience is e bay offers no protection for sellers, even tho we are the ones paying their fees. They sent him his shipping money when it was buyer pays shipping. It actally cost me fees to e bay and shipping.

Needless to say I am looking for an organization that also protects sellers.

judymasters · ‎10-29-2019

Hi,

Do you know a site where sellers are protected?

judymasters · ‎10-29-2019

Yes, time is money and I am trying to figure out how much time is worth getting back the $90 plus dollars ebay ripped off from me. That is more then a minor inconvenience. I also don't appreciate PAYING e bay to rip me off after I pay them for services.

judymasters · ‎10-29-2019

Right on

judymasters · ‎10-29-2019

You are so right.

miyasamaco · ‎10-29-2019

The buyers on this site are pathetic. I once sold a ring with a Hebrew word engraved on it and the listing had multiple pictures. The moron who bought it had buyer's remorse and made up a story that he needed to return it because the word was spelled wrong and he spoke the language. I countered by asking him why he purchased if that was the case, being that the engraving was clearly visible. Not even crickets from them after that.

southern*sweet*tea · ‎10-29-2019

@judymasters wrote:
Hi,

Do you know a site where sellers are protected?

Absolutely!

You have total seller protection on your very own website, as long as you don't accept Paypal or any form of credit or debit cards for payment.

The easier you are to offend the easier you are to control.

We seem to be getting closer and closer to a situation where nobody is responsible for what they did but we are all responsible for what somebody else did. - Thomas Sowell

femmefan1946 · ‎10-29-2019

I really only know philatelic certificates but those are usually numbered.

And the certifying organization has copies.

So .... since you have a picture of the lot with the cert, and if any of your pictures show the number you could contact the certifier for a new copy.

Or you could present the item for re-certification, again a common practice in philately.

equid0x · ‎10-30-2019

@tahoe-sports wrote:
This is a beauty. The buyer requested a return because a white jersey isn't white and it has a gasoline or possibly a mothball smell the buyer did not notice for a week. Took a photo of the same white jersey against a white sheet of paper to prove that, yes, the jersey is white. It wasn't blue, or red, or green, or pink. It was white, exactly as described. Not only was it white, it was really white because it had been cleaned by the team equipment managers.

So the story changes. Now, yes, the jersey is white. But now it has an odor, possibly gasoline or possibly mothballs. The jersey was stored and shipped in a sealed plastic bag. The team did not dip the jersey in gasoline and neither did I. Nor the the buyer mention when he opened the bag that the garment smelled like anything. It didn't smell the first day, the second day, the third day, etc. How many people would not know immediately if gasline was spilled on a garment?

I looked up solutions to the odor. The ranged from airing out the garment, to using cedar chips to absorb the order, to using charcoal to absorb the ordor, to washing the garment in a vinegar solution to get rid of the odor, to just plain putting the garment in the washing machine to eliminate the odor. The buyer refused to accept any of these easy remedies and insisted on returning the garment.

I was told by CS that they had to accept the buyer's word, even though nothing in their actions suggests there was any actual problem with the garment. I was told by CS that if I did not accept the return, despite my stated return policy explicitly saying there are no returns, they would close the return in the buyer's favor and give me a strike.

This is absolute madness.

What would they do with someone wishing to return a car because it had a new car smell? Return it, of course, because the smell was too strong, or not strong enough, or the wrong smell, or the wanted a better smell.

Get your **bleep** together, Ebay.

If it was team equipment, my guess is that it was dry cleaned.

Not sure if they still use this.. but they at least used to use TCE (Trichloroethylene) as a dry-cleaning agent. Its a chemical with a sickening and slightly sweet smell. It does readily off-gas and would leave a residue in the clothing that might be detectable.

I could see such a chemical being perceived as "gasoline" or "moth balls" especially if it was on an old garment that had been packaged or stored for many years.

2 solutions really... wash it in water with say... Tide, or let it air out.

This wouldn't necessarily indicate a problem with the garment, only that it had been properly cleaned and then likely stored in a sealed environment.

If you know that the item your sold is legit and doesn't stink like it got sprayed by a skunk or something unnatural... all you can really do is accept the return and BBL the buyer.

equid0x · ‎10-30-2019

@hurryagain wrote:
@tahoe-sports wrote:

This is absolute madness.

What would they do with someone wishing to return a car because it had a new car smell? Return it, of course, because the smell was too strong, or not strong enough, or the wrong smell, or the wanted a better smell.

...or the seller had a cold that week so he couldn't smell the smell...we can go on forever...

The clothing sellers in particular are plagued with this kind of buyer's remorse returns.

...sigh...

Its an interesting topic...

To give... perhaps even a slightly gross example(which I think I have right):

Some people have genetics that cause their body to not process a certain constituent of Asparagus. When they eat asparagus, their body leave a certain chemical in their urine that can be detected by others who happen to smell said urine.

Even deeper down the rabbit hole, there are some people who are sensitive to the scent of this chemical and others who cannot smell it at all.

The 2 genes, as far as I know, are not mutually exclusive, so one can have the gene where one produces the chemical and can also smell it, while another might not be able to do either, or even one or the other!

I happen to be one of those people who produce the chemical and can smell it. I will tell you... perhaps gasoline or mothballs aren't far off. Honestly, I couldn't tell you what exactly it was if I didn't know... its quite unique.

Anyways... if I bought a pack of boxers and opened it and it smelled like skunk, would I return it? Yes.

Are there buyers out there who are overly sensitive to smells? Yes.

There's no winning this one. Just take it back, see if you can remedy the smell issue and resell it. I don't think there's any better outcome than that here.

equid0x · ‎10-30-2019

@jaad_6732 wrote:
By selecting no returns you are just keeping yourself from being eligible for top seller status. Regardless of what you select any buyer who says a item is damaged or not as described will be eligible to return it. Ebay pushes for you to select free shipping option and to add the shipping into the sale price but i prefer to set my price and use the shipping calculator to determine shipping separate. I do this because if a buyer just doesn't like the item they bought or changed their mind it will make them responsible for the return shipping. Given it was as described. If you gave free shipping you would be responsible for the return shipping since its free and also have to return the original shipping cost. I steer clear of selling clothing and complex electronics because their is to many factors to go wrong that would cost me money. Its easy to say a shirt is the wrong size or a computer does not work properly but hard to say a coffee mug doesn't work lol.

This is the way its supposed to work but what eBay does is just cites MBG and then forces you to return both the shipping and the sale price as well as pay for the return.

equid0x · ‎10-30-2019

@debsm-6771 wrote:
Or you're so used to the odor you've gone nose blind.

Odor is pretty subjective. My cousin wears a coconut body spray, she thinks it smells good, I think it smells like piña colada vomit

Haha some people also describe the smell of Tide as "vomit" although I do not personally perceive it this way.

Funny things noses are.