eBay

kenziejo · ‎10-31-2017

I'm fairly new to selling and have been overly cautious, wanting to be a "good" seller.

I sold a glass antique and wrapped it so carefully, it took me a good half hour.

It had layer after layer of good cushioning. I had fragile stickers all over it.

A day after it was delivered Ebay contacted me saying it arrived broken and had a huge chip.

She wanted a refund.

I realize things do break but to have a big chip in it, it has to be bumped against something hard

like a table. I think she did it herself and wanted her money back

I know it didn't come to her broken. There was no big chip in it either.

I guess I'm probably SOL here and I don't want to accuse her of anything for fear she will

give me negative feedback. She might anyway.

It seems Ebay takes the buyer's side.

How would you handle this?

emerald40 · ‎10-31-2017

@kin.bets wrote:
I'm fairly new to selling and have been overly cautious, wanting to be a "good" seller.
I sold a glass antique and wrapped it so carefully, it took me a good half hour.
It had layer after layer of good cushioning. I had fragile stickers all over it.
A day after it was delivered Ebay contacted me saying it arrived broken and had a huge chip.
She wanted a refund.
I realize things do break but to have a big chip in it, it has to be bumped against something hard
like a table. I think she did it herself and wanted her money back
I know it didn't come to her broken. There was no big chip in it either.
I guess I'm probably SOL here and I don't want to accuse her of anything for fear she will
give me negative feedback. She might anyway.
It seems Ebay takes the buyer's side.
How would you handle this?

Tell her to return for a refund

It is all you can do

a_c_green · ‎10-31-2017

I don't see anything in your recent sales fitting that description; was it something under another account?

The problem description sounds a little odd: it arrived broken and there's a big chip taken out of it? Wasn't the arriving-broken part bad enough?

I would express polite concern and ask if they would please send a clear photo or two showing the damage. (They don't have to, but if they're honest and you're diplomatic about it, it's worth a try.) If you're convinced that it's your broken item, refund; if you're not, then ask nicely to please return it for a refund.

You didn't say what the item was or what dollar amount is at stake here, so it's a bit of a judgment call on your part (and I assume you did not have insurance on the package...? Priority Mail gives you at least $50 indemnity for free.)

The one thing to not do is get drawn into a partial-refund haggle. If it's broken, it's broken, and the buyer should not be trying for just a partial refund if it genuinely got broken along the way. (Forget about "Fragile" stickers in future, as sorting machines cannot read. Just pack it securely enough that you would be willing to toss it down your own staircase.)

victorjunkman55 · ‎10-31-2017

You did not mention this so I will ask, did you double box? If you have seen picture(s) of damage you must refund and the faster you do, the less likely you will get bad feedback. I have seen packages where nothing could survive, they were crushed, but thankful they were not mine. One responder here mentioned "the flight of stairs" test and I have done this, 16 steps, 2 bounces on the way down, yet the Champagne flutes survived. It's truly all in the packing when selling glass or pottery. Good Luck to you.

jonathankirkland · ‎10-31-2017

Just to expand on the above, if the buyer declines to show picture evidence I would politely ask her to open a return case and return it for a full refund.

A lot of times people will try to fish for an extra discount after the fact. Sadly, this practice is becoming more and more common here.

Now of course that's not to say that sometimes things of course do happen, but any reasonable person could show evidence of something being broken, and from there if you wanted to you could just refund the buyer instead of requesting to return it.

Giving in to a partial refund without proof of what has happened though is just something that I could never do or advise someone else to do.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-31-2017

You can sweetly ask for pictures and hope she will be obliging.

Maybe she means the huge chip means it is broken.

I don't know.

But some pictures may clarify this for you. After that, your call. But the buyer does not have to provide pictures for you.

castlemagicmemories · ‎10-31-2017

Just an idea, no offense, but have you checked your pictures on the listing?

I have received things that were damaged, but not in shipping. When I went back to the original listing, I would find the damage in the picture. Now I have been told I have excellent eyesight, but sometimes it is easy to miss something, even with zoom, if the damage is not noted in the description.

There have even been times the pictures were indistinct and I asked about what I perceived could be an issue, only to be told by the seller the item was fine. But when the item arrived, it had the damage that was hard to see in the listing picture, which was never noted in the description.

Just a thought, don't want to offend you.

mischa*lottie · ‎11-01-2017

😞 I hope it was not one those pretty figurines. It is heart wrenching when something survives this long and then gets destroyed. I have not had this happen to me regarding items arriving damaged but depending on how you sent it....whether via Ebay or the post office...I am pretty sure it is insured. I will need to look into that or call ebay and find out how that works (assuming you printed thru Ebay)

coolections · ‎11-01-2017

Could it be the small chip on the Ivy that was not mentioned in your description ? Did the buyer specifically say how big or where it was located on the figurine ?

kenziejo · ‎11-04-2017

This reply is meant for everyone that responded because I wasn't quite sure how to do so.
I appreciate those of you who took the time to answer.
Live and learn, I think I'll stick to selling "unbreakable items".
Thanks.

a_c_green · ‎11-04-2017

Practically everyone who responded here had a followup question or two for you. Please give us a bit more of an update on what's happened so far, and maybe fill in some of the details that people have been asking you about...?

getitright1234 · ‎11-05-2017

#1. Ask for picture(s) of the box, packaging materials, and the actual item, etc, .................you can use the pictures to file and support your insurance claim.

#2. If you get pictures and they look questionable, then tell the buyer to return for a refund.

#3. If the buyer says, they can not take pictures, they threw the item in the trash...etc etc.. tell the buyer to return for a refund.

#4. Check out your buyer's feedback left and received from others, do you see a pattern of making false claims of damages?

turquoisetulips · ‎11-05-2017

I feel bad for sellers when things like this happen,, especially when you know you've gone above and beyond to ensure the item arrives safely and intact . As far as advice ,, just ask her to begin a return but don't refund until it comes back to you . I just had to refund a buyer this morning myself . I had sold her a Halloween theme glass living memory locket necklace with free shipping . Lockets are what I normally sell on e bay. She said she loved it when it arrived but when she wore it to a Halloween event , it broke. So I apologised and asked her to start a return . I received the necklace back yesterday ,, but there's not a thing wrong with it . I've checked and rechecked , its in the same condition as when I mailed it . I refunded her in full just a few minutes ago, its in fine shape and can be sold again. . I had paid the 2.61 in shipping to get it to her , I paid the return shipping for her to send it back and she was refunded the total price she paid including the shipping that I had paid USPS ,, there was no option to remove any of the shipping fee's when I did the refund . I suppose I should have contacted e bay first ,, but I just wanted to get it over with . So I guess these are just the facts of life about selling here ,, sometimes you win and sometimes you lose ,, good luck and I hope it turns out well .