Did I set myself up to be possibly defrauded by a buyer taking advantage of ebay's 30 day guarantee?

[sprintracer-x49]

I just made my first sale on eBay, approximately 17,000 Magic: The Gathering cards in a single lot. They sold for a decent amount of money, not actual value, but acceptable.  Ebay is holding my money for 30 days in case the buyer requests a refund. What happens if the buyer, now that they have received the cards, goes through and picks out the valuable ones, requests a refund for their purchase, and sends back all of the cards except for those? Or if they send back identical cards that are in terrible condition in place of the cards the purchased from me in superior condition? It's not like I sold a single item with a serial number. I sold 17,000 items in a single lot with a value entirely based on their condition. In 17,000 cards that could easily mean a potential loss of thousands of dollars in value for me if a buyer requests a refund.  And with that many cards, it would be extremely difficult and very time consuming, if not impossible to check to see if every single card was returned and in identical condition. The only way that would be remotely possible would be to have at least 2 pictures of every card sold (one from each side). So that would mean having 34,000 pictures on file to search through. So the possibility of fraud by the buyer not being discovered in a timely manner is highly likely. Even if I do find they did not send back all the cards or sent back cards that were in lesser condition in place of better condition ones, what is my recourse as the seller? Did I set myself up to the possibility of being defrauded by a buyer taking advantage of eBay's 30 day money back guarantee?  I specified returns not accepted  for this very reason, but eBay applies their policy anyway.  Shouldn't the possibility of such a scenario should negate the option of a 30 day guarantee, as the only fair solution for both buyer and seller?  I would think the people in charge of policy would see that their blanket policy cannot fit every sale transaction and that there would be special situations such as this that shouldn't be subject to those terms. And if the 30 day guarantee doesn't apply then neither should a 30 day hold on payout, so eBay should begin processing payment as soon as the buyer receives the shipment.  Or does eBay not care one bit if the seller gets defrauded by an unscrupulous buyer taking advantage of eBays policies for personal gain? Help?

[biggymoe]

You really should have thought about these possible scenarios, and ramifications, before making that listing.  

Has the shipment been delivered?

Has the buyer contacted you about a problem?

You may be having all of this angst for no reason.

Hopefully there will be no problem.  Good luck.

[joels-retrocade]

I see that went for  a decent amount of cash.  I wouldn't worry about it unless you hear something from the buyer.  That hold is annoying but it's probably just because the the amount of money and nothing else.  I'm sorry you had to part with your beloved collection.  RIP

[kensgiftshop]

If you hang around here a little bit, you'll see sellers have very little protection.

All the stuff you're worried about should have been though about before listing the cards, not after they sell.

If the buyer goes through the cards and pick a few they want, then files an INAD, not much you can do but accept the return and refund the buyer when they are returned.

Even without Ebays 30 day MBG, buyers have 6 months to open a case with Pay Pal or their credit card.

[sprintracer-x49]

Yes the buyer received the shipment.  No they have not contacted me about a problem, however they have not left any feedback either. I kinda did think about them before I made the listing, which is why it said returns not accepted. I didn't know eBay was going to force their 30 day guarantee on me. I hope I am worrying for no reason. But what happens if I'm not and the scenarios I listed in my post actually happen? Do I have any recourse, or should I just drop trou, grab my ankles and let eBay have their way?

[lakefor94]

No, eBay does not allow for any special circumstances dreamed up by a seller. 

Handling returns for the seller:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handle-return-request-seller?id=4115

Hopefully this transaction goes off without a hitch for you.

Do NOT contact the buyer to see if everything is hunky-dory.

If the buyer happens to file a return case, come back here to your thread and let us know. Folks here will walk you thru it, for better or for worse.

[sprintracer-x49]

That's exactly what I was afraid of.  I did think about it, which is why my listing says no returns accepted. Why is that an option if eBay is just gonna override it anyway and force me to take back a sale which has been pilfered? I actually do have pictures of most of the cards, just not each one individually.  If I can prove they buyer did not return all the cards, what happens? Do I get any sort of compensation? Or does the buyer get off scot free to do this again to someone else, possibly over and over to multiple sellers forced to accept returns against their wishes?

[klhmdg]

@sprintracer-x49   No returns just means you dont want it back. 

eBay will refund and allow the buyer to keep the item too.

No returns is not the same as no refund. 

IF the buyer returns the item and there are things missing, because of your "no return"  you have no other option but to report the buyer and give them all the $ back.

#1 rule is do not sell anything that you cant afford to give away. 

[lakefor94]

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@sprintracer-x49 wrote:

That's exactly what I was afraid of.  I did think about it, which is why my listing says no returns accepted. Why is that an option if eBay is just gonna override it anyway and force me to take back a sale which has been pilfered? I actually do have pictures of most of the cards, just not each one individually.  If I can prove they buyer did not return all the cards, what happens? Do I get any sort of compensation? Or does the buyer get off scot free to do this again to someone else, possibly over and over to multiple sellers forced to accept returns against their wishes?

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Since you do not accept returns, if the buyer files a remorse type reason for the return, you can deny the return.

If the buyer files a Item Not As Described return case, you will need to accept the return and provide a prepaid return label IF you want the cards back before refunding in FULL. 

You can't prove anything in a INAD return case and eBay won't be providing you any type of compensation no matter what the buyer sends back to you.

Best wait until there is actually a problem rather than worrying about something that does not exist.

[sprintracer-x49]

If that's the case and it's such a gamble, why does anyone chose to sell on eBay? If I am not supposed to sell anything I can't afford to give away, then eBay is useless to me. Because I can't afford to give anything away. If I could I would just give it away to someone I know.  And sorry for not responding sooner, my phone was shut off for lack of payment (Thanks again, eBay, for the 30 day hold)