Buyer Returning Silver Coin For a Refund Since the Silver Market Crashed.
I sold 1 OZ silver coins last week near the top of the market ($114) . 2 days later the silver market crashed. I sold the coin for $114 ad silver is now around $80.
By returning the coin, the buyer is essentially gaming the system, and this would never be allowed in any normal investing situation.
I sold the silver because I believed we were nearing a top. The person buying it is buying an investment. If eBay allows this, it makes silver selling on eBay fraudulent. You can buy silver and if it goes up, keep it. Any time there is a big drop, give the loss back to the seller. It's a win/win for the buyer, no way to lose.
I want to go to eBay customer service, but in order to talk to customer service you have to give a reason, but none of the standard reasons they allow you to pick have any relevance.
One thought I had is to refund whatever the value of the silver is on the day it's returned?
Another thought is to contact customer service and explain what the buyer is doing but I don't have any faith in the Filipino support person I will have to talk to.
The reason the buyer gave to return it is "ordered by mistake"
Any thoughts on what action I can take.
luckythewinner
·7 months agoIf you had an eBay return policy, then you agreed to accept returns for any reason - including "I can get it cheaper somewhere else".
I sold the silver because I believed we were nearing a top.
eBay is not going to consider the motivation for youre sale as a return to deny a valid return.
Any time there is a big drop, give the loss back to the seller.
That is the risk of selling a commodity with a spot price onm a venue where returns are possible. And returns are always possible on eBay via a fraudulent dispute.
One thought I had is to refund whatever the value of the silver is on the day it's returned?
That would be theft.
meme6253
·7 months agoI am so glad I did not get involved with the Silver market, I was Leary about it & I'm glad I was, But for your situation you still need to do the refund because most likely Ebay will make you if you don't,Sorry but I think that is how it will go, You may not have to pay the return shipping cost but you will the rest of it.
gurlcat
·7 months agoI happened to sell this Thursday night. It was delivered today, but to a "reception room" in the late afternoon so I don't even know if the buyer has it in his hands yet.
YALL KNOW I am a long-tail cat in a room full of rocking chairs right now!
And I NEED this money. But if there's any silver lining, it's that I didn't sell this a few days earlier, because I would have just spent the money and not had it available to refund, if it came to that. Luckily, liquidation night was so soon after this sale ... and I found out about it soon enough .... that the money is still sitting in eBay, rather than Alabama Power and/or Progressive Insurance or whatever bills need catching up the most. -The last thing I need is to have my account shut down for failing to refund a buyer.
Yall pray for me, that I'll get a positive feedback or something from this guy, so I'll know when I'm safe. 😆
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoGood luck, hope you get to keep the money. I anticipated trouble in a general sense, so I did not cough up the B&M store's share immediately upon receiving the eBay pay out (it's still in my bank account in case I have to pay it back, don't have the money, and they draw from my account). I also didn't spend my share either as of yet. I'll feel comfortable spending once all the packages have arrived and a few days have passed that make me feel comfortable there will not be a return. There could be a return on day 29, it could drop a whole lot and cause someone to want to do a return... can't control that. But need to be comfortable before spending any of it.
C.
gurlcat
·7 months ago@sin-n-dex Yes, same plan here. The number of returns I've ever had that were filed beyond 3 days after delivery is so minuscule, I wouldn't worry at that point. But until then, yeah I simply won't touch it.
All in all, even despite the spot price drop, even with sterling being only 92.5% silver, and even with a few stones in this jewelry, the buyer still got a pretty dang good deal. But I wouldn't be surprised if he watches the spot for the next couple days. I'm VERY encouraged to see it appears to be recovering (gained $6 so far today). Sure hope this continues!
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoI went into my shop today, it's business as usual. They're buying and selling silver now and hoping it doesn't go crazy (they want it to go up, but at a steady pace).
I have had returns beyond 3 days, but it's usually because someone sent something to get certified and didn't like what they were told (ie they wouldn't certify it because it was damaged, or something like that, or it comes in at a much lower grade than expected, even though I rarely grade anything except Circ/UNC). I take those returns, but in the case of the recent sales, it's quite a few coins, and I'm not worried about them getting certified because they aren't something someone would likely bother certifying.
Also some of the recent sales went to Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong. Much less worried about returns from there due to silver prices changing. The Hong Kong guy got his coins on Jan 12, so it's gone up a lot since then, even if it fell, he might have already flipped them or just be back where he started when he bought (which was a good deal at the time).
At the shop they think it will recover and are completely not worried at all. It was a different situation at the coin show with smaller dealers who are all too old to work and trying to make peanuts in their retirement on hocking coins. I asked one for a discount and he said if it's silver, no, not at all... I told him it's not silver, I don't deal in silver (I really don't, just have lots of left over silver from when the value was low and dealing in it was not as risky).
I gave the shop back most of their silver to melt, so they're cool with me having some random coins with collectible value, even if they end up selling less than melt (as it's difficult to keep up on that right now).
Cross your fingers for your sale, $450 is a pretty big sale to have to refund. I rarely see anything that big, but it became increasingly more common with people buying 5 or 6 silver coins at $50-70 a piece.
C.
christworks
·7 months agoGet your coin back. It will be the buyer's loss and your gain when it goes back up.
ten_o_nine
·7 months agoI hope that's a return they will soon regret.
warmikey89
·7 months agoI would email the buyer and calmly tell them that I don't believe them. There are too many steps you have to take to complete a purchase for someone to purchase anything by accident. I would tell them exactly what you said in your post. That you believe they are trying to return the item because they are having buyer's remorse and are upset that the item they bought is worth quite a bit less today than it was when they purchased it. Ask them if they would be trying to return it if the value had increased that much instead of decreasing. The most important thing you need to do throughout the whole process is stay calm, collected, and respectful while communicating with the buyer. If the buyer gets upset and starts talking crazy to you, then youu just won. Ebay will see it in the communications and side with you. Even if they don't act foolish I still believe eBay will side with you, as long as the item was described well and the buyer received what was listed then your good man.
funfactorychannel
·7 months agoSo we cannot refund partial for item is not return the same value as it was?😂
gurlcat
·7 months ago@funfactorychannel Not unless the loss in value was something the buyer did to it.
jonathanbrightlight
·7 months agoNope. If the condition of what is returned is different than what you sent them, you can issue a partial refund, because the buyer did something to alter it. But if the value has dropped, that’s not a valid reason to deduct from the refund.
oldwestgold
·7 months agoI wouldn't accept it or make a deduction on the return for the difference. You should have a disclosure on your return policy stating that, due to market fluctuations, you cannot accept returns on bullion. eBay may take exception to the statement, but they have generally been supportive to sellers on this issue. Good luck.
fern*wood
·7 months agoAdding something like that to the eBay money back guarantee sounds reportable.
inhawaii
·7 months agoYou can't do that.
mamacassidy
·7 months agoAlso, this is what ebay states about changing currency rates:
Currency exchange rate applied to refunds
If a buyer chooses to use eBay currency conversion by selecting to pay in their local currency at checkout, the same exchange rate used at the time of purchase is applied when a refund is issued.
eBay does not cover losses a buyer may sustain that are attributable to fluctuations in currency exchange rates applied to the refund by the buyer's bank, credit card issuer, or payment service provider. If you are a buyer, please check the currency conversion policy imposed by your credit card issuer, bank, or payment service provider for information about conversion rates applied to refunds denominated in foreign currency.
I know we're talking about silver and not currency in this thread, but the OP's argument is that the coins are worth less now because of the market fluctuations. And ebay's stance is that the same rate is used even if there are fluctuations.
tools*
·7 months agoLike anything else, it's worth what someone is willing to pay for it. If you can find a buyer, and you're okay with the price, sell it. Just get paid in cash.
tools*
·7 months agoWhen silver peaks, you should sell it to a dealer in scrap for cash. Don't bother with the eBay retail market and the return risk.
stainlessenginecovers
·7 months ago^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Future LEARNING LESSON right there for all that are selling commodities ^^^^^^^^^^
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoI'm in Ontario, Canada, many dealers have stopped buying silver because of the sharp increases in prices. The smelters won't take it, if they do take it they make you wait 10 weeks for payment (so you get way less if it goes down in that time), and dealers are afraid of a market crash costing them thousands.
I'm unsure what our B&M store's policy is on the silver, I'm pretty sure I'm not allowed to share that here. But I was at a coin show on the weekend and people were trying to sell silver before it crashes even more (if that's going to happen, I have no idea) and no one at the show would take it. I talked to quite a few dealers there and they said they stopped buying silver from customers at a point because of the risk. So yeah, silver is expensive and worth a lot, but if no one is going to buy it from you it's really not worth anything now is it?
C.
silverstatetreasureboxes
·7 months ago@sin-n-dex
What the heck happened with silver, gosh I'm missing everything since I've been sick. My oldest called and reported losses over $50k with his portfolio.
Well I guess I'll just sit on my silver pile and wait.
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoSilver was at $115 an ounce last week, and Friday morning (or Thursday night) it hit a drop, then later on Friday another drop. It's currently sitting at $84 an ounce.
I had removed a bunch of coins from my store to relist (after first making sure I had them, I do that every time I take stuff down and relist it), and after the drop happened I put them all back up at the same price, some even priced a bit lower than before. It's been tough to keep up with silver prices, but my lack of keeping up has resulted in lots of sales from people who feel like they've gotten a deal on the silver price of my coins. I'm OK with people getting deals so long as I'm not losing money or breaking even.
C.
luckythewinner
·7 months agoWhat the heck happened with silver
The nominee for Federal Reserve Chairman seems inclined to strengthen the dollar. A lot of investors were sitting on profits from the recent surge and had one hand on the doorknob anyway.
gurlcat
·7 months ago@luckythewinner I've read numerous articles and still don't really understand because precious metals are a GLOBAL commodity, and even with the U.S. being so economically dominant, we don't literally rule the world. In any case there might not be anything any one entity can do to control the market. -Gold and silver are rallying already. Perhaps the market wants what it wants??
luckythewinner
·7 months agostill don't really understand because precious metals are a GLOBAL commodity
They are a global commodity, but they are conventionally priced in US dollars on global markets.
and even with the U.S. being so economically dominant, we don't literally rule the world
You do not have to 'rule the world' for your dominant economy to have an influence on global markets.
oldwestgold
·7 months agoAbsolutely agree. I have sold all of my scrap and bullion items to a local dealer that pays 15% back of spot. eBay charges me 15%, so that's a no-brainer, all with no risk.
mamacassidy
·7 months ago@duffy4444 summed it up best: " It is not a precious metals market investment transaction - it's a simple tangible goods transaction."
If you accept returns, you have to refund the full purchase price of the item, not what you think it's worth (unless they have damaged/ altered it).
I disagree with the metaphor above about someone sending back a new item they removed from the package. That item has been opened/ damaged.
Unless part of the silver coin has been melted away, then the item is in the same condition in which you sold it, so you are required to refund the full purchase price.
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoThe metaphor was to describe how the OP feels, I agree it's not the same thing.
C.
1richdoug
·7 months agogold and silver has never been an investment plan of course. I only have used it as a hedge vs inflation; since there is little or none now, at 2.7, i have only 5 oz s each, protecting only 1/10 th of cash on hand; which is not a good %, need to be at 25pct. China caused recent jumps, bought, then been selling and making billions. in any buying situation, i have been a buyer for my sports cards since was 35; if i can find a seller who wants cash say 15 on a 25.00 Al Kaline or so, i have done many times in 10 years here. who hasn t? at times i will take an even sell; then use that cash to buy what i want to sell that moves. I recall, when silver was 7 an oz, gold was 275, 25 years ago, and we had two big gold mines closed in NV here. They remain closed! at 300 was no profits. its about supply and demand. Its a buyer and seller beware world.
oldwestgold
·7 months agoExcellent and thoughtful post. Difficult to find when people are so blinded by greed.
kensgiftshop
·7 months agoOne I checked, you accept 30 day returns, so buyer can return for any/no reason.
jdbelt1960
·7 months agoIf it is a silver coin such as an old silver dollar it may be worth much more to a true collector. The last circulated silvers was the JFK half dollar although I know they made Liberty and Flying Eagle but not readily circulated. I have plenty of extra silver coins. I have a lot of those. Maybe I need to sell some by the pound. Even $50 dollars an ounce would be great. If $50 X16oz = $530. Great thought. I may look into that to clear my excess coins. The individual coins to a collector is worth a small amount but maybe I can make a lot from a scrapper.
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoI just posted about this an hour ago (it hasn't happened yet, but I'm anticipating it might... but fortunately the really big sales don't concern me as much as the smaller sales for 2-3 coins).
Unfortunately there's nothing you can do. If you allow returns, they have time to return it in your return policy, if you don't allow returns they can simply lie creating a flaw in the item as a reason to return it at your expense.
C.
gurlcat
·7 months ago@sin-n-dex Why do you say that? Wouldn't the bigger buyers be more likely to want to get their (bigger) investment back?
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoThey would if they were investing. I believe the bigger buyers were collecting the coins (and what they picked had similar numismatic value to the silver value, so even though silver has fallen their coins remain priced the same). Also two of them had the option to cancel on Friday because I hadn't shipped yet, one told me to ship anyway the other just didn't cancel (but knew I'd be shipping Monday). I figured in three days if he didn't cancel when he could he probably won't cancel when he receives it.
C.
tarotfindsandmore
·7 months agoThis isn't the trading floor. Take the return, refund the buyer, and relist when the time is right. The plunge isn't the end. There's plenty of reason to be optimistic about a rebound.
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/02/02/gold-silver-sell-off-historic-plunge-.html
In the meantime, buy the dip!
caldreamer
·7 months agoDid you have "no returns" on this item? If yes, you can deny customer "buyer's remorse" return. However, customer still have 6-months to contact "credit card company" and try and reverse payment. If this happens, customer gets to keep both your money and your coin.
You cannot refund "lower value of silver" based on return date. EBAY Automated Return System will not allow that.
bonanza125
·7 months ago"One thought I had is to refund whatever the value of the silver is on the day it's returned?"
Ebay gives buyers 30 day moneyback guarantee. If you do not agree with the return policy do not list the item.
"Another thought is to contact customer service and explain what the buyer is doing but I don't have any faith in the Filipino support person I will have to talk to."
Let me saving you a lot of time customer service will say whatever to get you off the phone. You do not need to talk to customer service for this issue. Your buyer has rights. They are exercising those rights by filing a case for return. Now that you know the policy it is best to either agree to the policy or sell locally As-Is.
duffy4444
·7 months agoIf the buyer's reason for the return is "ordered by mistake" and is within his return window, this is a remorse return and has nothing to do with an error on your part or damage in transit, not received, etc. As I understand it, you do not have to refund your original shipping costs on a remorse return.
But after you receive it back, you still have to refund the buyer's purchase price regardless, due to the MBG, unless you have a no returns policy and it is a remorse return.
It is not a precious metals market investment transaction - it's a simple tangible goods transaction.
Cheers,
Duffy
sin-n-dex
·7 months agoThe OP's issue is he sold an item for a certain price a week ago, and now that he's receiving the item back it's not worth what he sold it for anymore. That would be like selling a MIB action figure and having the buyer take it out of the packaging and then returning it (although it's not the same situation but for financial logical that's basically what happened, you get your item back and can never sell it again for what it originally sold for).
I've been waiting for a post on the silver drop, but no one posted, so I did one earlier tonight.
C.
jdbelt1960
·7 months agoIt is not EBAY's fault. I briefly tried to add jewelry to my inventory but stopped for the same reason. These scrappers have made it impossible to sell precious metals whether coins or jewelry.