Buying and returning a high end item and the customer still wins.
I sold a high end item to a buyer earlier this month. They sent me an offer and I was hesitant to accept so I didn't. They messaged saying they'll add an additional $100 and I accepted.
I sent the item out promptly...which also required Signature Confirmation...and once received the buyer requested a return in less than 24 hours. The buyer faigned having issues...like their car needing a catalytic converter...maybe but highly doubtful.
Fast Forward to yesterday when I receive the item back and it has clearly been tampered with. The item in question was sent off by me to be PSA/DNA certified and encapsulated (sealed) in a plastic holder. Well the sides had been tampered with and the item on the inside is now loose and freely moves. I asked the buyer and of course they went into a defensive mode and even ACCUSED me of possibly messing with it. Absurd as I wanted the item back to list again right away.
Anyway I asked eBay to step in...which more or less helped but didn't. The buyer messaged me about 10 different times all with explanations...which was more of excuses than anything...about how they didn't do anything to the item. The buyer even went as far as saying the slab that the item was in is a "horrible" one...yet they still bought it if this is what they felt/knew prior to the purchase.
I can't list the item again as is until I get it encapsulated again. I refunded them up to the 50% I was allotted due to the Seller Protection but here's the kicker..the buyer PROTESTED this and the case was opened and closed in no time...the buyer WON the outcome...so they got a full refund. Now I didn't have to pay the additional money from the decision but by this point it's not about the money but how some buyers can use/abuse the system and seem to unfairly get away with it. I reported the buyer as well due to some of the messages being over the top. It's embarrassing and more so just a disappointment that this buyer has cauased chaos and is now allowed to continue on the platform.
Who buys an item for $1,800...gets it....returns it instantly...and more so returned not as it once was? I can't leave negative feedback or a heads up about this particular buyer. I can only block and move on.
Overall thankful for this platform but there's just times where the situation with all the information and facts are NOT in the buyer's favor and yet they still "win".
Rant over and I suppose moving on.
chariot_badges
·1 year ago"When ya got a hunch - bet a bunch."
Advice my dad gave me when I was a mere slip of a lad.
His words sometime echo in my head, and it is advice that has helped many times.
There's a book out called, "The Gift of Fear". Forget the author, it's available used and cheap. It's not that good of a book, one of those 70s self-help tomes. But the first three chapters are worth reading.
The author explains how we have a sixth sense that is pretty accurate. He gives a couple of examples of people who have been preyed upon by robbers and rapists. How the victim had clues ... and later admitted to 'bad feelings' before things got bad, and they didn't act on them.
When walking down a dark street, when your inner voice says "Run!" you might want to do just that.
I am a hunter. I have hunted many critters.
More than once I have watched a deer, grazing peacefully. I'm using a spotting scope from some distance, but still within range of my rifle. If I stare too long, they 'feel' it. I've seen a buck start looking around, sniffing the air, stand up and look harder ... they get nervous. And, if I keep doing it ... most of the time they'll find cover, or just flat out run.
Does that buck know why he's nervous? Nope. He can't see me, I'm upwind so he can't smell me. He doesn't know what is wrong ... but he feels that something is wrong.
He doesn't' care either. He doesn't care if his buck friends laugh at him for being a chicken/deer ...
Got a 'buyer' that is making you itchy? There's a reason. Your subconscious has picked up on something ... hinky.
Got a hunch? Bet a bunch. You are probably right.
pickapaper
·1 year ago@souphippie wrote: "I asked the buyer and of course they went into a defensive mode and even ACCUSED me of possibly messing with it."
I have yet to hear of a buyer who actually admits to tampering with or damaging or breaking an item when they want to return it. If confronted, they will always deny that they did anything to it or say it was that way when they received it. You will never get a buyer that says, "yes, I damaged it but I want to return it for a full refund anyway".
souphippie
OP1 year agoYes, certainly so but it's more the point of it all and to lay a foundation of factual information that eBay could have used because one thing they'd most likely have asked me first was, "Did you ask the buyer?" It's all about checking the boxes.
A liar will never lie. A cheater never cheats.
doc-holmes
·1 year agoSurely you can have it reslabbed for far less than the $900 you kept from the refund, and then you can go ahead and sell it again. As frustrating an experience as this was, it looks like you made out pretty well financially.
souphippie
OP1 year agoInteresting take here. So you think I banked $900 on the return? Hardly. eBay still takes their cut AND I also paid for the return shipping label...oh and if I send it back out then I also will pay for the shipping again to reslab it....and then the actual slabbing...and probably they'll want me to pay for the return shipping too.
This is NOT how I want to sell ever. The hassle of lousy buyers isn't worth whatever cut I get from someone wanting to play around and be a problem.
chevymontecarlo88
·1 year agoThis is a tough pill to swallow and hopefully you can get it re-slabbed and sell it again.
Selling high value items online (any platform including your own) can result in a loss.
-Good luck
luckythewinner
·1 year agothere's just times where the situation with all the information and facts are NOT in the buyer's favor and yet they still "win".
From eBay's perspective there are no "facts" - everything is just "he said, she said".
Just curious - how did you sell a PSA graded card for $1800 without it going through eBay authentication?
souphippie
OP1 year agoHello.
The item has already been authenticated from PSA/DNA with an official letter and a number that anyone can look up for more details. eBay doesn't have to authenticate it since it already has the necessary credentials. It's like graded/slabbed comic books.
I've used eBay authentification services before and it's when the item is raw and has no pre-existing information tied to the item. For example, shoes.
Hope this is helpful and you're right it's more so "he said, she said" and it's a real bummer when it's handled this way but it's not my first time and won't be my last time. Thanks for the reply and question.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year ago@souphippie
Although this doesn't make you whole, your 30-day free return policy allows you to retain up to 50% for an item that wasn't returned in its original condition.
adamcartwright
·1 year ago@albertabrightalberta @doc-holmes
The post says the buyer protested the partial refund, then eBay fully refunded the buyer.
So I guess that "seller protection" if iffy, at best.
souphippie
OP1 year agoThe Seller Protection was that I could refund 50% of the cost to the buyer and I keep the other half. I did that and then the buyer protested and filed a claim where eBay then refunded them the other half at their expense and not mine. So really it also protected the buyer. In the end this buyer is allowed to continue their bad habits...for now as I know eBay keeps track of these kinds of situations but the evidence on my end was clear enough to have already taken more serious action.
The money I kept isn't and wasn't worth the hassle I've had of dealing with the whole situation. People want me to basically take the money and run but the point is lost that the buyer should have never been able to get away with this kind of return in the first place.
slati_2013
·1 year agoHmmmm. I am afraid it will get worse. Odds are good you won't get back what you sent. Or do you have it back ? If you do, you are among the lucky few. Be happy for that. For such expensive items check the buyers feedback and make sure you are dealing with a collector who has great feedback. Your gut was right the first time.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoDid you read the OP's message? They have received the item but it's been tampered with to a great degree.
slati_2013
·1 year agoYes, I did. More than once. I missed that somehow, how I can't explain. If the packaging was tampered with, I would make sure what I got back was what I sent.
jerseyboymusic
·1 year ago@souphippie
You're right.. there are people out there who abuse the system. I feel like, especially since the pandemic, people seem more self-entitled than ever before. It's not just Ebay.
Driving around, it seems STOP signs are just suggestions, these days, to some folks. Same with distracted driving laws. It all spills over into buying online, I feel. No rules, just get what you want without regard to others., without conscience.
As far as selling... ALWAYS listen to those red flags!
souphippie
OP1 year agoEntitlement is rampant. At least, for now, these situations are the minority when it comes to the overall scope of things...but I have seen a shift in it happening more frequently the last few years.
rugerskick
·1 year agoSorry it happened, scammers are everywhere here. Glad you could recover some money as opposed to none.
I do think there is something important you mention, to consider. And its a serious thing.
That thing is, you had a gut feeling something was off about this buyer. You had some kind of odd feeling there was something not right about this. You have to trust your gut in these cases, even if it means losing a sale. Its not about the benefit of the doubt, or giving someome a chance, its your business, its potentially money they take out of you and your family's mouths.
You get a strange, negative feeling about a buyer, you don't do business wifh them, and you block them. Always go with your gut. The feelings you get are there for a reason.