Can Buyer Return items Sold As Is in "Parts or Not Working" Category?
Hi, savvy sellers! I recently for the first time ever listed a camera lens in "Parts or Not Working" Category.
It is a kind of expensive lens. Good Used ones usually sell from $500 and Up. eBay recommended price for this "Not working" one is near $300. I wonder if it could still draw disrupters to buy and then return with lame excuses. It was damaged by a previous return or in a return shipping. I wonder if buyers can still come up with any reason to return an already declared defective one. I'm looking forward to hearing your knowledge and experience.
27 comments
reallynicestamps
·8 months agoYes.
Minimum wage here is 29c a minute.
How many minutes have you spent fussing about this, and is the value of your time higher than the cost of the return shipping label?
dhbookds
·8 months agoValueadded has a comprehensive explanation of the policy:
https://www.valueaddedresource.net/ebay-for-parts-not-working-updates/
christworks
·8 months ago@idyllictiempo Why on earth are you even looking at eBay's suggested price? 😯
idyllictiempo
OP8 months agoWhere on earth should I be looking for a clue of fair price? 🙂 Sold listings? Sold prices are all over the map.
inhawaii
·8 months agoLOL! That'a like asking the car dealer "What should I pay for this car?"
luckythewinner
·8 months agoI wonder if buyers can still come up with any reason to return an already declared defective one.
forgot to mention that the flaw of the lens is repairable and the lens can be refurbished and turn for a profit.
You pay $500 a Canon RF 24-70mm f/2.8 zoom lens worth about $2,500. You know the flaw mentioned in the listing is repairable, and can be refurbished and turned for a profit.
Instead, you receive a broken Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM worth $50.
Do you think you should be able to file a dispute for "not as described"? Or do you think the seller should be off the hook completely and you should lose $500 just because it was listed as "Parts or Not Working"?
On eBay, any buyer can steal any item from any seller by filing a fraudulent dispute. Listing an item as "For Parts or Not Working" does not change that.
slippinjimmy
·8 months agoA perfect example of how little eBay knows about pricing and/or their AI doesn't have a clue.
If a good used one is $500 and a repair might cost $300 what price were you thinking about for yours?
bonanza125
·8 months agoYes they can. Buyers are given 3 days though for "not working for parts" category.
idyllictiempo
OP8 months agoI just went to edit my listing. There is no selection of 3 days for returns in this category. There are only 14 days, 30 and 60 days.
Also once seller sent out offers to watchers, the listings can not even be edited. Often I had to just end the listing and start over.
Not sure these arm-twisting ways of getting sale are that effective?
bonanza125
·8 months ago"There is no selection of 3 days for returns in this category."
It's in the policy and at the time they return the item.
"Also once seller sent out offers to watchers, the listings can not even be edited. Often I had to just end the listing and start over. "
That would be correct. Once a seller sends an offer you can't edit. You must end the listing. Ebay does this so seller can't change the terms. Remember an offer is considered a contract which you are asking the buyer to agree to. You can't change terms of a contract once presented to a buyer.
idyllictiempo
OP8 months agoI actually meant for sellers to retract the offers sent to watchers. Not edit the listing. Once the offers are retracted then we can edit.
jonathanbrightlight
·8 months agoThere is no method for a seller to retract offers sent to buyers. Buyers can retract offers sent to sellers in some cases, but sellers have no way to retract offers sent to buyers.
kibble-net
·8 months agoThe new policy shortens the return window on for parts not working items. Buyers can still return them but they must do so quickly.
Advertising something "for parts/not working" may help reduce returns but you can't avoid them completely. A couple of years ago I sold an external HDD for parts, the buyer thought he could fix it and ended up returning it when he was unable to. This is part of what prompted me to not do free shipping anymore - since the shipping cost can still be deducted from the refund.
idyllictiempo
OP8 months agoYes. I started charging shipping nowadays. I don't feel charging shipping slows down any of the sales as long as the total price is reasonable.
jonathanbrightlight
·8 months agoWe ran a test on our listings about a year ago. We listed some with free shipping (and the shipping cost built into the item price) and some with calculated shipping. We had previously always used calculated shipping, so perhaps that affected our methodology, but I made sure around 30% of our items were listing with free shipping during that test.
Then I tracked what percentage of those items sold within 6 months I think. The sold percentage was nearly identical, well within any margin of error.
That was for books and media, which have the advantage of shipping that is not significantly higher for larger packages or longer distances, so the results for some selling clothing or toys or other products would likely be different, but for us, there seemed to be no advantage to free shipping. We now very rarely sell anything with free shipping and our sales are strong.
inhawaii
·8 months agoSomewhere I remember seeing/reading that ebay was going to change this policy and not offer MBG to items sold as broken/parts only. Am I mistaken?
rugerskick
·8 months agoI also remember this change coming out.
ryry-jj
·8 months agoYes they can
kensgiftshop
·8 months agoYes, they could still return it.
I've sold a few items as Parts or Repair and I think the trick is to sell it cheap enough where the buyer gets a good deal and you get a few bucks out of it.
idyllictiempo
OP8 months ago" I think the trick is to sell it cheap enough where the buyer gets a good deal and you get a few bucks out of it."
I agree with you. However, $200 or $300 is still not cheap if someone only wants to pay $50.
kensgiftshop
·8 months ago$50 might have been worth it if it's going to cost $300 to fix it.
bashort
·8 months agoand put "damaged" or Broken" or whatever in the title, condition notes, pictured and description. I know that most buyers never read the description, they just look at the main picture and read the title.
and I would never use the word "untested" , people are generally optimistic, they see "untested" and subconsciously they think it probably works.
idyllictiempo
OP8 months agoI did put the word "Defective" in the title. Yes, most buyers may never read the description but disrupters may read every word.
cityslickercreations2004
·8 months agoOoops, sorry. A buyer can return almost any item for any reason. The exception is "buyer's remorse." Many buyers just file a NID (not as described) case to get a refund and free return shipping.
idyllictiempo
OP8 months agoI forgot to mention that the flaw of the lens is repairable and the lens can be refurbished and turn for a profit.
cityslickercreations2004
·8 months ago"I forgot to mention that the flaw of the lens is repairable and the lens can be refurbished and turn for a profit."
Rather than sell as a non-working part, why not just repair it and sell for more money?
idyllictiempo
OP8 months agoIt requires opening up the lens and special skills to fix it. It costs about $300 to fix it. It's not worth it. And I don't have that kind of skill.