Need Help! Buyer Claims Item Delivered Wasn't Item Pictured
Item was not expensive... $20 price + $10 Shipping = $30 total
Item received by buyer Jan 2.
Same day buyer sends me message stating, "You sent me a damaged label bottle instead of the one pictured".
Sends me an image of the damage he says the item has.
Image is not the same item that I sent. Buyer says it's not the item in the listing. We are both right.
So within a half hour I message, "Was the box damaged? If so can you please send some images of the damaged box?"
No response and he opened a return case for INAD. Which is his right.
EBAY approved the return and is asking me to send a shipping label.
I never encountered this situation before as a seller.
I have almost 60 sales 100% positive FB.
He has almost 900 purchases 100% positive FB. Leaves positive feedback for many of the sellers he buys from. Yes, also in the last 6 months.
Question: What can I do to mitigate my shipping costs? I would accept the item that we shipped back for a refund of the purchase price.
But I am expecting the fake item that doesn't have any of my fingerprints on it as the return.
Am I quibbling over 30 bucks? Or should I be grateful that my first test case for this "return" is over a $30 item?
Question: Will EBAY require that I pay shipping if it is INAD?
I am positive the buyer is bait-and-switching his damaged item for the nicer one we sent him.
I have blocked this buyer from future purchases from my listings.
Is it worth to "Report This Buyer"?
Thanks in advance for any advice.
buyersellerfinder
OP9 months agoWould you leave feedback for the buyer if I receive a different item back - or no item?
Should I bother to report the buyer for other sellers?
pls-consignments
·9 months agoI for one, do NOT subscribe to the "refund and walk away" method. The last thing sellers need is to inadvertently train buyers to take advantage of sellers who don't want to waste thier time fighting an INAD. A large department store chain here in the midwest tried loosening up their return/refund requirements to compete with Walmart. They are no longer in business.
Also, do not block the buyer ...yet.
Any correspondence from them could be used to plead your case, if shenanigans are employed.
Something similar happened to me last year. Turned out that the buyer had ordered from several sellers around the same time, and one of them sent the wrong item. However, since tracking showed that he had not yet received the item from me, he mistakenly responded to the wrong seller... me.
So, I encourage you to patiently gather all the information you can get before deciding on a preemptive refund.
Therefore, I would double-check tracking and see if it's an innocent mistake before crying "foul", or sending him a refund.
roccotacodad54
·9 months agoOthers have already given you good advice. I'm just curious as to your statement--->
"But I am expecting the fake item that doesn't have any of my fingerprints on it as the return."
Fingerprints? LOL. The police won't even take fingerprints on a stolen car or burglary, unless you have considerable clout as in monetary or political.
Forget about fingerprints unless there's a VERY serious felony involved................................
inhawaii
·9 months agoEbay will (almost) always side with the buyer.
Better to:
*Accept the return and pay for return shipping (if you want the item back).
-or-
*Refund (if you don't want the item back).
caldreamer
·9 months agoIf you give the customer an "immediate refund" you save money on "return shipping (but the customer gets to keep the item). This is all part of the joys on selling online (sometimes you win and sometimes you lose).
cityslickercreations2004
·9 months agoSince the buyer has opened an INAD case, you have 2 courses of action.
Refund the buyer and let them keep the item or issue a return shipping label and refund after the item is returned to you.
It is better that you pre-emptively take action before ebay does. Ebay will refund and allow buyer to keep item. Either way, it will hurt and I am sorry.