Buyer requests return. Claims damaged during shipping
I offered up a limited edition numbered porcelain doll. The winning bidder was not making payment nor responding to a sent invoice. After filing a non paying bidder claim the person paid on the last day.
The buyer is received the item 3 1/2 weeks ago and is now just a few days shy of the 30 day window claiming the item was received broken.
Here is the thing, The picture provided shows that the tag was removed from the doll and the clothing has been removed and poorly put back on the doll. Being porcelain it would have been discovered upon opening the box where the item was well secured. No reason to remove from the package!
Highly suspect that that they dropped the doll or it was broken while removing the clothing.
I promptly contacted eBay support and I was told a dozen time that "eBay has your back" without answering my concerns.
Looking into what the rules are on ebay can be an exercise in frustration! What I did find is that I basically have no choice , that ebay protects the buyer and the seller is expected to absorb a loss.
Not happy and not sleeping over this I tried contacting ebay again and they had no agent available and used the email option. I explained my concerns in detail and the response was to the effect of "I see you are asking about buyer requests a return on an item damaged in shipping"
Really? do they not read what was written?
I copied and pasted my original email into the reply and I got a very different reply then the first two representatives. Here is some experts,
When the buyer creates a return stating that the item arrived damaged per return reason chosen, sellers are required to facilitate the return under the eBay 30 days Money Back Guarantee. This guarantee is in keeping with industry standards and helps us, and you, to stay competitive.
So here I am required to facilitate a return, but they are somehow helping me stay competitive? I am not a reseller, I am selling my collectibles. This loss is financially devastating to me.
We are also preventing them in filing external disputes directly from their funding source because the money might be reversed back to their account without the need to return the item
This makes no sense, what are external disputes and it was my funds they are prevented to being used, hence, I cannot even print a shipping label. So I have to refund them and they get to keep the item?
We do realize that there are some buyers who might try to abuse this process and when buyers are found to be abusing our process, we can take action on their accounts which can be as severe as suspension. If you feel that is the case with this particular buyer, you can report them using the “Report A Member” link on your eBay account.
Well in my short time selling I am finding there are way too many non paying bidders. In trying to block non paying bidders it seems that 5 or 6 non paying bids a year is OK and does nothing to dissuade a person to committing to buy and then not following through.
So how does reporting this buyer recover my loss? The way eBay has this set up is if a buyer has buyers remorse all you have to do is break the item and then they are covered.
The seller is out they item, they funds, and shipping?
Does ebay "have my back?"
Can someone please explain it in layman's terms and let me know if I am missing something that protects the seller.
rpmser34
·3 years agoI was shown a picture from my buyer of a antique plate they bought and claimed it was damaged in shipping 10 days later? So, if an item shows up 'as powder' after you pay for it do you wait 10 days? Hell no, you'd report that immeadiately, super scam. I'm going to close my connected bank account to keep this from being my problem, I have taken out extra insurance on this item, they can file the claim with FedEx. Signed a former 100% positive seller