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How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

I have been selling phones through craigslist for a few years and decided to become more active on Ebay. I am beginning to think I should end selling on ebay because the seller protection sucks against lying buyers.


How long does a buyer have to file a dispute for a phone after receiving it? Is it really 45 days from what i have been reading???!!!!! Anything could go wrong with technology after a few days of being purchased. "knock on wood" Now I am scared to list anything here again. Ebay has been making $800 a month in fees from me, it might not seem much to some but I have had returns that absolutely had no issues and buyers just wanted a refund.



Please tell me 45 days is wrong. More like 7 days to file a claim would be perfect this is ridiculous.


Another question that I have is, How can you file a claim for a phone that goes missing from the postal office. I always ship everything with insurance and signature confirmation but what do they require the seller to confirm the price of the phone? Everything that I buy is straight off good ol craigslist and i do not get any receipts for anything obviously.

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

2 weeks should be good enough.
Message 181 of 205
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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

I am beginning to think I should end selling on ebay because the seller protection sucks against lying buyers.

As compared to CL's NON EXISTANT seller protection?

 

At the end of the day you get the item or the money.  You can make refunds dependent on getting the item back.  No return, no refund.  But honestly while you think it unreasonable, even second hand electronics should last a month after purchase.  If you worry that the item is so iffy or fragile, then maybe best not to list it for sale.

 

If the buyer returns it and it still works, just refund and resell it.  Yes you are going to run into buyers who dont read the listing or buy the wrong item or change their minds.  But that is why folks shop here rather than CL.  Your odds are much better that it will sell and you will get better money here.  You will also get your fees back after you refund so you wont owe Ebay if the sale doesnt go through.

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?


@hopalong63 wrote:

I recently sold a phone as broken,spares or repairs but now the buyer is saying that the phone is barred/blocked and he spent money trying to get it fixed for nothing. He was rude,told me to reply ASAP 3 times today,said he wanted a refund and I'm a fraud And he'll be reporting me to whoever!As you can imagine I was not too impressed to say the least. I have contacted the seller telling him the phone couldn't have been blocked as I bought it from eBay and it worked fine with my sons contract sim until my son dropped it,I then put it on eBay so there's no way it's blocked. I have also checked the IMEI number online and it states what I already know,the phone is unlocked so I haven't a clue what the buyer is on about. Sounds to me he just changed his mind.can i present the evidence i found online of it being unlocked to eBay? Sellers rights are terrible on eBay,why should I reimburse a liar. Also the buyer has had the phone for over 3 weeks now and said he tried to get it fixed so god knows what he's done to it. Please advise what I can do as this is not right


Now see in YOUR case the buyer took the phone in for repairs and the phone is no longer in the same condition you sold it in.  You may have a case for refusing the return.  Sometimes buyers honestly have more trouble adding phones to their account than they planned or understand.  It is easier for them to just return the phone and try something else.  As long as it is in good condition and you get it back, just give the refund and relist the phone if it is still works.

Message 183 of 205
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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

If you get something that is defective or does not work you should have 30 days to return it, end of story.

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

Anonymous
Not applicable

They should really sart displaying how many items or what percentage of items a buyer ends up returning vs. keeping.  Allow sellers to automatically block buyers who fall below a certain percentage.  I wouldn't find it unreasonable at all to require that all buyers bidding on my item keep at least 90% of the items they buy.

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

I sold a Nikon Camera lens 70-300mm last year. I used it for months and it operated flawlessly the whole time. I sold it on eBay and graciously included items that weren't even part of the listing (protective case and quality lens filters).

Five or Six days after receipt, the buyer tells me it is disfunctional but can't explain what the disfunction is. I ask for specifics and he tells me "it doesn's work ".

So I accept the return to protect my feedback. Not only did the buyer steel the accessories, but upon receipt, I tested the lens and  it worked flawlessly. No noise, no scratches, no dust, no fungus, no focus issues, just flawless. 

Then it dawned on me that the initial buyer needed the lens for pictures at an event. That's it. He abused the eBay policy to get a free lens to use for a few days. In the meantime, I paid for shipping both ways through no fault of my own.

I really feel that I am one claim away from giving up on eBay altogether. Between the excessive fees, and the lack of consideration for sellers, it's just not that appealing anymore. 

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

You are not alone on this types of cases, hopefully something will be done someday and they get caught, although it's not likely since the scam involves both EBay and the USPS office, I'm glad I'm not alone on this one, I got scammed with an iPhone and they don't care to enforce the so called Buyer/seller protection guarantee. I just stopped selling on this site
Message 187 of 205
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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

I hope you haven't given up selling your unwanted items on Ebay. Since it is just a Hobby for you and a way of recycling and getting new products why would you stop? I'm sure Ebay and Paypal will get to the bottom of it and do the right thing. There are always people who will lie about an item to get a full refund and there really isn't any thing that can be done about it, luckily it's just a handful of people, from my experience the past few months of selling I have only had one or two customers that I know lied about the product but if you have a money back guarantee, it's just best to give the money back and be done with it, obviously the shipping cost you shouldn't have to pay unless the customer paid extra for shipping, then I would probably give a full refund in that case.  Don't let a few bad apples stop you from doing something that is useful and suits your needs, especially since you don't use Ebay for an income. Just have fun with it and be thankful that you don't have to sell your items to pay bills, although there are some sellers who are making a lot more than 6 figures a year, obviously they work hard and it's a Business for them, not a hobby.

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

I have read alot ont his information but lets look at the buyer information and I have been buying for a long time and never got ripped off untill I brought tv boxes recently and now I have been ripped off several times mostly from US seller. ITis sad to go through the problem of a refund. and it very hard to get help from ebay but I have use ebay for a long time and see no need to stop. but understand when you buy sight unseen this will happen

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

Wrong!  They can file a return with Paypal for up to 6 months!!!

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

Be sure and file the claim with the post office immediately if they blow off the item.They denied every claim I've ever filed saying it was too late even after the local post office kept telling me to wait a little longer.
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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

I'm a seller on eBay and I agree. I think no more than two weeks for a refund. It seems the buyer can say whatever they want and we are forced to give refunds. However, they shouldn't be allowed to keep the item for 45 days before they ask for a refund.
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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

Unfortunately, this is a fairly common thing and one that I am currently dealing with also. I tend to run into the buyers remorse thing from time to time. I also find that it is generally from relatively new ebayers. I'm going to change my profile to not accept purchases from new ebayers and that they must have purchased a number of items or for a certain amount of time before I grant them the privilige of buying from me. Good luck.

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?


@redsun21 wrote:

Wrong!  They can file a return with Paypal for up to 6 months!!!


Very true but Paypal will DEFINITELY make them return the item at least.

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Re: How long does a buyer have to open a case and request a refund, lost items?

And most credit cards will ALSO want some proof you returned the item too.

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