New media opened; buyer wants to return

[rshfs]

Can someone point me to ebay policy regarding partial refunds/restocking fees?

My situation is this:  Buyer bought a BLU-RAY, opened it and can't get it to play IN HER DVD PLAYER.

She wants to know what I think, if it's defective, etc.  It's a rare, out-of-print disc, btw.

I need to inform her that the item is no longer new, so she can return it but it would be at her cost and I am entitled to charge a restocking fee, but I don't know what that amount is.

Can someone point me to the ebay policy page on this type of situation?  I can not for the life of me find the info I need to respond to this buyer.

Thanks!!!

[asset_liquidators]

Well, one thing we know for sure. It will have just as much of a chance playing on that as it will a DVD player. 😀

[rshfs]

thanks, but I am sure ebay will make it right.

the buyer went for NOT AS DESCRIBED, and the return was auto-authorized.

I will ask ebay to step in once I get it back, if she returns it.  Already informed her I would withhold 50% for the item...as far as I can tell, that's my option when an item is returned in different condition.  However, she also is violating the Return Reason policy, so it may not be an option for me to withhold anything.  So much conflicting info all over the place here.

In any event, she clearly states in her communications that she can't get the blu-ray to play in her DVD player.  ebay is much better to it's sellers than Amazon, so i am not concerned.  I am sure they will fund the 50% if they won't allow me to withhold it from the buyer.  If not, a complaint with the BBB has worked before.

She paid $31.99 for a OOP Limited Edition Blu-ray that sells for $11 used.  Plus it was a charity auction.

[fab_finds4u]

Do you realize because she chose not as described that you will be forced to provide a return label and you cannot  deduct anything from the refund?

You said eBay will make it right but how they make it right is if you win an appeal and eBay agrees it should have been a remorse return at the most they will credit you with the return label cost.

[rshfs]

yes, but there are remedies for what this abusive buyer is doing (false not as described claim, etc., against amazon policy.  the evidence of her stupidity is clear in her initial message to me.)

i pay enough in fees....ebay will do the right thing.  in fact I think their policy pretty much states i will be fine.

[stainlessenginecovers]

This is ebay, not amazon

[monster-deals]

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@lightlily_arts wrote:

I hope you were just trying to be funny as BluRay DVDs can't be played on any other media format machines.

If the BluRay doesn't play then it falls under Item Not as Described.

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There is no such thing as a BluRay DVD.

[rshfs]

just a quick update:

I was able to withhold 50% of the purchase price, as it did indeed arrive in a different condition than sent.

However there seems to be no remedy to recoup the return shipping label cost, despite the obvious buyer-faulted return reason.

[monster-deals]

I believe you can call that in...not sure what the process is. I've have a few return label credits but they were done automatically without me even knowing until I got that monthly protections statement message.

[lacemaker3]

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@rshfs wrote:

just a quick update:

I was able to withhold 50% of the purchase price, as it did indeed arrive in a different condition than sent.

However there seems to be no remedy to recoup the return shipping label cost, despite the obvious buyer-faulted return reason.

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@rshfs, that is correct. You can't "recoup" the cost of return shipping. eBay doesn't try to judge who was right and who was wrong; they have no way to evaluate a he-said she-said situation. They decide the case based on the reason chosen for the return, and they won't change that no matter what is posted in messages.

If you deducted 50%, then you abused the process. The buyer will probably l report it to eBay, and eBay will refund the rest of the money. They won't come after you for the balance, but now you will have a note on your seller account that you abused the partial-refund process and withheld more than was reasonable for an item being returned with the factory seal opened.

Unless the BluRay disc has been damaged, then just opening the seal only qualifies for a 5% - 10% deduction on the refund amount.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handle-return-request-seller?id=4115#sect...

[rshfs]

seller protection policy contradicts that, so I abused no policies.

Perhaps because I am a top-rated seller:

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Up to 50% refund deduction for decreased value on used or damaged returns

When you issue a refund for an item that was returned after it was used or damaged by a buyer, and you have a track record of delivering on your service promise, we’ll give you the ability to protect yourself by deducting up to 50% of the refund to recover the decreased value of the item. If there are any issues with buyers that may negatively impact you, we’ll take care of them by removing any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

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In this case, regarding shipping, it is very easy for ebay to see the buyer made a mistake and this was a buyer-faulted return.  Will see what happens with that...reported the buyer as required for the reimbursement.