Buyer Returned a Damaged Item

[central_pa_sales]

OK - Not a big deal, but someone bought a bottle of cologne from me - never opened, over-wrapped.  He didn't like it, and returned it to me.  E-bay automatically approved the return, but when it was returned the package had been opened and a small amount of cologne had been removed.

I see e-bay's policy is for me to issue a partial refund, but I have no use for the cologne.  I cannot resell it as it has been opened and I have absolutely no use for men's cologne.  It is basically ruined.  I made very little on it to begin with and I am out the original purchase price.

Now what?  Looks like I will be out my original purchase price, plus the $17.95 I have to return.  Doesn't seem fair.

[jason_incognito]

It comes down to the cost of doing business. 

Hopefully you sell enough to absorb the loss and still make some money.

[jason_incognito]

Hit reply too fast.

Cologne and perfumes degrade pretty quickly. They only hold the patented scent for so long before they change. If it had been an older bottle, it is entirely possilble the scent went bad.

[adkhighker]

That's definitely a tough one. The only way you'd be able to get your money back on it would be to hang onto it for 30 or 40 years and then sell it as a vintage cologne bottle.  Seriously, though, I'm sorry that happened to you. The buyer should have kept it, but knowing that ebay has the buyer's back no matter what, the buyer took advantage and you got the wrong end of the deal.

Ebay is quickly becoming a magnet for buyers who have zero or little empathy for anyone but themselves because they know they can work the system in their favor no matter what. Since ebay doesn't have the seller's back, the best you can probably hope for is some karma. 

[no_zero369]

It stinks when this kind of thing happens.  Sorry you bumped into a bad buyer.

I use to get upset about these kinds of situations - use to burn me up.  Then through the kindness of those on these boards, I learned about how to handle these situations when the occurred.  So being prepared helped take away a bunch of the stress. Also, I set up a "cookie jar" fund where I put a portion of each sale aside to "pay for" or offset these situations when they happen.  For me being prepared and having funds in place, sure took away the stress.  It stinks getting bad buyers or those working the system, but it is all part of retail sales, although fortunately a small part.

So hopefully one can figure out something similar to help their selling.  Good luck!

[clearsphere]

Liquid items like perfume/oils do leak even when wrapped well and are not worth selling. During shipment, packages wind up sideways and upside down for long periods of time. I received a bottle of aloe vera spray recently that opened during shipment, completely leaked out and then everything dried before arriving. Ended up with an empty bottle with partially unscrewed lid.

[chrispycritter007]

Did you ship it priority mail? Perfumes and colognes need to go ground per USPS. They can leak at altitude and can be considered hazardous materials in some cases.

[mypostingid15]

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@central_pa_sales wrote:

OK - Not a big deal, but someone bought a bottle of cologne from me - never opened, over-wrapped.  He didn't like it, and returned it to me.  E-bay automatically approved the return, but when it was returned the package had been opened and a small amount of cologne had been removed.

I see e-bay's policy is for me to issue a partial refund, but I have no use for the cologne.  I cannot resell it as it has been opened and I have absolutely no use for men's cologne.  It is basically ruined.  I made very little on it to begin with and I am out the original purchase price.

Now what?  Looks like I will be out my original purchase price, plus the $17.95 I have to return.  Doesn't seem fair.

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Just don't accept returns on items like this. I do it on items I can't resell once opened.