Buyer is asking for partial refund or return for holiday decoration

[marisicairo-6]

I sold a brand new in box inflatable christmas decoration back in November. The buyer sent me an offer for $30 off the listing price and apologized but explained that money was tight. I felt bad but $30 was too much so I countered with $20 off and they accepted. 

Now they messaged saying that the item stopped working after heavy rain on Dec 23. They went on about how they always decorate for the holidays and how they usually get a lot of use out of them, but that wasn’t the case for the item I sold to them. Anyway, what seems suspicious to me is that they also said they bought another decoration to “finish [the] holiday.” Sorry but buying another inflatable decoration 2 days before Christmas after claiming money was tight seems very odd to me. 

What would you do in this situation?

[lakefor94]

Sounds like the purchase is past the eBay Money Back Guarantee protection. They have 30 days from the delivery date to open a return with MBG protection.

If past the 30 days from delivery date, they can still open a return though you can deny the return.

Have they already left feedback? If not, they can leave feedback for up to 60 days.

Money could still be tight and they are trying to garner some......  

[marisicairo-6]

So I am not obligated to accept their return? They have not left feedback.

[lakefor94]

If they open a return past 30 days from the delivery date, the return case itself should have the option to decline the return.  

Have they opened a return case? What was the exact delivery date?

I would be skeptical of this story. The buyer could have left the decoration out in a storm and it was damaged. Too many things can happen to outside inflatables.  

[marisicairo-6]

No they haven’t opened a case, they just messaged me. It was delivered on November 30th. I’m very skeptical and thought about just ignoring their message but maybe that would just make the situation worse. 

[lakefor94]

Hard to say.

I do free returns for any reason and have no issue accepting returns within 30 days of delivery.  I do deny most that are over 30 days unless it was expensive and I know I could resell it. A buyer can also do a chargeback on their credit card if they don't get a refund thru eBay.

But I am not selling inflatable decorations that can be easily damaged by bad weather. 

Good luck with whatever you decide as you are in the driver's seat on this one.

[inhawaii]

If you want the item back...

Accept the return.

Pay for and provide a return shipping label.+-

When you get the item back, refund the buyer.

If you don't want the item back...

Refund the buyer and let them keep the item.

If you can both agree on a partial refund if he keeps the item, that's also an option.

[youn2240]

or deny the return because it's outside of 30 days and block them for being weird acting like it's the sellers fault they left it out in the rain. 

[lakefor94]

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@youn2240 wrote:

or deny the return because it's outside of 30 days and block them for being weird acting like it's the sellers fault they left it out in the rain. 

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I was thinking it could have been found across the street in the neighbor's bushes...  who knows??

[marisicairo-6]

They said the lights would turn on but it wouldn’t inflate anymore after the storm hit. I’m skeptical of their story so I looked up the weather in the town on the shipping label. Maybe that’s weird of me to do but from what I saw there was no heavy rain around the day they claim it stopped working. Granted this isn’t proof they’re lying but it just adds to my skepticism. 

[pastimpressions]

As an aside, 

When it comes to retail often no good deed goes unpunished.

Try to escape this. It's encoded in the Esoteric Law.

Go ALL THE WAY either one way or the other or you WILL be unhappy.

Either go all the way and further refund everything to this person that you knew instinctively from the outset was going to be needy (now to the point of extreme)

In the future either resolve to do the same again and again OR don't ever again do a deep discount because you feel sorry for a tale of woe.

You have a business, do what you like......but like what you do. It's a business & not a charity.

Discount all you want if it makes business sense to do so.

Mutual benefit betwixt seller & buyer is ideal. Beautiful Harmony!

I urge you to not discount out of a sense of pity. You will always regret it. Always.

It has a way of biting you in the tush.

Please consider this for the next time.

Best of Luck with shop & sales.

[inhawaii]

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@youn2240 wrote:

or deny the return because it's outside of 30 days and block them for being weird acting like it's the sellers fault they left it out in the rain. 

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I wasn't aware of the the timeline but that sounds like a good plan too. 

[marisicairo-6]

Yeah, I think I learned my lesson. Thank you

[pastimpressions]

@marisicairo-6  said:

"Yeah, I think I learned my lesson. Thank you"

You are way ahead of me then.

It took me years to learn it.

A lot of years.😢

[reallynicestamps]

The buyer is past the 30 days after delivery for a Claim?

Politely tell him so.

If there had been a problem on Dec 23, he could have opened a Claim then.

Now, he can still make a chargeback on his credit card, but eBay will try to back you on that. They don't like refunding your fees nor the original payment

Do NOT mention chargebacks to the whiny buyer.

The timing is suspicious.

It's even past Orthodox Christmas.

apologized but explained that money was tight. I felt bad but $30 was too much so I countered

If money is tight, why buy expensive outdoor decorations at all?
Buy food. Or warm socks. Or the toy the kid really really wants.

But a Christmas inflatable?
Behind every sob story is a scam.

I said what I said.