Buyer returned an item claiming it was broken, but it was received back to me fully functional

[jkenny1209]

A buyer returned a camera I sold, saying it did not power on, even after charging the battery. They made the return claim within about 3 hours of it being delivered per the tracking info. Since it was a "defective" return, it was auto approved and I had to purchase the return label for them. When I received it back, there was nothing wrong with it, so I am relisting it after fully testing it again, but now I'm stuck having lost both the shipping to them, and the return shipping, despite the buyer seeming to either have not known how to use it, or abusing the return system. Ebay support didn't reply to me when I brought this up, and the seller was non-communicative during the return process, so I had to buy the label before the return period ended.

Is there any way I can get my shipping cost back since it was seemingly an abuse of the system? Is this just normal and accepted that sellers will lose shipping cost whenever the buyer claims it's broken even though it's not?

[this*old*attic]

Did you simply reach out to general customer support, or did you file a specific report against the buyer?

You are supposed to do the latter; there should be a drop down link if you go to your sold list and go to that transaction.

[this*old*attic]

If you push, there’s a good chance of a courtesy refund for you and the buyer goes on record with EBay.

[mam98031]

Unfortunately in the Ebay system there is relatively no help for you on this matter.  The best thing for you to do is refund the buyer and try to resell the item.  After you have refunded the buyer, make sure you report the buyer for abuse of the return system.  That is an important step so Ebay can collect data on buyers that abuse the system and take action as needed.

Do NOT ask Ebay to step in on the return.  That will just result in them forcing the refund, giving you a defect on your selling account and they won't refund your FVFs.  So just process the refund.

No it isn't fair.  And no you can't recover your shipping costs.  But it is how things work currently on this site since they changed to Simplified returns back in October of 2018.

I'm sorry I don't have better news for you.  Believe me I know how frustrating this is.

[inhawaii]

You'll be out the shipping.

Be thankful that you got the item back (instead of a brick).

Be thankful you got the item back in working condition (instead of broken).

Re-list/re-sell it and move on. 

Good luck and be safe!

[ittybitnot]

 Is this just normal and accepted that sellers will lose shipping cost whenever the buyer claims it's broken even though it's not?

Yes.  It is "ebay" normal. 

[be_4101]

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@jkenny1209 wrote:

Buyer returned an item claiming it was broken, but it was received back to me fully functional

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Even though you're a top-rated seller with 30-day returns, you cannot deduct up to 50% from the refund because the item is in the same condition, but eBay might give you $6 for the return shipping.

If a buyer falsely claims an item was “not as described,” we’ll reimburse your return shipping label cost up to $6 per return. You’ll receive the return shipping label credit on your monthly invoice. We’ll also automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

[mam98031]

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@be_4101 wrote:

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@jkenny1209 wrote:

Buyer returned an item claiming it was broken, but it was received back to me fully functional

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Even though you're a top-rated seller with 30-day returns, you cannot deduct up to 50% from the refund because the item is in the same condition, but eBay might give you $6 for the return shipping.

If a buyer falsely claims an item was “not as described,” we’ll reimburse your return shipping label cost up to $6 per return. You’ll receive the return shipping label credit on your monthly invoice. We’ll also automatically remove any negative and neutral feedback, defects, and open cases in service metrics.

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That would depend.  If the camera was in a sealed box or some other packaging that came back in less that perfect condition as it was sent [if it was in perfect condition then], you can do a partial refund.  However the OP is not a TRS seller.

[albany_sellers · Accepted solution]

The whole policy is garbage where they want you to see them as heroes because if you get lucky, you only lose half as much money, and might, maybe get $6 of a $30 shipping cost back on a return that everybody knows is fraudulent.

But that's only for SOME people, if you are not top rated and don't offer 30 day returns, they nobody even offers the illusion of caring that you got ripped off. The reps sure love to talk about the cost of business, but don't hesitate to tell me how even though eBay is a business, it does not apply to them.

Take, take, take, and take some more while giving less and less. That seems to be the mantra.

[jkenny1209]

Thanks all for the responses. Takeaway for me is I've got to accept it, fine by me, my issue rate with buyers personally is very low, rather rare that I have customer returns, so I can accept that as normal losses, but is a bit disappointing to see this is just a common/acceptable issue, easy for buyers to abuse.

[this*old*attic]

Two of us have told you that you can recoup at least the $6 and put your buyer on EBay’s radar.

Did you file the correct form/complaint?

Ebay isn’t perfect (neither is the world, btw), but it doesn’t make sense to complain (or assert this is common, acceptable, they don’t care), yet not use the protections they DO offer.

What do people expect - EBay should fund our businesses rather than simply providing a platform?

Sorry, business DOES entail losses. Ask someone who owns one in the real world.

[mam98031]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

Two of us have told you that you can recoup at least the $6 and put your buyer on EBay’s radar.

Did you file the correct form/complaint?

Ebay isn’t perfect (neither is the world, btw), but it doesn’t make sense to complain (or assert this is common, acceptable, they don’t care), yet not use the protections they DO offer.

What do people expect - EBay should fund our businesses rather than simply providing a platform?

Sorry, business DOES entail losses. Ask someone who owns one in the real world.

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@this*old*attic 

No they can't get the $6 credit.  The OP is not TRS.

[this*old*attic]

Bummer.

Well, radar still least.

[albany_sellers]

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@this*old*attic wrote:

Bummer.

Well, radar still least.

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Yup, after a few dozen more scams, eBay might nicely ask them to please stop scamming, and if they don't stop, they will ask again perhaps.