Gator08041971 • Volunteer Community Mentor 2024
a BUYER should NOT be able to open a RETURN request PERIOD., if an item is listed as "FOR PARTS NOT WORKING" "NO RETURNS"
if you're buying an item as "FOR PARTS NOT WORKING" you're taking a risk that yeah these items might /probably do have some sort of issue ...
there is nothing else i could have done to make this situation any better...
i ended up contacting ebay and got them involved and they were going to FORCE me to return their money even though it was as accurate as i possibly could make it...
eventually the ebay employee ended up "EXTENDING A ONE TIME COURTESY" to me and made it sound like she was doing me a favor... ofc i played along with what they said as it was being turned in my favor however this shouldn't be considered a COURTESY this should be just the right thing to do in a situation where oh NOOO... IM GONNA SAY EBAY BAD WORDS.....
THE BUYER IS WRONG!
honestly calling it a ONE TIME COURTESY in this situation just kind of ticked me off as again there was nothing i could possibly have done to change the outcome every thing was listed as accurately as possible!
As a computer shop owner and seller of PC parts myself, I have a procedure for these occasional transactions.
Any item I list with AS-IS and PARTS ONLY, I use the tag of NO RETURNS ARE OFFERED. Because I know going in that any buyer can return anything if they choose to.
However.
In the case of items like these, I make sure the item is returned, regardless of its purchase price. I force the item to be returned at the buyer expense prior to refunding. This discourages some scam attempts, and lowers the amount of buyers that may risk processing a return.
If they do return it, I examine the item and provide a refund as needed. But its been the best way to handle these in my experience.
Buyers unfortunately quite often do NOT read the description. You are lucky if they look at more than the first photo and the price tag.
And when they buy from a phone its even worse, as the description has to be CLICKED/TAPPED to even read it.
So while you might have it listed with every disclaimer, that just doesn't mean anything. Here is an excerpt from one of my recent AS-IS listings:
This listing is AS-IS and NO RETURNS ARE OFFERED.
Please review the photos included for condition and details of the item!
Return Policy:
Unless otherwise stated in the main description above, item(s) will have a 30 day return period. For any item being sold AS-IS and no returns offered, there is a return option for the item if the item is not as described in the above listing. These return options will require the return of the item. In most cases, a return label can be requested or may be provided.
Please note that all serial numbers or identifiers on an item are recorded and sent through the eBay messaging system. All purchases are photographed during packaging and a copy is sent to the buyer directly through the eBay messaging system prior to the package being handed to a shipping carrier.
Granted, this is in the description where most buyers probably won't read. I have taken to including a note with the main points of the item listed in the photo of the item, so if they don't read any other notes, they will see the critical points regarding the item:
Anyway. Not much else can be done. You are at the mercy of the buyer. You can do your best to lessen the chance of returns, but ultimately you cannot prevent them from happening.
I had one last night myself, for something trivial. But it was again due to a confusion about what they were buying, based on a photo that gave the wrong impression. Despite everything else being clear, or so I thought. But it was a less than 10 dollar purchase, not over a 100 like your case. So I get why it stings when this happens.
Good luck.
