If you're a seller with Ebay, I advise you consider one of two things:
A. Remove 'Return Policies' from all products sold on your store page.
or
B. Leave Ebay.
I believe I've discovered a completely broken authentication system at Ebay, and the company has fundamentally failed in every capacity to fix it. Let me start from the beginning,
On April 27th of this year, I had placed a Pokemon card on sale for $400. I had put a return policy on it in good faith in case anything were to happen to the card. This was my ultimate mistake, and yet at the same time, an incredibly easy system to abuse. A buyer had purchased it for $370 and we had good communication between each other beforehand. After they got the card, I never heard from them again. Until June 3rd, where I was informed that the buyer wanted to refund the transaction fully due to the card not being what was advertised. Side note: I had shown this buyer numerous images prior to buying, and there was seemingly no issue upon seeing the pictures. Obviously upon hearing this request, I was taken by surprise. At no point within the last 29 days did I ever receive a message from this guy saying there were any issues with the card. I also couldn't dispute or counter the refund request since Ebay's return policy automatically goes to the favor of the buyer. Nothing made sense, and I was growing more frustrated by the day. That's when I started noticing odd things.
June 3rd was the day the buyer had requested the refund. When June 4th rolled around, I checked his store page ... and my card was there on his store page. Still up for sale for $475. I immediately found that odd. Why would it still be here despite him demanding this refund? He didn't bring it down until I informed him about it. Him suddenly claiming that it "it didn't sell in time".
I had called Ebay regarding this situation, and every time I called, it was the same story, "You shouldn't have put a return policy on the product.". If you're telling me I shouldn't have put it there, then what's the point of the return policy in the first place? To abuse the little guy? That's the only other way I can see it. On top of that, the company that (I believe) Ebay uses to "authenticate" their cards has a rather infamous track record on the Better Business Bureau. See here for yourself:
https://www.bbb.org/us/fl/sarasota/profile/collectibles/certified-guaranty-company-llc-0653-48000334
1 Star, B- grade, not BBB accredited, and over a hundred complaints on file? This is the company Ebay is using to verify their cards? A company with a history of failing to communicate with their customers, actively being rude to their customers, extremely slow wait times for simple orders to be made, failure to properly grade certain products, and whole bunch more? This is how Ebay is handling authentication?
TL;DR: If you want to buy and resell something expensive, just make sure you buy the product from someone who has a return policy. That way if you aren't successful in selling the product, you can always just request a refund on the last day, and Ebay won't bat an eye.
Do yourselves a favor: if you have something worth a lot, do NOT sell through Ebay. Do NOT expect good will from them. As far as I can tell, they are a malpractice company who have no regard for anyone but themselves.
