Ebay's "seller protection" is **bleep**

[tendingos]

Seller Beware: Yet another very unsatisfied seller here.  Just my 3rd sale on Ebay and like many others I have also learned the hard way any unscrupulous buyer with "buyer's remorse" can falsely claim any item is "defective or not as described" and Ebay will invariably side with the buyer without any kind of due diligence...even on a "no return item," like my listing was.  The Ebay representatives with whom I dealt with had scant knowledge about the product and were unable or unwilling to connect me with somebody with even basic knowledge of the item. (car tires BTW) In no way, do I believe anyone took the time to objectively examine the evidence in my case. Now I'm stuck paying double shipping and a will have negative mark on my reputation, not to mention all the wasted time and aggravation, thanks to a dishonest buyer and Ebay's skewed and slipshod policy of "buyer/seller protection."   

[sam9876]

It doesn't make sense for most sellers to ship car tires.

[emerald40]

A buyer can file SNAD and return an item at any time.  And the seller is responsible for shipping cost.

Ebay is very upfront with that.  This IS their policy and what you agree to when you sell here.

[vintagecraze50]

Sorry for your inconvienience and cost to pay for those tires back. It is frustruating when these things happen. I would suggest that prior to selling anything else that you familiarize yourself with how things work on the website. No retuns here really does not mean that a buyer cannot return an item. It even says so on the listings. You can elect to put no returns on your listing in the hopes that someone may not bother to try to return something but, in general, it is not a good business practice to not accept a return if the customer does not want the item. If you want, you can factor into your prices the risk management of buyers returning things.  Again sorry for your experience, and wish you the best.

[tendingos]

Agreed. I will never do it again. Pick Up Only for the other 2.

[luckythewinner]

@tendingos wrote:

  Ebay's "seller protection" is **bleep**

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The only seller protection you can count on is (a) protection from a INR claim if you provide tracking properly, and (b) protection form having to refund twice if you refund properly the first time. 

In all other cases, you have agreed to abide by whatever decision eBay makes. 

To me, this means that sellers have to carefully evaluate the risks - the cost of item, the cost of shipping, and the potential for fraud - for every item they list. 

I long ago decided to stop selling items that (a) cost more than a dollar or two, and (b) can't ship by media mail or first class. 

[tendingos]

I appreciate your suggestions and advice. I have a lot to learn about Ebay. I'd like to point out, despite the listing being, "No Returns" I would have accepted the return without any debate if the request was made honestly. I'd prefer the buyer to get his money back and be happy. What is not cool is having to pay all shipping costs because the buyer had remorse and made false claims that they were defective and Ebay really not doing anything to investigate the facts. That is bad business.

[tendingos]

I hear you. My days of selling and shipping used tires on Ebay are over. Not worth it for me. Thanks for the reply.

[tendingos]

So true. Sadly, I learned the hard way.

[vintagecraze50]

I understand that you wanted Ebay to be able to evaluate the reason for the return.  This is problematic for Ebay in many cases because they do not have the item in front of them to really evaluate what went wrong. In many cases, what has to happen is the buyer has to have said something in a message to you that Ebay can use as evidence of someone filing a false claim. At times people have won cases here becuase of that. In my experiences here, I have had few false Snads. Many times people tell you anything just to get their returns paid. My motto is, if they do not want it, do not like it, tell me martians came out of the box and scared their kids, they get a refund. If I should catch them in a message saying something that Ebay can use in my defense, that screams scam, then I might present that to Ebay. If not, RETURN FOR REFUND. end.

[myboardid]

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@tendingos wrote:
I appreciate your suggestions and advice. I have a lot to learn about Ebay. I'd like to point out, despite the listing being, "No Returns" I would have accepted the return without any debate if the request was made honestly. I'd prefer the buyer to get his money back and be happy. What is not cool is having to pay all shipping costs because the buyer had remorse and made false claims that they were defective and Ebay really not doing anything to investigate the facts. That is bad business.

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When a buyer opens  a case saying the item is Not As Described, eBay takes the buyer's word for it, since they really cannot tell if the buyer is telling the truth.  The seller doesn't have a choice or the ability to argue the point.  a "No Return" policy only applies to remorse, and only if the buyer admits in the request that the reason is remorse.  I doesn't apply to Not As Described. 

[tendingos]

Thank you for that reply. I'm still LOL from "the martians came out of the box" line. I needed that. The buyer said the tires I sold "were burned on the inside from being run flat". Completely, untrue and unsubstantiated. There were plenty of photos to show the tires were never repaired or "burned." I would have been fine refunding the buyer his "buy it now" money, but getting stuck paying for all the shipping because a dishonest buyer had remorse and made bogus claim makes me feel like I'm the one who got burned and run flat. Live and learn. Again, thanks.

[ittybitnot]

but getting stuck paying for all the shipping because a dishonest buyer had remorse and made bogus claim makes me feel like I'm the one who got burned and run flat

Be sure to let us know if you get YOUR tires back. 

[ymeagainlord]

Yeah. I'm thinking the OP may get get the buyer's old "burned" tyres back instead.

[kaelykat]

Make sure to block this buyer so they can't buy from you ever again.

The more I read these boards the more terrified I am of ever sellilng here. I have a feeling the scammers read these boards too and use them to learn better ways of scamming and getting away with it.