eBay

scarletsgems · ‎02-12-2018

On 2/6 I sold an antique ceramic figurine. I underestimated shipping and paid an additional 10.45 (my fault). It was insured and because it sold for $665 I also added signature confirmation. Luckily it arrived safely and intact on 2/10. The buyer then sent me this email:

Hello seller; We received the item yesterday and I have to say I am very disappointed with the figurine. When we purchased this figurine we were assuming we would get the full sized figurine which stands at about 10 inches high 20 inches wide. When we received yours it was a different figurine. We were shocked how small the box was when we received it. You sent us one of Fabris porcelain miniature versions not the full size version. We feel very misled from your photos which used mirrors and close-up photos to make it look like the normal size version. Reading over your advertisement you purposely forgot to put the measurements. Had you put the measurements it would have clearly been obvious that this is a miniature version. The actual people on your figurine are only 4 1/2 inches tall the full size version that people are 8 1/2 inches; tall this is total misrepresentation in your listing. Because we feel misled we are returning it for a full refund. I guarantee you the other interested party also assumed it was the full-size version or they would not have bid so high. So we are starting a return with eBay to get our money back due to misleading listing information and photos.

This buyer is also an ebay seller and clearly knows the key words to use to get her shipping and free shipping to send it back. I did fail to put the measurements in the description (again my fault) but she never asked. This item is not a miniature. It was approximately 14 inches across and 6 inches tall. It weighed over 12 pounds. In one picture you can see my hand so you can get an idea of the size. She is claiming I misled them by having a mirror in the background of 1 of the pics (that because it was in a china cabinet on a shelf for the pic.

I hate to have this delicate item shipped back again because of age and fragility. I will though if she doesn't want it (I had 9 other bidders) it will sell. But now the way she is framing it as "not as described" I will be out the $69 in seller fees plus have to pay another $37 for her to ship back to me plus returen her original $27 she paid for me to ship to her. What can I do? Any advice. I am a part time seller for years and years and have never had this problem.

Thank you for any help.

baantiques · ‎02-13-2018

My guess is it's already broken. It arrived in good shape but they dropped it or chipped it and scoured the ad for a reason to claim not as described.

Send a return label with full insurance. You should be able to tell if the item broke during return shipping or was already broken when it was packaged. Be sure to take lots of photos when you get the item back - take some of the package as delivered, before you open it (all sides, so if there is no damage it's documented), photos of the packaging before you unwrap it, after you unwrap it, and any damage it may have. If it looks like it was damaged before it was packed up for the return, there still isn't much you can do, but you can report them and I would also call customer service and see if there is anything they can do.

If it looks like they broke it, I would also look into filing a police report for fraud.

Oh, and be sure to put them on your black list

webwanna · ‎02-13-2018

Actually, I think this buyer would claim it is similar to listing a doll's coat as a coat and then not including the dimensions and photographing it in a deceptive fashion. Ebay errs on the side of buyers.

Plus, you accepted returns on the listing for any reason for 14 days. This person WILL be able to return this. Its just a question of whether you pay the shipping costs or them. You already admit you made an error not including the dimensions. You know you should have. IMHO, chalk it up to an expensive lesson.

flyerfandan999 · ‎02-13-2018

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Plus, you accepted returns on the listing for any reason for 14 days. This person WILL be able to return this. Its just a question of whether you pay the shipping costs or them. You already admit you made an error not including the dimensions. You know you should have. IMHO, chalk it up to an expensive lesson.

Aha, the way the OP presented their case I automatically assumed they were trying to decide whether or not they should voluntarily accept an SNAD return. (Which IMO they should not.)

But as you noted, OP's listing does allow returns for any reason within 14 days, so the issue is not whether there is going to be a return, it's all about who gets to pay for the return shipping. Buyer is prosecuting an SNAD return to avoid paying for return shipping by concocting an ABSURD story about their totally fabricated expectations, and that Seller deceived them in that what they received was the "Little One" when they for some undemonstrated reason "thought" they were getting the "Big One."

Not that anyone has proven that there is in fact a Little One and Big One of this particular sculpture.

So either way Seller is on the short end of the stick, because what are the chances that this thing gets shipped back in the same prsteen condition that it miraculously arrived in? If it comes back broken, eBay is certainly NOT going to do anything to help as they will absolve the Buyer of any responsibility, and the shipping insurance company is going to find a reason to weasel out of paying a claim.

gotta-get-stuff · ‎02-13-2018

No measurements=return for refund. You pay all shipping and needed insurance fees.

Tiptoeing through the tulips can end in stepping on a cow patty 😉

*madison · ‎02-13-2018

My guess is it's already broken. It arrived in good shape but they dropped it or chipped it and scoured the ad for a reason to claim not as described.

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If that was the case though, the buyer wouldn't have needed to scour the ad for a reason to claim not as described, the buyer could have just simply lied and said the item was broken when received.

marinermikes · ‎02-13-2018

This is why I stopped excepting returns on these types of items. It just gives the buyer a excuse to return it for no reason. It could get broken at any time within the two weeks they have it and you are stuck! It could get broken during the return once again you are stuck dealing with it.

I did away with my return policies on most items and found I have zero problems. I have had two items show up to customers not as described. Fixed it the old fashion way. The buyer contacted me about it and I either have them send it back and I refund or if it's some thing that doesn't warrant a return I just refund. Leave Ebay out of it! You get no defect for doing so.

If a item truely is snad and they don't contact you and file just let Ebay and or pay pal sort it out.

I would rather pay return shipping here or there on a true snad case than take a chance on a bogus return on a item like yours!

a_c_green · ‎02-13-2018

Not that anyone has proven that there is in fact a Little One and Big One of this particular sculpture.

On a whim, I just spent an eye-glazing 10-15 minutes wading through a ton of Luigi Fabris Capodimonte and similar images on Pinterest (if you don't collect the stuff, you would be amazed at how much is out there), and while I could not turn up that exact piece in a larger size, I did see numerous others in similar poses, and larger sizes (among those items that had a description) of the range that the OP's buyer described were not uncommon at all.

Granted, it's all academic now as the topic is how to get it safely back again, but I am inclined to think that the buyer's complaint is genuine, if a little vague, and that this whole flap would not have occurred if the listing simply had its dimensions included.

bubbleman2010 · ‎02-13-2018

If OP would have peeled off that $3600.00 pricetag there would have been no problem. Sometimes I miss those 99 cent stickers and the $150.00 item buyer will really wingnut out on me..