eBay

wheredidiputthatremote · ‎11-19-2018

I am angry. Been doing this since 2011 and I do my very best to kill my customers with kindness no matter what. But this one got me. Sold a 18" Nowell Mold Light Up Tree. It took me 2 hours to pack it up - top and the base in two separate boxes and then inside one big box. The buyer gets it and messages me that she wants a "return tag" it wasn't what she expected. I'm thinking maybe she isn't familiar with the imperial system where 18" is 18 inches. Maybe she thought it was a 18' (foot) Ceramic Christmas tree. So I ask her to explain.

A day later she opens up a return for "doesn't seem authentic". Like people forge christmas tree molds with the stamp "nowell molds" on the bottom. So I respond with a partial refund of 50% offer - telling her please accept my offer - it took me 2 hours to pack this up in three boxes and I know it's going to come back in pieces if you ship it back to me. Two days go buy and tonight I get a message that she rejected my offer. Whomp whomp whomp.

So what choice do I have other than to accept her return? Nothing. Everytime I call a CS rep or message Ebay for Business on FB it's the same thing - accept the return or wait for it to be escalated. So naturally - I caved and accepted the return. I'm not expecting it back in one piece - and I am at peace with that. It's just that I bust my hump to do this - and ya I know "it's the cost of doing business". But isn't this abuse of the return policy? And if it is - what recourse do I have. I'll answer my own question honestly: None.

4th quarter - the time of year every seller waits for is here. I've kept up with all the seller updates with the "seller's should" suggestions - and a lump of coal it is. Bummed out.

castlemagicmemories · ‎11-19-2018

@wheredidiputthatremote wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
I fail to understand what is not authentic about a ceramic tree!
Me too. Agreed. Especially when it's stamped on the bottom. Who on God's green earth is going to forge a 1970s Ceramic Christmas tree. It's not about the money. It's about a **bleep** inad return

I wonder if she thought it was one of those mass produced ceramic Christmas trees~as I think yours is one that is hand made.

dhbookds · ‎11-20-2018

I know the return hurts..........

myboardid · ‎11-20-2018

When deciding what to sell, re-think the idea of what it is going to take to pack and ship it, and what could happen if it is returned.

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Successful and experienced seller since 1997, over 70,000 feedback, boardie since the boards were begun.

mudshark61369 · ‎11-20-2018

@gracieallen01,

"The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.
Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, people would use them more often".

I think my siggy covers most of that. too bad it can't be posted as originally written.

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

mudshark61369 · ‎11-20-2018

@emerald40,

"You accept 30 day returns. So no it is not an abuse of the return policy".

Unfortunately, you are right, but it is abused often. It would help if ebay's reps could use a feature ebay used to have that allowed others to see recent purchases. We caught many policy abusers when we could see if someone bought more than one item and tried to return the more expensive one on a seller's dime.

That 30 day policy should not be in place for vintage items in the first place. eBay does allow a 14 day return policy for some categories Collectibles being one, but they have limited it so severely its not able to be used most times. When reading through it I saw "phone cards" were collectible??????

"THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS FOOLPROOF, BECAUSE FOOLS ARE SO DARNED INGENIOUS!" (unknown)

tunicaslot · ‎11-20-2018

Buyers know they have 30 days to open up an SNAD - true or not to get free shipping. I'm going out on a limb and assume at least 50% know that if a seller offers free returns that if they claim remorse - the seller can and may only give them a portion of their price back and so they still claim SNAD to be sure they get all thir money back.

This was a topic in my other group as many with free returns found buyers still claiming SNAD to make sure they were refunded in full because they don't trust that sellers will refund the appropriate amt even when the item is sent back in as received condition.

There's a crinkle in every policy that is brought out as the distrust between sellers and buyers has grown.

a_c_green · ‎11-20-2018

@wheredidiputthatremote wrote:
@castlemagicmemories wrote:
I fail to understand what is not authentic about a ceramic tree!
Me too. Agreed. Especially when it's stamped on the bottom. Who on God's green earth is going to forge a 1970s Ceramic Christmas tree. It's not about the money. It's about a **bleep** inad return

At the risk of playing Devil's Advocate here, you're more likely to have an Item Not As Descriibed return like this when your description is only six words long ("In good cosmetic and working condition"). For an item originally priced at $250 and eventually selling at $187.50, I would suggest putting a lot more detail into the description, as well as photographing it with a tape measure. As it stands, there is one reference to the height of 18", and nothing else: width, construction, dimensions of the star on top, etc.

I'm sorry that you've got such a numpty buyer, and I agree that you may have a "Spinal Tap" situation here, where the buyer assumed that the three-figure price tag would get them an eighteen-foot tree instead of an eighteen-inch tree because they didn't know what the double-quote notation meant (or couldn't read it clearly on a teeny-tiny smartphone screen).

If they're already declined your 50% refund, they're either holding out for a 100% refund without returning it, or they really do want to return it. Can you send them a return shipping label, and then get the dispute closed out if they fail to get it on the way back within 5 days?

wheredidiputthatremote · ‎11-20-2018

@mudshark61369 wrote:
@emerald40,

"You accept 30 day returns. So no it is not an abuse of the return policy".

Unfortunately, you are right, but it is abused often. It would help if ebay's reps could use a feature ebay used to have that allowed others to see recent purchases. We caught many policy abusers when we could see if someone bought more than one item and tried to return the more expensive one on a seller's dime.

That 30 day policy should not be in place for vintage items in the first place. eBay does allow a 14 day return policy for some categories Collectibles being one, but they have limited it so severely its not able to be used most times. When reading through it I saw "phone cards" were collectible??????

Wrong. She fraudulently opened an INAD or is not authentic - so return shipping is on me and it gets counted on my return metrics.

emerald_door · ‎11-20-2018

Unfortunately, there are dishonest buyers who will file a false Not As Described case so they don't have to pay shipping. Even more unfortunately, eBay will go along with it even when they say things like, "not what I expected," "not what I imagined," or "I just don't like it." It makes some sellers reluctant to list things that they previously would have been happy to list on eBay, so this policy benefits no one except the few dishonest buyers, who have learned how to take advantage of the policy.

escuintla · ‎11-20-2018

@emerald_door wrote:
Unfortunately, there are dishonest buyers who will file a false Not As Described case so they don't have to pay shipping. Even more unfortunately, eBay will go along with it even when they say things like, "not what I expected," "not what I imagined," or "I just don't like it." It makes some sellers reluctant to list things that they previously would have been happy to list on eBay, so this policy benefits no one except the few dishonest buyers, who have learned how to take advantage of the policy.

I am going to pull out a listing for items that have that 30 days window for returns tomorrow. I don't want them to "rent them".

_________________________________________________________
If you haven't paid for your item, you're a winning bidder, not a buyer!
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gracieallen01 · ‎11-20-2018

@mudshark61369 wrote:
@gracieallen01,

"The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.
Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, people would use them more often".

I think my siggy covers most of that. too bad it can't be posted as originally written.

Yes, your's speaks volumes, as well.

Well, you know, the moderator's, and ebay's, sense of humor is only allowed to go so far.

Not saying 'NO' doesn't mean 'YES'.

The foolishness of one's actions or words is determined by the number of witnesses.

Perhaps if Brains were described as an APP, many people would use them more often.

Respect, like money, is only of 'worth' when it is earned - with all due respect, it can not be ordained, legislated or coerced. Anonymous

audioarchive · ‎11-20-2018

I guess I'm still wondering why it took 2 hours and 3 boxes to pack up an 18" tree. Granted, it's ceramic, I understand that...

wheredidiputthatremote · ‎11-20-2018

@audioarchive wrote:
I guess I'm still wondering why it took 2 hours and 3 boxes to pack up an 18" tree. Granted, it's ceramic, I understand that...

2 boxes for the base and top and then 1 for the both of them to ship in. I pack the heck out of my stuff to avoid damages in shipping. I hope this returner does the same.

Anonymous · ‎11-20-2018

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
I wonder if she thought it was one of those mass produced ceramic Christmas trees~as I think yours is one that is hand made.

The contemporary mass produced ones of a similar look usually go for between $25-40 and they're not clearly stamped with Nowells and the 70s year of production. I'm sure the buyer didn't think it was a fake vintage piece.

There are several vintage 70s 18" Nowells listed on eBay for about 40-50% of what the buyer paid, some with make offer. The buyer probably had remorse about the price.

Although the OP did offer a 50% refund and the buyer declined. Maybe they wanted a $25 mass produced contemporary model.

emerald40 · ‎11-20-2018

@mudshark61369 wrote:
@emerald40,

"You accept 30 day returns. So no it is not an abuse of the return policy".

Unfortunately, you are right, but it is abused often. It would help if ebay's reps could use a feature ebay used to have that allowed others to see recent purchases. We caught many policy abusers when we could see if someone bought more than one item and tried to return the more expensive one on a seller's dime.

That 30 day policy should not be in place for vintage items in the first place. eBay does allow a 14 day return policy for some categories Collectibles being one, but they have limited it so severely its not able to be used most times. When reading through it I saw "phone cards" were collectible??????

Yes, that is what I was trying to explain.

You know and I know it is remorse. But none of that matters

It is what the buyer puts in the title. I have read where they will sometimes explain it is remorse in the description but ebay does not look at that.

So in the eyes of ebay, and that is all that matters, is it is not abuse.

And fighting it will only give you a loss and a defect.

Like I said, I learned that the hard way, so I m talking from experience aka my heavy platinum ring paperweight.