PayPal billing dispute has me baffled. How do I even respond to this?

[716green]

I own a collection agency so I'm no stranger to chargebacks. I have debtors that have buyers' remorse every few days and I've become an expert at responding to disputes. This on the other hand has me absolutely baffled. I don't know what to think.

I sell small toys on eBay. This seller disputed $7 of $13 that they paid for a toy which I have absolutely no profit margin on. I sell these at cost JUST because I want to build up as much positive feedback as possible. I never expected to have to deal with this.

This is roughly my 300th sale. I do not care about the money. I care about the integrity of my PayPal account, my eBay seller rating, my Feedback, etc.

I'm sure that I don't have to explain to any of you that I do not have a deal in place with eBay to accept an almost $6 loss per item every time someone has an imaginary 'eBay coupon'.

What should I even do to prevent this from having a negative impact on my account? I want to fight it on principal, this is absurd.

How can I prevent this from negatively impacting my accounts?

[this*old*attic]

EBay coupons exist.

Ebay picks up the tab, it isn’t your discount.

The question is.... did your buyer click the right button to apply it?

Its buyer error and you need to call Paypayto explain that.

Also reach out to your buyer. You might need to refund and he can try again

[luckythewinner]

I do not care about the money. I care about the integrity of my PayPal account, my eBay seller rating, my Feedback, etc. How can I prevent this from negatively impacting my accounts?

This does not necessarily sound like fraud or a scam to me. It sounds like either eBay screwed up the coupon, or the user failed to use it properly. If you do not care about the money, then agree to the refund and be done with it.

I want to fight it on principal, this is absurd.

This is in direct conflict with your statements above. If you fight it an lose, it may negatively impact your accounts. 

[myjunqueyourtreasure]

It's also entirely possible the buyer is simply mistaken.

We've all seen the posts claiming the ebay shipping supplies wasn't applied when it actually was.

[716green]

I have never heard of an 'eBay coupon' so I assumed that the buyer is simply lying. I've only been selling here for 6 months but I know that my profit margins are paper thin and I can't imagine eBay taking the liberty of allowing a buyer 50% off of an item. Maybe I am mistaken but I immediately thought it was disingenuous.

I just realized that they filed this dispute within minutes of placing the order. I tried to cancel the order but now I can not because of the dispute. I have issued the refund but the dispute still seems to be active.

Is there such thing as a '$6 eBay coupon'? The fact that I buy and sell on eBay regularly and have never seen anything like that is what got me so heated.

[716green]

Is there such thing as a '$6 eBay coupon'? The fact that I buy and sell on eBay regularly and have never seen anything like that is what got me so heated.

[tunicaslot]

I would have the buyer call Ebay - the $6 is from Ebay whether it be a coupon or their Ebay bucks. They either didn't apply it correctly or there is another glitch in what is being charged after they hit the submit button. I'd cancel the transaction until the buyer can get the issue straightened out - but in this case - I'd use buyer requested as they went ahead and contacted Paypal without notifying you there was a problem.

Anyone can see from the case notes that the seller did nothing wrong and the buyer has to take it up with Ebay.

[divwido]

This is actually really simple.  Write to the buyer and tell them either the coupon was not valid or the item did not meet the coupon specifics.

This isn't your mistake-the mistake was made with the coupon being issued.

I wonder if their 'coupon' was eBay bucks?

[myescape]

Yes ebay issues different coupons to select different groups(criteria has never been explained as to who gets them or when)

[batboy.inc]

---

@716green wrote:
Is there such thing as a '$6 eBay coupon'? The fact that I buy and sell on eBay regularly and have never seen anything like that is what got me so heated.

---

Yes, there's an active $6 coupon right now--I got an email about it and keep getting it as a banner on pretty much every eBay click when looking at listings (odd thing is, it shows up when I look at my own listings also).  I've never used one of the coupons before, but they do definitely exist and there is currently an active one  floating around (I think someone mentioned above that they are by "invite" so you have never received one before--not sure why I get them every so often as I don't really buy much).  Hope this helps.

[fern*wood]

I got a $5.00 one a month ago and it wouldn't work with any seller in managed payments.  There was no place to enter the code.

I went ahead and paid the seller and called ebay to ask about my coupon.  They assured me it would work and to cancel with the seller and try again.  I refused to even do that to my innocent seller, so I sure can't understand a buyer filing a case with paypal over this.

[this*old*attic]

They probably didn’t realize the ramifications and thought that was how to correct it/get a $6 adjustment.

[pburn]

---

@716green wrote:

I have never heard of an 'eBay coupon' so I assumed that the buyer is simply lying. I've only been selling here for 6 months but I know that my profit margins are paper thin and I can't imagine eBay taking the liberty of allowing a buyer 50% off of an item.

---

Just making sure you understand that you, as the seller, don't underwrite the $6--eBay does. As the seller, you are paid the entire price of your item, and eBay foots the bill for the buyer's $6 discount.

[needalittlehelpsometimes]

---

@716green wrote:
Is there such thing as a '$6 eBay coupon'? The fact that I buy and sell on eBay regularly and have never seen anything like that is what got me so heated.

---

YES there is, or was at one time. I was offered a $5 coupon a while back and used it with no problem. However, I had a buyer who wanted to use it but apparently didn't know she had to actually copy the code and apply it at check-out. She raked me over the coals and demanded her $5 back. I politely explained to her that this was ebay's coupon, not mine, and that she would have needed to enter the code at checkout. I suggested she call ebay and try to get her $5 back from them. I never heard back from her and she never left bad feedback.

[mcdougle4248]

@716green 

Your buyer may not know they have to open the transaction completely on PayPal to see the funding sources.  There is a small down arrow on the transaction, and when it is clicked on, it opens the details.  You may want to ask your buyer if they have done this.