Seller Does Not Accept Returns - That's a complete SHAM

[platinumgolfphotolabs]

How many times am I going to be fooled? Too many. Praying that I can control my tiny little brain and just be done.

- I sell a used camera lens

- Buyer receives and uses said camera lens at a wedding.

- Buyer files a refund claiming that the lens doesn't reflect the description because the photos he took are blurry.

- At my request, buyer tells me the settings he used to take the photos.

- I informed customer that the Shutter Speed was too slow. Significantly too slow to freeze the action which is why his photos are blurry. I provide the universally accepted Shutter Speed Calculation to demonstrate.

- Buyer says no thanks. He knows what he's doing and he wants a refund.

- I have zero options and to add insult to injury I am forced to pay shipping. 

What exactly am I missing here? Seller Does Not Accept Returns - what does that even mean?

[luckythewinner]

Seller Does Not Accept Returns - what does that even mean?

Here are two examples to illustrate the difference between a "return" and a "dispute". 

Return:

You order a Rolex from a seller for $5,000 and decide you do not want it. If the buyer has "no returns", you cannot return the item for the reason "I don't want it". 

Dispute:

You order a Rolex from a seller for $5,000 and the seller sends you a $20 Timex instead. Even if the buyer has "no returns", you can still file a dispute using the reason "Item Not As Described" because eBay has a Money Back Guarantee and knows they would go out of business if they allowed sellers to cheat buyers. 

Your buyer filed a dispute, not a return. 

Unfortunately, eBay has no ide what you sent or what the buyer received, so eBay will always side with a buyer in a dispute.

[soh.maryl]

Yes, that is frustrating; however, eBay's MBG makes it pretty clear that eBay doesn't differentiate between buyers who don't understand how to use what they bought or just wanted to borrow it for a special occasion or actually did receive an item that is NAD.

The MBG covers fraudulent return claims as well as genuine item not as described cases.  And, yes, your last paragraph is entirely correct.  

[baantiques]

A certain percentage of buyers are stupid/crazy/dishonest/mentally ill/etc and there is nothing you can do except take the return and block the buyer so they can't bother you again.  It's just a part of the cost of doing business.

[maxine*j]

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@platinumgolfphotolabs wrote:

...  I mean honestly it has me thinking. Why rent camera gear? You can just "buy it" off of ebay, use it for what you needed to, and then say that it doesn't work how you thought it would and then get a refund. 

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Happens in brick-and-mortars, too, and always has.  Ask anyone in the clothing business how many returns their shops get after big events.  (And that's just one example.)

It isn't fair.  It isn't right.   But all retailers simply have to deal with the occasional bogus return and take a loss accordingly, and that fact of retail life must be built into pricing. 

Happily, the vast majority of customers are honest in every way.

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[tobaccocardyahoo]

It would be suicide for Ebay to remove the option for no returns. BUT by implementing the the Ebay guarantee they have made it possible for any buyer to claim not as described and get a refund with or without returns.

I would rather the current hypocrisy than the demise of Ebay. Ebay has had its growth limited because of its reputation for BUYER BEWARE from the pre-Meg Whitman years. It has had to walk a fine line between alienating sellers and alienating buyers and this forum is full of threads where sellers bemoan the bias in favor of buyers.

This tension will continue until either Ebay dies or Ebay finds a revenue stream which is not dependent on 3P sellers (unlikely).

Ebay is arguably the easiest vehicle for an individual to enter into e-commerce, but it is no longer easy.

And as times get harder more people will try, and many of them will not know that you should not risk anything you cannot afford to lose on the Internet.

[platinumgolfphotolabs]

I get it. But for people who don't do this for a living, you can't really build anything into a business that doesn't exist. I understand that ebay can't cater to everyone and the casual seller (me) is going to be last on their list of priorities. It's just unfortunate. 

In my particular case, this person didn't want to buy the lens, he wanted to use it. For free. And on my dime to ship it back when he was done with it. Do I have a solution. No. So I'll stop ranting, LOL.

[stephenmorgan]

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@platinumgolfphotolabs wrote:

I understand that ebay can't cater to everyone and the casual seller (me) is going to be last on their list of priorities. It's just unfortunate. 

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It is funny how things have changed.  eBay started as a way for casual sellers to get rid of unneeded items but is something much different today.

[krighton]

Means nothing.  I sold an IPAD stating no returns.  IPAD worked perfectly but buyer complained that it only held a 1.5 - 2 hour charge when Apple states it should be 8-10.  I'm forced to do a return by ebay even though i said no returns.  I take the IPAD to an apple store and the battery checks out PERFECTLY FINE.   I've wasted so much time and money being forced to accept returns when the item works well and in the condition advertised.  I keep threatening to leave ebay but no other site gets the type of views as ebay.

[bashort]

I think what needs changed is ebay should not give sellers the false impression that they can have a no returns policy, I think everyone would be better off if they just did not offer "no returns" as a option

[kh-cathy]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.