eBay

duffy4444 · ‎06-08-2022

I've had my share of buyers not reading my well-documented, well-photographed and honest description on a previously owned or used item, then wanting a full or partial refund, or even filing an INAD which is totally unnecessary and preventable if they'd simply READ THE DESCRIPTION!

I have an idea: Before eBay processes a buyer's payment, it should have a simple screen come up for the buyer to confirm they have read the seller's full description and accepts any stated blemishes or defects that may be detailed there. When the buyer clicks a box to confirm it, their payment goes thru and are on record as knowing the stated condition and characteristics of the item.

Of course this would not deter scammers or those leaning toward wanting something for nothing or a partial refund, but would really cut down on a lot of impetuous buyers who would not buy an item if they had actually read the detailed description.

Any ideas out there? This would be a good forum to discuss a frustrating, costly, and time-consuming issue for many sellers. I don't recall seeing any posts over the last few years about this, but I have seen posts, including one just today, about sellers complaining of buyers that skip reading the item's description that would help them make an informed decision to purchase or not in the first place.

Cheers, Duffy

laststopgeneralstore · ‎06-08-2022

Their is no way to, it's just part of doing business online as a whole. People don't read & they don't want to read. I agree that it's extremely annoying getting false INAD claims but even if their was a screen that popped up and said that, it still wouldn't stop people from opening false INAD's. I mean how many times have you gone thru a terms & conditions for an update on your phone or for a credit card etc... I know I very rarely do.

eburtonlab · ‎06-08-2022

The folks that would actually be deterred from buying by such a required disclaimer and sign-off are probably not the same users that are currently requesting cancellations or filing "not as described" claims.

eBay likely calculates that such a disclaimer would only hurt existing otherwise-satisfied sales, without actually preventing any "not as described" claims at all.

lamber9347 · ‎06-08-2022

All of this would simply make BUYING more difficult. Everyone is in a rush these days, there are more people using their phones to purchase than ever before. Expecting a buyer to stop and acknowledge through yet another screen that they have read and understood, would only deter buyers. We want to sell not make things more difficult. This would be off putting to legitimate buyers and would not deter scammers at all....

bashort · ‎06-08-2022

I do not really mind taking a return when the buyer did not read the description, I have free returns just return it, not a big deal.

What I do mind is when the buyer makes a mistake then lies and says it was not as described just so they do not have ta admit to making a mistake.

I had one recently where the buyer did not read and the pertinent info was in the title, said "it did not match the description"

After I got it back I relisted it now as used with the exact same description and title, sold it again and got nice positive feedback on it. I really wanted to tell the first buyer he was full of it

literaryconundrums · ‎06-08-2022

I'm with you on the frustration here. Today, I had it happen for the second time. It seems there's an increase in buyers like this lately...or I'm just having rotten luck. I'd like to put the onus on myself for not providing adequate pictures, because that could be easily fixed, but these defects were plain as day and also described in the listing.

I think the solution to this is for ebay to support their sellers more. I understand they're afraid of driving buyers away, but it seems they're driving a lot of sellers away as well. They should just say, "No, the item was as described and you can see it plainly in the pictures. If you want a refund, you need to return the item, but you'll have to pay the shipping." And then not allow them to leave negative feedback. I had a buyer literally threaten to come to my house and teach me a lesson. I reported it twice. As far as I know, they've done nothing about it thus far. I'm thinking of expanding to a platform where they truly don't allow buyers to harrass sellers or get away with fraud. I never thought I'd be one of those people complaining about ebay customer service, but here I am. If I wanted to be gaslit this hard, I'd go back to my ex.

coolections · ‎06-08-2022

What is it you are selling that a buyer MUST read every word of your description before purchasing? Is there that many flaws and problems with the items that if they miss a single word it could cause problems? Maybe put those things that are much need to know it the title, so they won't miss it?

eburtonlab · ‎06-08-2022

They [eBay] should just say, "No, the item was as described and you can see it plainly in the pictures. If you want a refund, you need to return the item, but you'll have to pay the shipping."

How can eBay know if an item matches the description when no one at eBay has ever set eyes on the item? eBay has no way to know for certain if the item shipped matched the description or not.

eBay has to rely on the accounts of the buyer and seller; if they disagree, eBay has to choose one to side with. In most "not as described" claim situations, that is the buyer.

vintagecraze50 · ‎06-08-2022

They try hard on Mercari to have the buyer acknowledge the receipt and approval of the item. That might work most of the time but any way you slice it if they do not want they will return it and if you do not accept it it can go to a chargeback.

vintagecraze50 · ‎06-08-2022

There is no apparent rule that ebay may ever establish over this. You might have a colorblind, needs a new prescription eyeglass buyer who bought the item, or somebody who on the go did an impulse buy, or their dog accidentally hit the buy it now button.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎06-08-2022

Hi Duffy, i am wondering if the non-readers would pay any heed to the added disclaimer screen—would it be just more reading they would click thru without learning anything? But kudos for the effort and opening the discussion.

I think the problem is fueled, in part, by the advent of shopping via smartphone. It is easy to overlook the description field when viewing a listing on a small mobile screen. And some sellers still haven't optimized their descriptions for mobile viewing, making details hard to read sometimes.

duffy4444 · ‎06-08-2022

@coolections wrote:
What is it you are selling that a buyer MUST read every word of your description before purchasing? Is there that many flaws and problems with the items that if they miss a single word it could cause problems? Maybe put those things that are much need to know it the title, so they won't miss it?

coolections:

It's not that there are a lot of flaws in the items that I sell. I mostly sell only brand-new or NOS items, but there are some items that are used. With those used items, I am very careful to comprehensively point out the details with photos, the description, AND with a reference of imperfection in the title. The reason why I do this for instance, is that some action figure collectors in particular are very fussy about condition. Yet they may see only a main photo and simply don't take the time to read the description. And then complain or even get snotty and be in denial about what they failed to read.

Go to my listings and search "Funko". You will see what I mean about showing photos and entering the details on the used listings... and yet when they get the item exactly as described and photographed, here occasionally comes a request to be refunded or even filing an INAD claim that the item was not cosmetically perfect. (I've only had a few INAD claims in cases like this over the last 24 years, but they are really an unnecessary hassle do deal with).

lamber9347:

I don't think it would really unreasonable or make buying that more difficult to have a buyer take an extra 3-10 seconds to confirm with one click that they have read the description before their purchase is processed. And it's not unreasonable for some impatient buyers to take an extra 30 seconds or so to see all the photos and read what they're thinking of buying. Are we really that lazy or in that much of a hurry to bypass knowing the details of what we're buying online? If we are, then we shouldn't be rewarded by forcing the seller take it in the shorts when it was the fault of the laziness of the occasional buyer.

Cheers, Duffy

coolections · ‎06-08-2022

The very first one I looked at you say is new, but the box has been opened and it has wear. Instead of saying new, call it what it is "used with wear to the box".

duffy4444 · ‎06-08-2022

Thanks to everyone who is staking the time to contribute to this issue. As eBay has "grown", a lot of things have changed -- some good, some bad.

Case in point:

A little over 22 years ago I sold a used item that was honestly and properly photographed, documented and detailed as to all aspects of it being used. A buyer purchased it, and upon receipt immediately complained about the very aspects that were photographed and documented, proving that he had not read the description at all. I also said back then that the item was "as-is", and no refunds... The buyer got into a snot-flying rage and got eBay CS involved. Within an hour, a real live (imagine that!) eBay CS rep replied to the buyer, and I quote, "If the terms of the sale were not acceptable to you, you should not have purchased the item in the first place". Case closed in my favor, and rightly so.

Compare that to today..... so, asking the buyer to simply and quickly confirm the details and description has been read is not unreasonable at all, IMHO.

Cheers, Duffy