The buyer claims that I sold him the fake Theory polo shirt.

[2011robyde]

I am a seller on eBay for several months so I do not have much experience as a saler, especially in such situations.

A few weeks ago, I sold a Theory polo shirt (here is a link to this offer https://www.ebay.com/itm/153099893935). Now the buyer wants a refund because, according to him, the polo shirt is false.

He wrote:
Reason: Doesn't seem authentic
Comments: It isn’t that this item doesn’t seem authentic. It is an outright counterfeit. I own numerous theory bron b polos. The material is completely different, the tag placements are off and it says made in Peru. Bron B’s are all made in Vietnam. I want my money back now.

I sold a few polo shirts of this style (Style: # H1195501) and no buyer complained about their quality and authenticity (one of the buyers bought a polo shirt and after a few days when he received it he bought the second one).
The material of the shirts always contained 60% Polyester and 40% cotton, all tags / labels were always attached the same place and always looked the same, and there was always an inscription: "Made in Peru".

I do not remember well now (I sold the last shirt a few days ago and I can not compare) but there may have been slight touch differences depending on the color of the shirt. Probably the colors, quality, quantity, proportions of dyes determined the differences in touch. Also, the polyester can be of different quality depending on the production technology. Even 100% cotton may be different in touch depending on the type of production (and...cotton content in cotton;).

There are on eBay a lot of polo shirts in this style and the tags are in the same place and they are made in Peru. Some sellers ensure that they are authentic.  The sellers sell them because they are authentic and the buyers buy them because they are...authentic.

Maybe buyer has different styles of Theory polo shirts, maybe he bought his shirts at the Theory store and the tags are attached to other parts of the shirts (I got mine from Marshalls and maybe Theory produces special parts of this style of shirts only for Marshalls and produces them in Peru? ).
My description of the polo shirt was clear and with details; the name, style and color were the same as I found on the shirts tags; my pictures show the inscription: "made in Peru".
So I wonder...buyer saw everything and if he is an expert in the Theory polo shirt, including Bron B shirts and style H1195501, why did he buy this shirt?

If I accept the return because of the buyer reason (sale of a false item) it will mean that I agree with his opinion = I sold him a fake shirt = I did something illegal, punishable.

I can accept any return (does not match the description, different color, too small, too big or buyer change the mind) but when the buyer accuses me of selling fake / counterfeit clothes, accepting the return is the last thing which I would like to do.

I have to make decisions at the latest tomorrow before midnight (Thursday, August 2). I know I should talk to eBay but first I have to know how to talk to ebay.

The accusation of selling false items is probably a serious accusation and should the buyer not have better / more real / more reliable evidence to express such opinion? He just said that and sent the picture of the tag with "made in Peru". He saw the same tag with the same inscription on my pictures of the list and even though he is the expert on Theory shirts...he bought it. This is puzzling.
Should I ask the buyer what are ecxactly differences between "my" polo shirt and the shirts he has; should I ask him to send pictures with the style numbers of his shirts, the percentage composition of his shirts, to send pictures with the style number (H1195501) of shirts produced in Vietnam?
There are Bron Polo Shirts Theory with different style numbers and different material components at the bloomingdales and nordstromrack online stores and maybe buyer has bron polos with other style numbers and other material components?

It is curious that the buyer is an expert on Theory polo shirts, he read the description, he saw pictures, he accuses me of selling false items ... so if we accept his opinion it means that also he committed a crime because he bought a consciously false (according to him) polo shirt.

I will be grateful for any advice.

I attach a photo which he sent.
English is not my native language and I'm sure that my senstences are not correct but I hope that my explanation and my asking for help are understandable 🙂

[elitefashions12-0 · Accepted solution]

This is all to common with buyers stating " does not seem Authentic " with absolutely no proof of what they claim, my guess is it does not fit them so this would be the excuse to avoid shipping fees, all clothing items for whatever brand change yearly, Design,Material make up, country of manufacture etc, the list is endless, do you have your original purchase receipt ? If you do photo it upload it to the return and explain your items are 100% guaranteed authentic, i would then accept the return and explain you are sorry the shirt is not to your liking but my items are Authentic, proceed to add them to your blocked list, i would also contact E Bay and advise them you are accepting the return but you would like on record the proof of Authenticity you have uploaded to the return, this might protect you against the Negative feedback that will more than likely follow.

[wmorrisw]

Unfortunately your best course of action is to accept the return and apologize (yes, suck it up!) I have spoken with ebay reps multiple times about this issue and they told me flat out that the buyer will win this claim if you ask them to review it since it is a "he said, he said" situation. Its not worth the negative feedback or the ding on your account.  You can of course first try to explain to the buyer that it is authentic and upload your receipt photo, but this usually doesnt work. 

HOWEVER, after you have accepted return and it has arrived back, you can file a complaint against your buyer, then upload the recepit for proof of purchase. If they are a repeat offender and enough sellers bring up the same issue their account will be dinged. 

FYI- I have sold many theory items and your photo looks to be  legit item( in my opinion)

[2011robyde]

Thank you for your fast respond.
If it is as you wrote, I do not understand why the buyers are making such big problems, why they are inventing such stories. They do it because they want to save $ 2-3-4 and do not pay for shipping return? this is very clever. it is so very primitive.
Yes, I have an original purchase receipt. But there are other names of items printed than they are called. Marshalls and tjmaxx have their own and unified names for clothes, e.g. this shirt and 100 other shirts from other designers may be called a "designer", many clothes are simply "contemp". And such names appear on purchase receipt. Marshalls has more details in his system when they scans bar codes (sometimes the name of the producer, sometimes the color, or just the item is in green color and it is for men). 
Please confirm that I understood correctly:
1. send a message to buyer and explain I'm sorry that he doesn't like the polo and confirm that my clothes are 100% authentic and send him a copy of the receipt
(I should take from Marshalls their statement that their special name of this polo shirt is in fact Theory polo)
2. accept return and repeat what I did in point 1.
3. I do not understand: "proceed to add blocked list". Do you mean to block the name of buyer, his id number / name so that he will not make purchases in my store in the future?
4. Call eBay. What means "record the proof of Authenticity". I have no idea what is it and how to do it.

[elitefashions12-0]

1. Accept the return,Send him the message through the return with a photo of your receipt, he will probably not care because my take is he states this to avoid postage costs but at least you have the proof, he does not.
2. Add him to your blocked buyer list, he will not be able to purchase anything more.
3. Once the return is processed and he has his money back ( All of it ) hopefully that will be the end. If Negative were to be left you can challenge it by pointing out your receipt to E Bay as concrete proof of Authenticity and explain you merely accepted the return so as to avoid the defect on your account. It happens everyday.
Just as an example - A buyer of mine did exactly the same, I accepted the return knowing it was simply a case of they do not fit, before the return was opened i hadn't noticed they had already bought the same item in a smaller size, needless to say they will not be buying again.

[amrclothing111]

That is the recent label. That guy is a fool take the return and sell it again.  

[couldabeenworse]

I'd reply that I'd be happy to accept the return, but refer him to nordstrom or some other site that shows these to be made in peru.

[kathieskorner]

I had the exact same thing happen with a Lakers Jersey - the idiot buyer tried to tell me the label was "different".  Since the jersey was purchased at a well-known sporting goods store, I knew it was authentic.  Paid for the return - increased the price by $10 to cover the original and return postage, and sold it a week later at the higher price. 

Don't try to argue with the buyer - just have him return the shirt.   Don't refund him until you receive the shirt back. 

[2011robyde]

Thank you everyone for help, advise and support (in a psycho-moral sense).

I will do everything tonight. First at all, I have to remind myself when and where I bought the shirt. As I mentioned, Marshalls prints on the receipts the names of the clothes as, for example : mens active, best brand, casual wear, young mens. There are no name of brand, no size, no color. Marshalls has an internal system and, unfortunately, there are mistakes because the names are too general. But I will be worried about it later.

I will try to be nice and friendly and do not write anything incorrect 😕

Last night I was looking for information where they make the shirt. All online stores (nordstrom, century21 etc) use just the word "import". But I will look again. I thought to call Theory customer service or go to the company store in NY to have information directly from the manufacturer.

Should I block the buyer now (today / tomorrow) or when I will receive the polo?

I wonder why he chose such a drastic and unpleasant (for the seller) reason for the return? There are a lot of other reasons (without bad memories) when the seller has to pay for the return shipping. But maybe some questions do not have a good answers. Either the answer is: either you are a human or ... (feel free to name such behavior).