Unfair decision by Ebay

[lvsitano]

I have sold a discount voucher for an online service, so it is a digital good, not possible to ship by mail. I sold many of those in the past, no problems whatsoever. Last one I sold in December, the buyer paid, and I sent the code using Ebay's message and in the message there was a notice, that the buyer had to use the code within a 30 day period. Almost 2 months later, the guy sent a message complaining about the code not working, and he said that it was not working at the time when he got it (which is not true, because the code cames directly from the company). I said that if the code was not working in December why waiting until the 31st of January to complain? No answer. He opened a dispute and gave me negative feedback. I had no tracking to provide to Ebay, but they can check the messages. Also they could see that I sold many of the same items in the past, with no issues. But they just ignored all that, and decided that the buyer would get his refund, plus they would charge me a $18 fee. This is just unfair. I will appeal, but I guess it will not make any difference. It will be my last sell on Ebay.

[luckythewinner]

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@lvsitano wrote:

I have sold a discount voucher for an online service, so it is a digital good, not possible to ship by mail. 

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eBay has a digital item policy that generally prohibits people from selling them here. The policy is there for exactly the reason you describe, but many ignore it and list them anyway. 

"Sellers need to be eBay approved to list electronically delivered items outside of the Everything Else > Information Products category"

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/electronically-delivered-items-policy...

[ittybitnot]

I had no tracking to provide to Ebay, but they can check the messages

@lvsitano 

eBay only looks for a "delivered" status for tracking.  It doesn't matter what is in messages.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @lvsitano 

You’ve had digital items listed in a Category for physical items … which was risky and wrong … so be grateful for the ‘many sales’ you managed to eke out before bumping into reality.  Good luck to you!  🙂

[aproudparent2010]

You had these listed incorrectly, just took this long for you to get caught.

[lvsitano]

A few weeks ago, I had an issue with a digital item I bought (anti-virus key), which did not worked. Seller did not sent item, just code by e-mail, I opened a dispute and they decided in favor of the seller. So, for some people seems it is ok to sell digital goods and getting away with it.

[house*of*paws · Accepted solution]

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@lvsitano wrote:

A few weeks ago, I had an issue with a digital item I bought (anti-virus key), which did not worked. Seller did not sent item, just code by e-mail, I opened a dispute and they decided in favor of the seller. So, for some people seems it is ok to sell digital goods and getting away with it.

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@lvsitano 

You can sell digital items if you list them in the correct Category. 

You had a problem because you listed yours as a physical item, but couldn't show tracking info to prove that you shipped it.

Here is the eBay policy on listing items you send electronically:  

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/prohibited-restricted-items/electronically-delivered-items-policy...

[coolections]

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@lvsitano wrote:

for some people seems it is ok to sell digital goods and getting away with it.

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Read message 7.

[dbfolks166mt]

     So I am assuming you are an authorized distributor selling out of Portugal. LinkSnappy Ltd. is a Cyprus based company. My guess is the buyer used the code and software for the 30 days the elite voucher code you sent them was good for and then didn't want to continue to use the product. 

     If you are an authorized distributor you could contact LinkSnappy and validate/verify whether the code was used during some given 30 day timeframe. That may support any appeal you choose to initiate. 

[lvsitano]

Good idea. I will ask for a written confirmation.

[aproudparent2010]

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@lvsitano wrote:

Good idea. I will ask for a written confirmation.

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It won't change anything.

Are you an authorized dealer?

You still listed in the wrong category and eBay asks for tracking proof if listed in the category you did. If you had listed it correctly you could have avoided this mess.

[lvsitano]

In fact it did change things. After appealing to Ebay, I was granted seller protection, so they are going to refund me both the transaction fee and dispute fee. Justice prevailed. 

[downunder-61]

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@lvsitano wrote:

In fact it did change things. After appealing to Ebay, I was granted seller protection, so they are going to refund me both the transaction fee and dispute fee. Justice prevailed. 

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You were very lucky it turned out this way, normally there would be zero chance of any seller protection for your error.

[kensgiftshop]

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@lvsitano wrote:

In fact it did change things. After appealing to Ebay, I was granted seller protection, so they are going to refund me both the transaction fee and dispute fee. Justice prevailed. 

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Come back and let us know if you actually get a refund or an email saying they are staying with the original decision.

[aproudparent2010]

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@lvsitano wrote:

In fact it did change things. After appealing to Ebay, I was granted seller protection, so they are going to refund me both the transaction fee and dispute fee. Justice prevailed. 

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Let us know if they actually do.

eBay has been known to tell people things and not always follow through