eBay

gorillagamesoc · ‎07-21-2020

This is really bad. I can't get a hold of anyone. The help is not help, it is not even close. I have 2 buyers said it wasn't as described. One sent it back and it was fine, nothing wrong with it and another said it was misleading. I reported both buyers but I haven't heard anything back whatsoever and not sure what to do.

The phone numbers tell you to go to the online help. The help tells you nothing unless you are the buyer, which they protect, not the people that they are actually making the money off of.

I am ready to pull all my listings and say screw it. I am an actual reseller and still have over 3,000 things to list from when I had a brick and mortar retail store and I feel like I am just getting screwed by eBay.

I pretty much know that writing this isn't going to do anything and I know there are many of us dealing with the same thing but why are we dealing with it? I know Amazon cost more but after having to pay for returns when I shouldn't have, whats the difference.

If anyone has any info for me, that would be great but I feel I am just going to get replies of people agreeing with me. My heart goes out to the people deal with the same **bleep** I am.

mtgraves7984 · ‎07-21-2020

I'm just a lowly seller like you, but I can tell you that there is no advantage to escalating your problems to eBay.

Your best defense is to approve the Return requests and refund when the items come home. The only thing left to save here is your metrics. Sorry you've hit a rough patch... hang in there!

aldente28 · ‎07-21-2020

What are you trying to do? You got two INAD returns and reported the buyers. Presumably the returns went smoothly and you issued refunds. What more are you looking for? I'm not disagreeing with you...just wondering what you're trying to do.

Posting ID

kensgiftshop · ‎07-21-2020

@gorillagamesoc wrote:
I haven't heard anything back whatsoever and not sure what to do.

If you haven't refunded yet, refund the buyer.

Once you refund, there isn't anything else to do.

Have a great day.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎07-21-2020

If you need customer service, you might try eBay’s Facebook or Twitter. I have heard positive things about FB’s responsiveness.

Have you boned up on the Money Back Guarantee policy? It is one of the most important to understand. Ebay first and foremost looks out for the buyer’s interests. Sellers must look after their own and not expect eBay to do it. Asking eBay to “step in” is tantamount to handing it all to the buyer, so you want to avoid eBay involvement in cases for Not as Described.

Settle the case yourself, refund the buyer, and make sure such shrinkage is covered in your business plan moving forward.

mam98031 · ‎07-22-2020

I can feel your frustration and certainly respect it. Many of us have felt that even when we could get through to someone on the help lines.

With that said, you aren't going to like what I say next, but it is the truth. There is NOT a darn thing any CSR is going to do for you. Ebay started Simplified Returns in October of 2018. There is rarely ever a way for a seller to win an INAD. It is in your best interest as a seller not to even try. It will only hurt your account and cost you money.

It is best for you just to take the returns and refund the buyers. Then after you refund, report them for abuse of the system. And honestly that is the best you can do right now. You will not hear back from Ebay about reporting a buyer as they will not tell you if they do anything to them at all as it is private account info. So if you are expecting them to contact you with the results, you will always be disappointed. They have never shared that info with sellers.

But if you try to fight the returns, it is likely at some point the buyer will ask Ebay to step in. And once that happens, Ebay will 99.9999% of the time rule for the buyer no matter what. And if that happens they may or may not require the buyer to return the item, but they will force you to refund. On top of that you will get a defect on your selling account and you will not get your FVFs refunded. So you always want to avoid having any Return Request from asking Ebay to step in as it will only result in more frustration and damage to you account.

There is no need to leave Ebay over this. It happens to all of us. Most transactions go off just fine. Don't hurt yourself yet again because of a couple transactions.

Oh the grass isn't necessarily greener on the other side. You are right Amazon fees are higher and they have a very generous return system for buyers too.

You can handle this. Just remember these are business transactions NOT personal. So get your emotions out of it. Look at it logically. As I said before most transactions are just fine and you make money off them. No matter what you sell or where you go. You will have returns.

I hope things improve for you very soon.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

gorillagamesoc · ‎07-22-2020

All I want it not to pay for return shipping, that's it. I am willing to take the return but why should I pay return shipping when it is not my fault. The one product is $12.99. I paid $3.00 in shipping. Now I will have to pay another $3.00 plus at least an item fee on Paypal. I try and sell it again, it is another $3.00 and then all the fees. So I pretty much lose money. I have not problem taking the return back itself. It is just that they are lying about a problem with it so they don't have to pay the return shipping.

kensgiftshop · ‎07-22-2020

@gorillagamesoc wrote:
All I want it not to pay for return shipping, that's it.

When the buyer files an INAD, you don't have any choice of not paying return shipping, if you want the item returned.

Have a great day.

fab_finds4u · ‎07-22-2020

I feel your pain. When they return it and there's nothing wrong with it then it's unfair that you got stuck with return shipping. But that's the way it goes. The buyer doesn't have to prove there's something wrong with it when they file the return, and you can't prove there was nothing wrong with it. About all you can do is report the buyer. Sometimes eBay will give you a coupon for the shipping as a courtesy. They'll never tell you what happens to the buyer when sellers claim the buyer abused the return policy. They claim if there's a history of the same complaints the buyer will lose future MBG. It must be true because I have seen buyers complaining they can buy but they can't return the item because eBay told them their MBG was cancelled due to too many returns. Hope this helps.

PS be glad you got it back with nothing wrong with it because sometimes buyers do damage items to get a refund.

gorillagamesoc · ‎07-22-2020

Thank you for all the info. When you have an actual brick and mortar store you have control, here you don't. As I said in a reply before, all I want is to not pay for return shipping. That's it. They can return it but when they say there is something wrong with it just because they don't want to pay the return shipping, that's not right. And that is all I have asked for when I reported them.

I couldn't believe when I had heard that you can't give bad feed back to a buyer. How are we suppose to know if a buyer is a fraud or not? I know there is a lot of sellers that are but that doesn't mean all of us are but we get treated that way. And that isn't right. There has to be something that can be done. In the past I could at least call someone and talk something out with a CSR but now there is nothing. I am sure they are blaming it on covid but there are other companies still supporting their people. I did try Twitter, which I don't use and I never got a response.

I had to close my physical store because my mother and brother died within a few months of each other and I was the only one to take care of their property and homes. So now I have a storage unit full of video game stuff I have to get rid. My husband has a real job, so thankfully we are not relying on this for income but a storage unit costs money.

I guess I need more to vent more than anything. The thing that bothers me the most is we all accept this behavior from them and because of that they will always be like this and probably get worse. It isn't right and they shouldn't get away with it.

luckythewinner · ‎07-22-2020

All I want it not to pay for return shipping, that's it.

Calling customer support is not going to get you a refund of shipping costs on a SNAD.

why should I pay return shipping when it is not my fault.

Because when you listed an item here, you agreed to abide by whatever decision eBay makes.

It is just that they are lying about a problem with it so they don't have to pay the return shipping.

eBay is not going to invest any time or effort in determining who is "right" in a SNAD case because that is impossible when they did not observe what was received by the buyer or returned to the seller.

So I pretty much lose money.

Yes.

If you have received the returns and have not refunded the buyers, you need to do so immediately. If you do not, you are flirting with much more serious consequences than just the return shipping on a couple items.

gorillagamesoc · ‎07-22-2020

But the whole things is it is not a INAD, they are just using that so they don't have to pay return shipping. That is the whole thing. I am reporting the buyer because it is not what they say and there is even a choice to pick that says that. Why have that choice if they are not going to do anything about it?

baigsel-0 · ‎07-22-2020

You can not save your assets and your face at the same time.

I would suggest concentrating on saving your assets.

Just a suggestion.

p.s.: assets is the long version of the word I really wanted to use, and I could use it because the censor doesn't bleep it but lately there has been a rash of goodie two-shoers making the rounds again.

luckythewinner · ‎07-22-2020

@gorillagamesoc wrote:
But the whole things is it is not a INAD, they are just using that so they don't have to pay return shipping. That is the whole thing.

We understand that is it not an INAD.

We understand that the buyer is misusing the dispute process.

We understand that you don't want to pay return shipping.

We understand that it is not fair.

But the fact remains that eBay has allowed buyers to do this for well over a decade, and all indications are that they will continue to do so.

The people on this board are giving you sound advice, and arguing with the people trying to help you is not the answer.

zamo-zuan · ‎07-22-2020

@gorillagamesoc wrote:
All I want it not to pay for return shipping, that's it. I am willing to take the return but why should I pay return shipping when it is not my fault. The one product is $12.99. I paid $3.00 in shipping. Now I will have to pay another $3.00 plus at least an item fee on Paypal. I try and sell it again, it is another $3.00 and then all the fees. So I pretty much lose money. I have not problem taking the return back itself. It is just that they are lying about a problem with it so they don't have to pay the return shipping.

Sadly, what has already been mentioned is the truth... Customer service won't help you in this case. Their return policies often times are not fair, but they're enforced the same whether it's on phone or email support.

EBay does have increased protections if you're a top rated seller. If top rated, and you report them for abusing the returns system, if eBay agrees with your report they can give a shipping voucher up to $6! If you're not top rated, this may not apply (I don't see a top rated stamp on your feedback page). But it could be incentive to work towards top rated.

I know this might not be the answer you want to hear (especially if you're not top rated). The returns system is quite unfair for sellers in many different situations. But there's not much we could do about it right now.

@gorillagamesoc wrote:
I had to close my physical store because my mother and brother died within a few months of each other and I was the only one to take care of their property and homes. So now I have a storage unit full of video game stuff I have to get rid. My husband has a real job, so thankfully we are not relying on this for income but a storage unit costs money.

I guess I need more to vent more than anything. The thing that bothers me the most is we all accept this behavior from them and because of that they will always be like this and probably get worse. It isn't right and they shouldn't get away with it.

Very sorry to hear about this! 😞

If you need to vent, please do, as we can hope eBay will take it as feedback to make the returns system more fair. In my opinion, protection from returns abuse should apply to everyone, not just those who are top rated. Nobody should have to go through losses for situations that aren't their own fault. You have extremely good feedback with 0 revisals used, suggesting a good reputation.

I've wished many times that CS representatives could use their own judgement in resolving these situations fairly, as there's usually some form of evidence in most cases that could be used, yet eBay reps don't have the power to determine cases.

Wishing you the best!