Hello~
I have been buying on eBay for the longest time and have recently started selling on eBay. I’ve had only great experiences with pleasant buyers but recently came upon a difficult buyer, and was wondering if I can get some advice and direction.
I don’t know if I’m allowed to give details on the actual listing numbers and such on this forum so please let me know if I am allowed to do so for some of the fellow expert sellers on here to see details into my case.
So the details of my situation are:
I sold a limited edition Louis Vuitton Neverfull tote bag about two weeks ago. This tote bag originally came with a detachable pouch/wristlet that I’ve noted in the description of my listing “no pouch included”. ( I’ve sold it on eBay after the tote bag was sold) aThe pictures I’ve uploaded did not show the pouch as being included either. The item was listed as “new with tags” since it was brand New never used and I’ve included the original dustbag, box and tags. If you do a quick eBay search for Louis Vuitton Neverfull New with tags, there are plenty of listings that come up the same way with description “no pouch included”. It is a bag that is commonly sold this way.
The day that the buyer has the tote delivered, she messages me back and opens a return request ( I have a no return policy) saying that the “item is not as described” since it says “new” but it has no pouch, and new comes with pouch.
I was a bit upset at this point since I clearly did say “no pouch included” in the descriptions and my pictures didn’t show the pouch at all. Then I started to look at the buyer’s feedback and her listings to see if she has negative/positive feedback etc and to get an understanding of what was going on. I saw a listing on the buyer’s page of the same exact pouch that she is complaining of not having received. I was baffled and investigated a bit more.
The day before the tote was even delivered to this buyer I had someone else on eBay message me to ask “how much did you sell the Neverfull pouch for? I’m thinking of selling my pouch too and just needed an idea of the price. Thank you I’m new to eBay”. Come to find out this person that messaged me the day before the bag is delivered was the same exact person as the buyer that bought my bag. She used an alternate ID to ask me about my sold pouch the day before the bag was even delivered. I knew that these two people were the same because they both have a listing up for a Louis Vuitton box with the same exact pictures and same exact background and same person’s hand with a distinctive ring. So by now I’m thinking “ is this person trying to scam me?” And I was in panic mode.
I looked at the buyer’s past sold items also and saw that she too in the past has sold a limited edition Neverfull tote and her listing also states in the descriptions that the pouch is not included. So she very well knows that these bags are commonly sold without the pouch.
my conclusion was that this buyer was able to buy this bag at a better price, possibly at LV boutique ( as can be seen by the fact that she has a listing of the pouch, which shows she has one of these bags in her possession). and now wants to claim that she didn’t get the item as described so that she can get a refund.
I thought this was very dishonest of her and messaged her about these facts that I uncovered and every reply she sent me was a lie after the other. At first I said how can you claim that you didn’t know about the pouch not being included but you used your alternate ID to message me a day before the bag was delivered to ask how much I sold my pouch for? You even said you were new to eBay but obviously that’s not true as you have thousands of feedback. At first she said she didn’t recognize that sellers ID. When I replied back with screenshots and listing numbers of the two identical listings she had on both accounts, she changed her word to say that the other account is her kids account.
When I pointed out that she should have read the description that says “no pouch” before purchase, since she should know that these bags are sold without the pouch all the time, and that I see that she’s sold the same bag without a pouch in the past also. She said “ well I listed in the title that there was no pouch, not just at the end of the description like you did”. I sent her a screenshot of her listing and how nowhere in the title does it say “no pouch” but it says only in the descriptions just like my listing.
She then goes on to say that she sees the bag being sold without a pouch by other sellers for $500 less than I had sold it to her for, and that she would buy it for $500 less but not for the price she bought it for. Even though I felt the buyer was being unreasonable, at this point I just wanted to get the situation over with so offered two options:
1. I will accept return for refund but I would deduct $200 which would cover shipping to and from her, and also all my time she had wasted and the fact that I could’ve sold this bag to at least 3-4 other people if it wasn’t for her since I was getting a few offers from others. 2. Or she can keep the bag and I would give her a $300 discount and not the $500 she thought was reasonable.
she refused and opened a case against me on Thursday. And I’ve reported her as abusing ebays money back guarantee returns, since obviously she is just regretting the purchase and there is no issue with the listing. I submitted my evidence of her knowing about the pouch not being included before the purchase also.
When i I messaged the buyer saying, please make sure when you do end up sending my item back to me, make sure it is in the same condition I sent to you, she replies back “ I never even opened the box” So that’s another lie. How did you know the pouch is not in there if you never even opened the box?
sorry for the looong post but now my question is, what is to be expected now? I’ve also call eBay customer care to talk about this case with a representative but I’m reading on this forum of how usually the buyer will win? And sometimes eBay will refund the money even if you don’t get the item returned? Is this a possibility too? I wish I knew about this before I listed such a high priced item on eBay. I feel like at this point I just want my item back and I want to refund for at least minus shipping costs. It’s been past 48 hours since the case was opened, and no resolution yet..
everything this buyer tells me sounds like a lie and her story doesn’t match up and I haven’t slept well for the past few days because of the anxiety from this whole situation.. is there something else I should be doing to help with this case? Also, I read that the buyer has 5 days to return an item once they start a return process. does that 5 days apply to this situation?
thank you in advance for any advice..
disneyshopper
