What to do with a return

[fff094]

Got a return request for an item today. The buyer received it a week ago and said they just opened it today and are claiming the item is a counterfeit. I know for a fact the item was not counterfeit and pulled up the invoice from when I purchased the item five years ago. I asked for pictures of the item to prove it was the one I sent and the buyer refuses to provide them. At this point. I'm worried about receiving an item that is not the one I sent to them. The account only has 7 feedback and wasn't created that long ago. Is it even worth my time to let eBay step in and possibly decide in my favor, or should I just accept the refund request?

[kensgiftshop]

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@fff094 wrote:

Is it even worth my time to let eBay step in and possibly decide in my favor, or should I just accept the refund request?

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If you want the item back before refunding, you don't want Ebay to decide the case.

They could refund the buyer from your account and let them keep the item.

Accept the return and provide return shipping.

[simba6]

You have two choices. Accept it and refund when you receive it back. Or, ebay can just refund on your dime, ding your rating and let the buyer keep it for free.

There is still hope the buyer will never get around to sending it back.  Then you don't refund.  

[no_zero369]

@fff094 

Hey, sorry about this "interesting" buyer you have there!  Have seen a few of those in the past and know that it stinks.  Can I offer some advice, from the cheap seats?  Trying to be helpful so please don't shoot the messenger! 😇

When I started selling I had situations like this: buyer falsely claiming something was fake.  It really pizzed me off.  Unfortunately, I took it personally and fought the return and eBay refunded the buyer and didn't require them to return the item to me.  This was a MAXIMUM LOSS - lost item and the money!  Oh and later learned that because I didn't accept the return and provide a refund, I got a defect on my selling account for an "unresolved" case.

Eventually I learned to not take stuff like this personally and to expect and plan for returns.  Part of what really helped me was having the plan in place so that when I had a return request, all I had to do was work the plan.   Part of that plan was to have a 'contingency fund' set aside to pay for return shipping and other costs.  That took the financial sting of returns away and allowed me to sleep at night.  Until I built up the fund, I never spent any money I got from a sale until 31 days after the tracking showed delivered.  That allowed the MBG to expire for the buyer.

So in your situation-

• Don't take the "doesn't seem authentic" claim personally, buyers are unknowledgeable or select what they can to get free returns.
• Buyers are not required to "prove" anything by eBay, so asking for that generally won't help
• IF you are worried about getting something back that isn't what you sent, don't trouble trouble until trouble troubles you!  There is a process one can follow, when scammed, to be made whole.  But let's attack that IF we get  there!
• Solve problems with buyers as you can or follow the process of the Money Back Guarantee.  If you do not do this you will get a defect on your account for an unresolved case.  Always better to do for yourself than have eBay do for you.
• Anytime a buyer selects a reason for a return that falls under the 'not as described' category, the seller is REQUIRED to refund the buyer.  The seller can send a prepaid label to the buyer to get the item back and does not have to refund until item is received.  That's how the MBG works.
• Might it make sense to review the MBG?  It is kind of complex, but in small chunks and with patience, one can figure it out.  One can always ask here for clarification if needed.

Anyway, hope some of this helps!  Glad to share anything else that might be helpful!

Hang in there!

[patriot_industrial_drive_supply]

First, address the concern of the customer regarding counterfeit. This is a VERY real concern. A lot of what is sold on Amazon is counterfeit. Send them the invoice you have.... try to work with them. I had a customer that was concerned something I sent was counterfeit. It was simply a much older piece, and once I explained that to them, and they looked over the packaging, they were happy, and bought more parts from me.

[fff094]

Thanks. This is all very helpful information. The money getting returned wasn't an issue. I still had the $200 sitting in my Paypal account, so even I did accept the refund money wasn't going to be an issue. I have been selling on eBay for almost a decade and have never dealt with a refund request before. It's a bit jarring to be accused of selling bootleg items when you know for a fact the item was real.

[no_zero369]

@fff094 

Congrats!  You must be doing A LOT right, if this is the first return you have had to deal with in 10-yrs! 👍

Yeah, it is jarring when someone selects "doesn't seem authentic."  Just feel sorry for the person who can't tell real from fake!  😌  Now that said, some scammers will claim that just to get a seller all emotional and defensive.  That way they can get a seller to argue, dig in their heels and miss the time lines of the MBG.  THEN the buyer gets eBay to 'step in' and refund them = Free stuff!  This seems to work with sellers who have 'no returns' policies as they are more likely to fight & lose.  So yeah, it isn't personal, just an ignorant buyer or one trying to pull a fast one!  As long as you follow the rules and resolve the case, eBay isn't going to ding you, nor keep an eye out for you for supposedly selling counterfeit items.

Glad that $200 hasn't been spent!  We see a few sellers who are in a panic because the spent the money already on medicine or doctor visits or something and have no way to issue the refund.  That kind of financial 'shock' also tends to get them off their game: upset, emotional, cloudy thinking. So glad you aren't in that category!

Hey, wondering if when you get the item back and are going to relist it - would it help as far 'authentic' goes to include a picture of whatever paperwork you have or proof of authenticity?  That can't stop a NAD case, but might be enough to persuade a scammer to try their game elsewhere? Just a thought.

Anyway, hope it all works out!  Let us know what happens!

[fff094]

It's actually already done. After about 10 back and forth messages of me explaining why it wasn't a bootleg and asking them to upload some pictures showing it was the item I sent them and them replying, "I don't want to upload photos because I can only upload 10." I then suggested they just send me a normal eBay message with the pictures instead of using the picture slots on the refund request page. Then they said, they watched a video review of an unboxing, saw that the problem they had that made them think it was a counterfeit was actually a common issue people had with the item, and told me to "f off" because of how I handled it. They then left negative feedback. So, we ended with them accepting it was real, happy with the item, no refund, and some negative feedback. Had I known there was no way the refund request was going to work in my favor, I would have just asked for pictures once and moved forward with the refund process and saved myself some time and negative feedback, but there's no point in crying about it now.

[no_zero369]

Oh this dude is a real winner!  Make sure the buyer is on your Blocked Buyers List!

Sorry you learned this the hard way, but hey I did too!  We see sellers come here and think they can reason with and convince buyers.  Sometimes it works.  But with others, who are already upset, anything other than some contrition just gets them would up.  This one who is using profanity...not good!

Now when an email comes in with some "claim" I just default to something like this:

Dear Buyer,

Sorry you are not happy with the widget, please return it and we will be happy to issue a full refund.

Sincerely,

Seller

...rinse and repeat as necessary.

But if this buyer cursed, I would use the Report Buyer function!  That is a violation of  the Member-to-member contact policy.  If they did it to you they have done it to others and perhaps your report is the straw that breaks the camels back.  Oh and just remembered they were filing a false NAD case - misuse of the MBG policy.  Mention that too!

Now as far as that negative FB goes...perhaps contacting CS and pointing to the abusive emails from the buyer might get you some sympathy and the FB removed.  If  not it should age off in a year.

Hope this experience hasn't soured you on selling!  Sounds like you unfortunately got 'an education' on this one.  Anyway hang in there!  Sounds like you'll be fine!