Hi everyone,
Last week I listed several paperback books from a well-known children's series and they sold with via BIN within a few hours. I was honest in listing the condition of the books - they are not in new condition and have been well-used. However, they are all in fairly decent, readable condition. I listed them for $6 plus $4 shipping via media mail - $10 total. I shipped them one day after they sold.
They were delivered today and the buyer immediately opened a return request (I don't accept returns) due to the item not matching the description. Here's what she said (I am copying this verbatim): "you took fotos from front cover but their binding area all damaged. I can not use these books in this condition. not acceptable.. want to return."
Should I give this buyer a refund? I was honest in my description about any damages on the books. No, I didn't show a photo of the spine of each book but I did say there was spine damage. The binding on each book is definitely not damaged -- the pages of each book are held securely in place. As I mentioned, some of the books did have some spine damage, but that is purely aesthetic. It does not affect the ability to read the book at all. In hindsight, I acknowledge that I should have taken a photo of the spines, but if you zoom in on my photo you can tell there is no significant damage to the spines. I'm thinking this buyer did not read the description and was expecting like-new books.
I just spoke with an eBay rep who told me that if I accept the return I will have to pay for shipping because of her claim that the item did not match the description. Other than that, he was not able to give me much information on how to proceed. I am completely stressed out about this sale and it's only 10 bucks! I can't imagine how people handle the stress of possibly losing out on thousands and thousands of dollars.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thank you!
http://www.ebay.com/itm/282098799991?ssPageName=STRK:MEREX:IT
EDIT: I forgot to mention in my original post that from her username, the seller appears to be a used book seller.