eBay, etc. General Question/Answer Thread

[BeenBurned]

Hello, ladies!
I am quite sad over a recent ebay experience, so I came here for an honest opinion and possibly advice.

I am an European seller and have recently sold a Max Mara Wool suit to another European buyer, in another country.
I have stated in the description of the item that the suit has a nude/pink color which was my honest opinion on it. I have also stated that the suit was bought from the Italian outlet, so the brand tag was cut and I specifically asked the potential buyers to not buy if the absence of the tag would be an issue (all these were in the description). The buyer claims the suit is a plain pink color and that she doesn't know why the label tag is cut. She claims I have altered the pictures by applying filters (which I did not), because nude suits would sell for more than pink ones (I never even thought about it). She opened a case to return the item and is threatening me with negative feedback. I am attaching my pictures of the suit (the last one is the one she uploaded to ebay, to support her claim of the suit being pink). Am I being unreasonable? To me a nude pink color is exactly what the pictures show. I payed a lot for the shipping, much much more than the buyer payed. I also packed it nicely, hoping the buyer be pleased. What should I do? Thank you for your time.

Later edit - At first she asked for a return or a partial refund, but when I declined, she opened a case. I am not sure if I should have offered a partial refund since I honestly believe I described the suit just like I saw it? To me a plain pink color is quite different from the color of this suit.

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I wouldn't have given the partial. If she doesn't like the color and if it's too pink, a partial refund isn't going to change the color! So what will she gain from a partial unless all she really wants is a lower price and doesn't care about the color.

With SNAD (not as described) cases, sellers are (sadly) responsible for shipping in both directions but if you don't agree to the return, she'll escalate and ebay will decide in her favor. They'll also still charge you for the return label but worse, you'll get a ding on your account for not resolving the case yourself.

As painful as it is, my recommendation is to check the box that allows the buyer to return it for a refund. (Do NOT check to refund without the return. Read the options carefully.)

Once you agree, buyer has a certain number of days to ship and if she doesn't return it, you can call ebay to close the case.

If she does return it, you have a date by which to issue the refund.

 

[BeatriceP]

Thank you for your detailed reply, BeenBurned!
Don't you think there is any chance Ebay could side with me? Or are they always on the buyers' side? It is quite frustrating to lose money in such a manner.

 

[whateve]

Thank you for your detailed reply, BeenBurned!
Don't you think there is any chance Ebay could side with me? Or are they always on the buyers' side? It is quite frustrating to lose money in such a manner.

It might be different in Europe, but in the US, these days ebay always sides with the buyer. I don't think a person even looks at the claim. I think the computer just automatically approves returns in the buyer's favor. They are moving towards this for all sellers. Eventually nearly all returns will be automatically approved; the seller won't have a say in it.

 

[BeenBurned]

Thank you for your detailed reply, BeenBurned!
Don't you think there is any chance Ebay could side with me? Or are they always on the buyers' side? It is quite frustrating to lose money in such a manner.

It might be different in Europe, but in the US, these days ebay always sides with the buyer. I don't think a person even looks at the claim. I think the computer just automatically approves returns in the buyer's favor. They are moving towards this for all sellers. Eventually nearly all returns will be automatically approved; the seller won't have a say in it.

Yup, @whateve is correct.

It should be noted that there have been cases where a seller refused a return so ebay assumed that the seller just didn't want the item back. So instead of making the buyer return it, they allowed the buyer to keep the item PLUS gave the buyer a refund from the seller's account.

As frustrating and disappointing as it is, it's in your best interest to accept the return and block the buyer. (You can also post the buyer's ID on the blocked bidder thread, hopefully preventing her from doing this to others. Although the thread's title refers to non-payers, it's also for scamming buyers or those who lie in their disputes.

eBay Non-Paying Bidder List

Got the approval from Vlad to start this. There are guidelines to follow to avoid potential abuses. They are: only list people who have flaked out on you for no good reason. (there can be extenuating forgivable circumstances - please be fair and resonable). Please list the item number in...

forum.purseblog.com

 

[BeatriceP]

Thank you so much for your help, lovely ladies! I had no idea that ebay always sides with the buyer in such cases, I thought they review the case and side with the person who has the arguments. I will accept the return and see what happens next.

 

[whateve]

My seller sent me the wrong item and sent my item to the other buyer. She refunded both of us, then sent us labels, through the mail, to send each other her item. I think there is a problem, though, because the label she sent me has her address as the return address, not mine. She's in Texas and I'm in California so I suspect the cost of the label might not be correct for the destination. What will happen if I use her label to ship from my address?

 

[BeenBurned]

My seller sent me the wrong item and sent my item to the other buyer. She refunded both of us, then sent us labels, through the mail, to send each other her item. I think there is a problem, though, because the label she sent me has her address as the return address, not mine. She's in Texas and I'm in California so I suspect the cost of the label might not be correct for the destination. What will happen if I use her label to ship from my address?

Chances are the post office won't notice but even if they do, it's the seller's account who will be charged if she underpaid.

I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[rutabaga]

What kind of feedback should I give this seller?

I purchased two hand creams for a really good price. They arrived today and I checked the expiration date. The seller tried to obscure the expiration dates on both tubes but I can still tell they both expired 10/2019. They scratched off the “19”, leaving the “20”, making them look like they expire 10/20 if you don’t look closely. I opened one and they seem to smell fine, but I’m annoyed that they took the extra step to hide that these expired nearly a year ago.

The best part is the PayPal account goes to a ministry. I was this close to firing off a snarky email about how they should do a better job next time if they’re going to obscure expiration dates but I thought I’d run this by y’all before I overreact

 

[BeenBurned]

What kind of feedback should I give this seller?

I purchased two hand creams for a really good price. They arrived today and I checked the expiration date. The seller tried to obscure the expiration dates on both tubes but I can still tell they both expired 10/2019. They scratched off the “19”, leaving the “20”, making them look like they expire 10/20 if you don’t look closely. I opened one and they seem to smell fine, but I’m annoyed that they took the extra step to hide that these expired nearly a year ago.

The best part is the PayPal account goes to a ministry. I was this close to firing off a snarky email about how they should do a better job next time if they’re going to obscure expiration dates but I thought I’d run this by y’all before I overreact

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Open a SNAD dispute for not as described. (Selling expired items is a policy violation.) It's possible that the seller will just issue a refund and not require a return. And if they do want the item returned, they have to pay for the return label.

 

[whateve]

Chances are the post office won't notice but even if they do, it's the seller's account who will be charged if she underpaid.

I wouldn't worry about it.

Thanks! I was hoping that is what would happen.

 

[whateve]

What kind of feedback should I give this seller?

I purchased two hand creams for a really good price. They arrived today and I checked the expiration date. The seller tried to obscure the expiration dates on both tubes but I can still tell they both expired 10/2019. They scratched off the “19”, leaving the “20”, making them look like they expire 10/20 if you don’t look closely. I opened one and they seem to smell fine, but I’m annoyed that they took the extra step to hide that these expired nearly a year ago.

The best part is the PayPal account goes to a ministry. I was this close to firing off a snarky email about how they should do a better job next time if they’re going to obscure expiration dates but I thought I’d run this by y’all before I overreact

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This is so dishonest! A similar thing happened to me with cookies I bought on Amazon.

 

[rutabaga]

Open a SNAD dispute for not as described. (Selling expired items is a policy violation.) It's possible that the seller will just issue a refund and not require a return. And if they do want the item returned, they have to pay for the return label.

This is so dishonest! A similar thing happened to me with cookies I bought on Amazon.

Thanks @BeenBurned. I may do nothing because I looked at my purchase history and I bought foot balm from the same seller this past July that expired that same month 07/2020. It smelled fine and worked fine so I gave positive feedback but in the comments noted that the seller sells old stock and included the expiration date of 07/2020, so I think the seller started scratching out the expiration dates after my comment. In any case, it's my own fault for not noticing that I purchased from this seller again (fool me once...) but I still feel like other buyers should be warned about their dishonesty.

@whateve it's one thing if the seller discloses it as expired or close to being expired, hence the reduced price. It's another thing when they try to hide the fact that they're selling expired goods. And expired food is way worse than old hand cream! I hope Amazon refunded you. People can be so scummy

 

[whateve]

Thanks @BeenBurned. I may do nothing because I looked at my purchase history and I bought foot balm from the same seller this past July that expired that same month 07/2020. It smelled fine and worked fine so I gave positive feedback but in the comments noted that the seller sells old stock and included the expiration date of 07/2020, so I think the seller started scratching out the expiration dates after my comment. In any case, it's my own fault for not noticing that I purchased from this seller again (fool me once...) but I still feel like other buyers should be warned about their dishonesty.

@whateve it's one thing if the seller discloses it as expired or close to being expired, hence the reduced price. It's another thing when they try to hide the fact that they're selling expired goods. And expired food is way worse than old hand cream! I hope Amazon refunded you. People can be so scummy

I did get a refund from Amazon. I can imagine selling something expired as a mistake but when they try to obliterate the date that is plain wrong. On another note, I was able to get powdered sugar at a thrift store for 10 cents a box because it was expired. I don't worry about sugar expiring so I stocked up. I'm glad they sold it, whether or not it is illegal, because it would have been a waste to throw it away.

 

[BeenBurned]

Thanks @BeenBurned. I may do nothing because I looked at my purchase history and I bought foot balm from the same seller this past July that expired that same month 07/2020. It smelled fine and worked fine so I gave positive feedback but in the comments noted that the seller sells old stock and included the expiration date of 07/2020, so I think the seller started scratching out the expiration dates after my comment. In any case, it's my own fault for not noticing that I purchased from this seller again (fool me once...) but I still feel like other buyers should be warned about their dishonesty.

@whateve it's one thing if the seller discloses it as expired or close to being expired, hence the reduced price. It's another thing when they try to hide the fact that they're selling expired goods. And expired food is way worse than old hand cream! I hope Amazon refunded you. People can be so scummy

This is the rule. (I wasn't able to find the "not allowed" part in ebay's current policies but the whole thing is applicable.) Your seller clearly violated policy - and the law!





ETA: While there may be no harm in using expired products, sellers are NOT allowed to sell them.

 

[LV521]

I need some help...
Last week I sent in a purse I bought on The RealReal two years ago to Fashionphile. On Monday I got an email stating that the bag is not authentic, asking me to pay $75 to have the bag shipped back to me. I paid the $75 right away and sent an email to The RealReal custom service asking what their authenticity policy is in this situation. I haven’t heard anything back yet....what would you do if you were in this situation? Thanks!!