eBay issue....

miss notax

I have just sold some forks off my Kona on EBay, they had literally only been used a few times, no crashes etc, in perfect condition. I stated all this on the description along with clearly stating the size.

They sold (for a very low price!), the buyer paid, I packed them really nicely and booked a courier, and the day of collection the buyer emailed saying that they were the wrong size and would I refund it, if not no problem. As the courier was booked etc and I clearly say no refunds, I said no.

Forks now delivered, and I get an email saying the lockout is broken (it isn't - they are perfect) and what am I doing about it? I don't think I have done anything wrong here (and have replied as such) - what can they actually do? Obviously it's just my word against theirs. Can EBay get involved or are they likely to just leave me negative feedback?

Am a bit stuck as to what to do... It's not my fault they didn't read the description properly!!!

Any thought welcome...... Thanks!

supersonic

What forks are they?

bamba

Has the buyer stated what exactly is broken, can they send you a picture ? or are they presuming that on lock out there should be zero movement on the forks ?
Ebay do tend to favour the buyer rather than the seller, have you the serrial number of the forks you sent so you no that they are the ones you sent ??

nicklouse

TBH I would tell them to send them back. Carry the cost and sell them again.

Stu Coops

Also if they paid via Paypal the funds may be held until the dispute is settled, tell him to send them back to you and relist theres always some arse trying it on.

cooldad

You're onto a hiding to nothing. Chalk it up to experience. Paypal always rule in favour of the buyer. Which is good if you're the buyer.

mcnultycop

Empty your Paypal account, so there is nothing for them to claw back if they manage to launch a successful claim, and dig in. Keep all your correspondence and if they do leave you negative feedback explain to eBay and they'll remove it.

paul20v

If your in the right empty your paypal account and when thats sorted tell the buyer to jump for it
Thats what i would do i would not be held to ransom by a bad buyer end of
Why should you incure any costs because of them
Sounds like there pulling a fast one.


Edit : looks like someone else was typing a similar thing 8)

cooldad

Bad advice. Ebay will not remove bad feedback unless it's obvious, and this isn't.
The buyer says he got faulty goods - how are you going to prove otherwise.
Deal with it and move on.

bamba

if you empty your paypal account , if they decided a refund is in order they will just take you paypal into the red to pay it.
The buyer needs to clarify what exactly wrong with them to the seller.

weeksy59

cooldad wrote:

You're onto a hiding to nothing. Chalk it up to experience. Paypal always rule in favour of the buyer. Which is good if you're the buyer.

Not true actually. I sold an RST motorbike jacket about 8 weeks ago. 300 emails and problems later with the bloke and Ebay/Paypal found in MY favour !!!! His biggest issue was that the jacket was too small for him, i told him that wasn't my fault as i put the sizes and pics of the lables.

I did end up giving him £25 back out of kindness though, but Ebay found in the sellers favour.

diy

I'm guessing the seller is trying to find a way of canceling the transaction. Probably would have been better to cancel the transaction and charge for the lost postage. I would say I get problems with about 1/3rd of transactions with ebay. Normally people winning and then ignoring you.

Shotsaway

As soon as the buyer contacted you about them being the wrong size, that should have set the alarm bells ringing. It sounds very much like he/she was trying to get out of the deal at that point. Once they have possession they can then say they are faulty as they know eBay is likely to side with them over you!

On the day the buyer contacted you, you should have offered to refund the money, less the money you paid for the courier.

I would offer the buyer their money back and you will just have to loose the courier costs. That way you get the forks back ASAP without eBay getting involved and without them freezing the payment. Once you have them back, you will be able to sell them again to somebody who really wants them. You may even sell them next time for a higher price.

Just put the loose down to experience.

A few years ago, I had a buyer who didn't pay. I chased and chased, he eventually then said he didn't want what I was selling (with some poor excuse). About a week later I noticed that he had some feedback for exactly the same item, which had a final bid price at less than what he had bid for my item. I also noticed that this item ended only a few hours after my item and the buyer had bid for this item just before it had ended. so even though he was committed to buying my item, he continued to bid for others. I agreed to cancel the transaction but I did get to leave negative feedback that he was a messer!

DCR00

how much did you sell for ? im pretty sure Paypal only hold onto large payments

i had a similar problem last week. Sold some V8 pedals that were pretty shagged (the advert said as much). They were on for £10, but the winning buyer paid £18 for them. He sent me an email once he got them saying the bearings were gone in the left pedal, which they weren't, and that pins were missing (this was true and i offered him a partial refund for the pins. He declined)

You are always going to get chancers on eBay. The fact that they first said they were the wrong size and then said they were broken suggests foul play. If you sold them in good faith, and they genuinely aren't broken, then i wouldnt worry about it too much

miss notax

Thanks for all the advice guys

I did an uplift day yesterday and, whilst I was buzzing yesterday, I have feeling decidedly old and knackered today - hence I have just looked at this

I have explained to the buyer that I feel they are working properly, they were professionally removed by the bike shop, so I can't really see how there can be an issue with them. And I haven't had a reply..... I do feel that they are trying to pull a fast one here - they obviously got the wrong size and are trying to get out of it. If push comes to shove though I don't want any hassle (or disputes or negative feedback), and will certainly heed all the above advice

Thanks!

paul20v

bamba wrote:

if you empty your paypal account , if they decided a refund is in order they will just take you paypal into the red to pay it.
The buyer needs to clarify what exactly wrong with them to the seller.

If you dont have a bank account or credit card on your account how can they do this ?
I still say if you have done nothing wrong why should you roll over
Ebay is full of scammers these day buyers and sellers it not the place it used be 10 years ago .

benpinnick

Ebay is a shoddy car boot sale for w******s and PayPal is its banker. I personally avoid both like the plague, and I am happy that I do. I have sold tons of stuff on here and never had one problem - won't touch the fleabay again. Some people on BR ask me to accept PayPal, I tell them I'd rather send them the item first and they can send the money if they're happy. Not had an issue yet with that either!

cooldad

Personally I love Ebay, but can't disagree on the w****** bit. You were single once too.

sniper68

I had a similar experience a few years ago.I sold an original Volvo car stereo in perfect working order.After about 2 weeks I get an email saying the CD player didn't work.After a few emails to both the buyer and Ebay explaining that it worked perfectly and it took TWO weeks for him to put a claim in my Ebay and Paypal account were frozen and my Paypal account put into the red to the tune of around £100 so I could neither buy nor sell.
I received the stereo a few days later and it rattled.I promptly took it apart and found about 40p in copper and 2 car-wash tokens inside the CD player :x
I informed Ebay and sent them photos but they still found in favour of the Buyer but agreed to remove his bad-feedback after he agreed to let it go as he had his money back.

cooldad

So you came out 40p ahead and have a clean car. Result.

sniper68

cooldad wrote:

So you came out 40p ahead and have a clean car. Result.

Well -£99.60 but clean car

Giraffoto

I'd only ever sell stuff on eBay, never buy, and it's worked fairly well so far. My top tip is to take the best possible pictures that show the item at its worst - most people are too distracted by the perfect focus, lighting and composition to notice that you've shown them something with a hole in it, but you've undeniably shown any faults that they might subsequently complain about. Also include a ruler in your pictures if relevant. Last week I sold two things for more than the "buy it now" price, one of which (first time I've achieved this!) they could have bought cheaper brand new

Anonymous

mcnultycop wrote:

Empty your Paypal account, so there is nothing for them to claw back if they manage to launch a successful claim

Thought they can claw from your associated bank account too.

weeksy59 wrote:

cooldad wrote:

Paypal always rule in favour of the buyer. Which is good if you're the buyer.

Not true actually. I sold an RST motorbike jacket about 8 weeks ago. 300 emails and problems later with the bloke and Ebay/Paypal found in MY favour !!!! His biggest issue was that the jacket was too small for him, i told him that wasn't my fault as i put the sizes and pics of the lables.

I did end up giving him £25 back out of kindness though, but Ebay found in the sellers favour.

It's rare then. There are tonnes of bad experience when it comes to ebay selling, especially with PayPal. In the end you may convince them but it's a lot of work. It's far too easy for the buyer to just complain and ebay/paypal in the first instance believe them, not the seller.

Still, clothes if all the details are there then likely they'll go in your favour so long as it's clear there are no returns. Surprised this is actually legally allowed under the distance selling regs though. Online, if someone buys something and it doesn't fit usually you have to allow a return within 14 days, but suppose it doesn't count for private/2nd-hand sales.

Anyway, hassles and the crazy fees means I won't sell on ebay now. I've had some close calls and got stung with fakes and so much of what I'm looking for tends to be dodgy (tends to be gadgets and camera gear which is high on the list of dodgy and knocked off). Can't be bothered with it now. If it's a company on there I look for their own web site and if they have a decent credit card payment service I'll use that if the price is the same. Saves them money too as the fees to them are probably lower than what ebay/paypal charge.

mrmonkfinger

Ah, the inevitable ebay messer - of course it isn't broken, they're looking for a get out clause. The easiest route to sorting this is to get them to return it at their cost and then accept the hit for the post in the first place. You gotta be careful with ebay, especially with stuff that can be claimed to be "not working".


I got stung in a similar way with electrical goods recently (the buyer didn't want me to send by a particular courier and I swear the "doesn't work" was a revenge for me not bowing to their desire for a 24 hour courier service), absolutely no way I could prove the item was functional beforehand, and ebaypal will ALWAYS go with the buyer if there is any doubt.