eBay Returns - New Terms

me-109

Just noticed this on an email summarising some recent changes to the eBay T&Cs:
"The majority of our sellers are already providing a great returns service, but for those sellers who choose not to facilitate a return or provide/fund return postage for items that are faulty or not as described, we may refund their buyers without requiring them to return the item and in turn we will seek reimbursement from sellers."

So they force you into taking returns and paying the postage on them, when you may not get back what you sent out. Alternatively, the buyer sends photos of the 'faulty/damaged' item that they 'received' (the one they broke earlier) to eBay, whilst keeping the one they bought and then getting their money refunded. Hmmmm .... scamming much?

eric_draven

hopefully Ebay will start to shoot it's self in the foot now with it's new terms and sellers charges,i have used the dispute system to get refunds on genuine faulty products "mostly electrical",it will start to make me think twice about selling on there,as yet more power has shifted to the buyer

me-109

I did buy a stem off there recently which was 1cm shorter than advertised, but was so cheap that it wasn't worth paying to return on top of the seller not refunding the original postage - so I could see where the new rules might have helped me.

However, as a seller, I can see the potential to get scammed or fleeced by buyers that don't even have to return a disputed item in order to reclaim their money.

10% final sale value fees are quite extortionate in my opinion, so I do prefer to use the likes of the classifieds on here instead, even if the value to me ends up the same.

capt_slog

Son bought a garmin edge 305 about a year ago. It was described as used but in good working order, but when it arrived it was clear that it had been opened up and glued so badly that the buttons were stuck to the case and refused to move, making it useless

I'm not sure who he contacted but he asked for and got a refund agreed, but then a very angry letter from the seller (written in f-wit) asking why he hadn't returned the duff item yet (innit). It took a bit of a wrangle but son eventually got the seller to pay for the return postage.

Ebay at the time didn't say it was up to the seller to pay for the return, but it seemed bloody unfair to me that he could be sent absolute crap and then have to pay for it to go back before he could get a refund.

The new rules are worrying though, and open to a lot of abuse. I've marked stuff that I've sent out in the past, just in case, so i know that I'm getting the same thing back should it come to that. Always used to specify "sold as seen", but I suppose that is no longer valid?

monkimark

My brother in law sold a camera lens on ebay, a few weeks later he gets the money taken back off him by ebay/paypal as the buyer has reported it as damaged. It was then returned to him with damage that was clearly done by the buyer in the couple of weeks after receiving it leaving him with no way of challenging the decision.

I'm sure that was a couple of months back so this isn't entirely new, looks like the procedure has just been made easier for buyers.

I certainly won't be selling anything on ebay again.

bernithebiker

Ebay sucks.

DavidJB

Ebay has always been quick to shaft the sellers...I've been done over a couple of times.

buckmulligan

I have mixed opinions about eBay really. I think those T&Cs are designed for sellers who refuse to cooperate with the eBay Resolution Centre.

On the one occasion that I’ve been unhappy as a buyer, I raised a case in the Resolution Centre and they made it extremely easy to return the item at no cost to myself and even refunded the original postage fees. I did feel a bit bad for the seller, since he got lumped with the original postage charges, return postage charges and I wouldn’t be surprised if they refused to refund the eBay seller and PayPal fees as well. I’d guess he was about £20 down for the whole affair (which I felt bad about) but at the end of the day he tried to stiff me with an item that was broken and didn’t bother responding to any of my emails until the eBay Resolution Centre had ruled in my favour.

As a seller I’ve never had any problems, but I can see how it could easily turn nasty if you run into a less than scrupulous ‘buyer’ who is looking to screw someone over. I think the 10% charge is fair, they provide a good service and you generally get a good price for things on eBay.

donkykong

I think no matter where you sell anything there are some very shady buyers out there and are prepared to cheat the honest seller out of his earnings on the sale, Ebay is a good selling platform and is built around trust of your trading partner, but there are many shady buyers also on there who cheat the trust, the only way to wittle them out is to check their previous feedback before you sell,
(easier said than done i suppose in the case of last minute bids) and cancel their bids, if they look like a risky sale,
better to lose a bid now, than the total sale amount and the genuinly good part you sold and a dispute later.

selling multiple items, can be problematic, (example) you sell a set of 4 loose bike brake shoes, ( 4 in a bag)
buyer will swear black is blue and say there was only 2 in there, they end up with a refund and 2 free brake shoes, whilst i end up out of pocket, the guy who plays this trick wants something for nothing.
fortunatly i keep all their addresses handy so whenever im passing i'll post the dirt on them as a way of saying thank you. :twisted:
nowt in the ebay rules about that.