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Would like some advice on an eBay Situation please


paulj

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Hi,

 

I have been selling on eBay for a while and have a bit on an odd situation. I sold a model kit about 2 weeks ago and this Wednesday I get a return request in my account where buyer says he has no knowledge of buying the item but was in intensive care when it was purchased. He says he only noticed when his wife was leaving feedback for another purchase. Not sure why they didn't notice when the item arrived beforehand. The reason given on the return is "change of mind"

 

So I have an option to respond to the request, but as far as I can make out as soon as I answer the first prompt which is to confirm return address, I am commited to accepting the return. According to eBays help pages for requesting a return, once seller has posted the item and there are no issues with the sale, the seller can decide whether to accept the return, I don't seem to be given that option.

 

With my health issues it takes me some time to get orders out, and I like having a delay between placings the order and shipping, incase the buyer does change his mind or they want to combine shipping with another item.

 

That's one thing, but the main problem I have is because I had to use eBay payments, the payments are instantly put on hold, until the matter is resolved. I think they have sent the payment to me, but hold means funds from subsequent sales are taken.  Another issue is postage, in that once item is returned outbound postage will be included in a full refund.

 

To be fair, the buyer has offered £20 for my trouble if I accept the return, but I don't think there will be any control on my part as to how much will be refunded. I was thinking of asking him to put cash with the kit, but not sure eBay would have issue with that, and would work against me if return is disputed.

 

I am concerned about my seller stats as the issue as far as eBay is concerned seems to be unresolved.

 

I have sent buyer a message explaining situation, and while I have not commited to declining the return at the moment, I have explain that seems to be the only viable solution for me. I do feel bad about doing that

 

Just wondering if another member has gone through the process of a change of mind return and can shed any light on the process. I have contacted eBay's customer service, and have been told that I would be supported if the buyer contests it as there was significant time after they received the item before they raised the request. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks for reading the long post, I no longer work, and is difficult not being able to discuss things with my colleagues.

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Hi, Yes it states no returns

 

Update: Have had very stressful afternoon, I discover that eBay has automatically accepted the return and buyer has got label to post the item back to me. I contacted customer services and there is nothing that can be done, was told it is down to seller to accept the return and this was done on Wednesday, but I explained I only clicked on a link to respond to the case. It seems that this started the process. I messaged the buyer to explain and asked him to put £20 he offered inside the parcel if he is returning it, but says he has no cash, has been a very distressing situation

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Unfortunately eBay tends to favour the buyer in most 'disputes'. You just have to hope that the majority of your Customers are genuine and honest people (and block the ones that you get any hassle from).

 

Duncan B

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On 25/06/2021 at 16:37, bentwaters81tfw said:

Does your listings stipulate  'No returns accepted'?

On 25/06/2021 at 16:40, paulj said:

Hi, Yes it states no returns

 

Sorry, 'No returns' means nothing

Under UK Distance selling regulation, ie the law. anything bought without the buyer physically handling it and choosing it before sale can be returned and no special reason given. The seller is responsible for the return postage.

There are few exceptions. One being custom made items, eg a mug with my name printed on it, I can only return it if its defective, not because I changed my mind

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42 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

Sorry, 'No returns' means nothing

Just curious - I understand that no returns cannot be applied to new items, but it is unclear to me whether or not this is the same for 2nd hand items.

 

Cheers

 

Colin

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'No Returns' applies to all items bought personally and if the buyer has been fully informed

Lets take an example; you buy a printer/scanner through gumtree. When you pick it up the seller says it needs new ink and the glass plate has scratch. The seller says, 'no return' When you get it home and try it you find that the scanner doesn't work. You were not fully informed. It is your legal right to get it back to seller and get all your money back

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2 hours ago, ckw said:

Just curious - I understand that no returns cannot be applied to new items, but it is unclear to me whether or not this is the same for 2nd hand items.

 

Cheers

 

Colin

 

I've just had to help my daughter return a car!

She bought this online after seeing an ad on a well-known UK Autosales website. When the car arrived, it had been crashed and badly repaired (but only obvious when on ramps - thank goodness I asked her to have her local friendly mechanic give the car the once over!)

The legal position was that the car had to be 'as described' and fully functional - it was neither. See here: https://www.gov.uk/accepting-returns-and-giving-refunds

 

SD

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Hi

    slightly o/t 

 

    I gave up selling on ebay years ago, 

only buy now 

 

   wierd things happen

 

i ordered a kit never arrived, got a refund then months later seller told me i had it and signed for it

   which was interesting as i was at work that day and no one was in, and he couldnt produce sny copy of a signature 

  cheers

    jerry

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Thanks for all the replies, I am more settled about things, I hope the kit is ok when I receive it back later this week. Frustrating as my sales have really slowed down, and this particular kit is one I wanted to reclaim space for and make a very slight dent in stash number.

 

I had same issue with a car I bought of autotrader in 2007, sadly I didn't find out about the poor repair until it was too late, about 4 weeks after I bought it. I felt very bad about it

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I just had to tackle a seller on ebay.

I bought a digital photo frame from him

He described it as 'mains and battery powered' I even messaged him to confirm it could be battery powered and he confirmed.

However, it cannot be powered by batteries

His response was 'no returns'

I had to quote the distance seller regs to him. A short time later I got a full refund

 

As for taking up a complaint on faulty goods. The case can be taken up in 'any reasonable' time after the sale

In a case before a magistrate* a few years back the mag said that a 'reasonable' time is the time taken by the average, non-specialist, consumer to discover the fault and the amount of use the item gets. Examples he gave were, a car used daily by a commuter might have the fault discovered in a couple of weeks, a washing machine used once a week, the time might be as long as 6 months

* we were defending ourselves in a complaint; we won btw

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