An eBay WWYD? Bah.

[Dr.Girlfriend]

I sold an older toy, mint in its original box, for about $9 on eBay.

(and before I go any further, I know, it's just $9, but I'm irritated at this point)

The box had quite a bit of damage but the toy itself, a swimming toy with flippers for feet, was totally fine. I took pictures of the box, and it clearly shows that condition of the box and the toy. You can see that the legs/feet are attached in the picture that I took.

My auctions state no refunds and if you want insurance, you have to pay for it (it is an option that this buyer chose to pass). Shipped the item out Monday, he just got it and sent me this message:

"Hi, just got the toy, his foot is completely broken off of his leg and your pictures and description do not show this. The box he was shipped in it fine. I also had to pay $2.93 more for shipping in order to pick this box up. I want a full refund on the item, the shipping and the additional shipping that I had to pay to get it."

Okay, well, this makes no sense at all to me. The picture CLEARLY shows that his legs/feet are totally fine and 100% intact.

Secondly, I purchased the postage directly from the post office. If it cost more to ship it, wouldn't they have, oh, I don't know, put the correct postage on the box while I was standing there?

I emailed him back saying that I will pay the $2.93 additional for shipping if he sends me a picture of my actual box with the postage that my post office put on it and a receipt showing that an additional amount was due. I will not refund for the toy or original shipping costs, as the item was 100% perfect before, during, after the auction and fine when it went into the box (packed with peanuts, bubble wrap and newspaper - and he said the box it was shipped in was totally fine).

I get the impression he had a similar toy with a broken leg and wants to pull a scam, even though it's ony $9. And he has a high rating on eBay, so I am just baffled with this. WWYD? Anything else at this point?

 

[Disney-Kim]

I would offer a partial refund to show Ebay you made an effort at reconciling the issue.

I will say as a long time Ebay Seller...the seller has no rights anymore. The buyer can leave you bad response and THIS is a big deal if you count on the discount you get from earning Power Seller status.

Plus...FYI...You as the Seller can not make the Buyer pay for insurance. This came out in the changes last year. It is YOUR (the sellers) responsibility to insure the package because if the Buyer gets it and its destroyed they can file a claim with Ebay and Paypal (and 99.9% of the time they win). So they would get their money back and you would be out.

its very important to insure your packages over $250 to get Ebay Seller Protection as well (doesn't apply here).

sorry I am not more help...but Sellers really have no recourse and I would try to work it out. The bad response will stay on your acct for a year...and hurt your rating. AND you can't leave the buyer bad resonse

 

[Dr.Girlfriend]

I would offer a partial refund to show Ebay you made an effort at reconciling the issue.

I will say as a long time Ebay Seller...the seller has no rights anymore. The buyer can leave you bad response and THIS is a big deal if you count on the discount you get from earning Power Seller status.

Plus...FYI...You as the Seller can not make the Buyer pay for insurance. This came out in the changes last year. It is YOUR (the sellers) responsibility to insure the package because if the Buyer gets it and its destroyed they can file a claim with Ebay and Paypal (and 99.9% of the time they win). So they would get their money back and you would be out.

its very important to insure your packages over $250 to get Ebay Seller Protection as well (doesn't apply here).

sorry I am not more help...but Sellers really have no recourse and I would try to work it out. The bad response will stay on your acct for a year...and hurt your rating. AND you can't leave the buyer bad resonse

I told him that if he sent me a picture of the additional postage charge on the original box I shipped the toy in, I would reimburse him for that (though, again, I don't understand how the post office would undercharge me for the shipping) but I would not reimburse for anything else because the pictures show the item was totally and 100% fine.

It stinks how eBay doesn't help the sellers anymore. I didn't realize that about insurance - maybe I will have to just start adding that in to the cost of shipping it out.

 

[Janepod]

^^ She's exactly right. I had a very similar situation recently as a seller (I believe the buyer switched items on me) and unfortunately had to refund the buyer's money - and three weeks later am waiting for "my" item to be returned to me. There's nothing you can do, really, but if you want to preserve a good feedback score on eBay you have to suck it up.

FWIW, I just changed my high-$ (some Cartier gold jewelry I inherited) to "local pickup only" so I wouldn't have to deal with any more scam artists.

 

[cvjw]

I sold a bunch of trollbeads on Ebay last year, and I always shipped them out in padded envelopes - it cost around $3 per bead to ship. Anyway, one day at the post office, one of the workers told me that my package wasn't "thick" enough, and there was a good chance that it would be rejected at the current postage amount. The buyer would be charged postage due when it went to their house, and they would be responsible for paying it. I don't know how you shipped the toy, but yes, there is a chance that the postage classifications can change, and the buyer can be left to pay the additional postage.