EBAY refund question

[Chim Chiminy]

I have been selling on Ebay for a couple of years now, off and on. I have never had a buyer ask for a full refund. I mostly sell kids clothing.
This guy is asking for a refund on military uniforms.
I just need help with wording this, I don't have issue with the refund itself although I am a bit miffed that he didn't ask questions prior to bidding. I state that in my auctions, I also don't have a return policy per se. Refunding leaves me out $107................
Is it fair to refund half now, the other half upon receipt of the items so I can make sure they are the same as I sent?

He says the uniforms are not official ACU's (digital camo) and won't pass inspection.
My husband wore these for several months and never had an issue. Most of the guys in his battalion are wearing the same.
I included in the auction info the stock number so that bidders could look it up and get more info on the item.

Here is what I have typed up so far-----

I will refund your money. However, if you had any questions it clearly states to ask before bidding. I also included the stock number of both items so that they could be researched. That is the responsability of the bidder.
These uniforms were worn by my husband for several months, he is active duty and there was never any question of them not being passable for inspection.

Help me out with this. I know there are others here with more experience and who are better at wording than I am.
Thanks in advance!

 

[poohj80]

Personally, I wouldn't refund at all. If you auction stated the facts including model number and that all questions should be asked prior to bidding, the buyer should have taken the time to figure out if these would work or not. If you do decide to refund, I would not offer any money until the items were returned in the same condition that you shipped. If you refund partially now, you may be out the money and the items.

 

[simpilotswife]

I wouldn't refund the money. You gave the stock number in your listing and he should have done his research.

 

[AlexTina]

I don't really know about the wording, but I have been sellin on Ebay for 7 years now off and on and for 1 year full time and I would not refund any money at all until I recieved the merchandise. Even paypal who almost always finds in favor of the buyer will not issue a refund until the returned items have been shipped and delivered (delivery confirmation) at the buyers expense.

Tina

 

[~Kathie]

I have been selling on Ebay for a couple of years now, off and on. I have never had a buyer ask for a full refund. I mostly sell kids clothing.
This guy is asking for a refund on military uniforms.
I just need help with wording this, I don't have issue with the refund itself although I am a bit miffed that he didn't ask questions prior to bidding. I state that in my auctions, I also don't have a return policy per se. Refunding leaves me out $107................
Is it fair to refund half now, the other half upon receipt of the items so I can make sure they are the same as I sent?

If you are going to refund, don't do it until you get the goods back, you inspect them and they are the same ones you sent to him and in the same condition. I've been a victim of the old buy and switch. Now I mark all my items with invisible ink. If you refund you will get your final fees back from ebay.

Not preaching but it's a good idea to have a refund policy and state it in all auctions. Saves a lot of aggravation. And..you have it to fall back on. I've tweaked my policy over the years to reflect new problems that may come up.

He says the uniforms are not official ACU's (digital camo) and won't pass inspection.
My husband wore these for several months and never had an issue. Most of the guys in his battalion are wearing the same.
I included in the auction info the stock number so that bidders could look it up and get more info on the item.

Is he sure?? How can something be official for one unit and not for another?? I'm not military but is that normal?? Apparently according to this guy..it is.

Couple of questions.
Was there a seccond high bidder you can offer these to?
Maybe someone in your husband's unit can use them?

Here is what I have typed up so far-----

I will refund your money. However, if you had any questions it clearly states to ask before bidding. I also included the stock number of both items so that they could be researched. That is the responsability of the bidder.
These uniforms were worn by my husband for several months, he is active duty and there was never any question of them not being passable for inspection.

Help me out with this. I know there are others here with more experience and who are better at wording than I am.
Thanks in advance!

I have to run out on errands but I'll help you with wording in a short time and either PM you or email you if you want. To me your wording is a little emotional. Better just to state the facts without being accusatory. Hard when you are pe'od at a someone who is being a moron.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

Yep, I knew I was being emotional. Bad habit with me, I take everything to heart!

Thanks for all the advice guys.........I will hold off with my response to the buyer for now.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

It looks like you got all of the advice you needed about the refund, but I just wanted to say that the buyer may have changed his mind after winning because there was an article I believe in one of the newspapers (I can't remember which one, Army Times maybe) about how AAFES is not selling ACU's yet so although some of the ones for sale look the same there are small discrepencies and quality issues compared with the official ones. So if he saw the article after winning the auction that may be why he wants the refund. My DH and I recieved a flyer in the mail from a company selling ACU's and considered buying some, too, but I'm glad we didn't. I think the only place to get the official ones right now is if they're issued them, but that may vary by base, I'm not sure, but the article said that Clothing and Sales doesn't have them yet.

 

[mickeyfan2]

Personally, I wouldn't refund at all. If you auction stated the facts including model number and that all questions should be asked prior to bidding, the buyer should have taken the time to figure out if these would work or not. If you do decide to refund, I would not offer any money until the items were returned in the same condition that you shipped. If you refund partially now, you may be out the money and the items.

I agree 100%. I was always under the impression that EBAY sales were final.


ETA: If he does not like them, then he can resell them on EBAY.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Is he sure?? How can something be official for one unit and not for another?? I'm not military but is that normal?? Apparently according to this guy..it is.

Actually while it may not be "official" some commands may choose to let the uniform pass if they can't see a difference or if they can't tell that it's not official while other commands may note a difference, however slight and deem the uniform unacceptable. It does vary by unit. Also some units don't want their soldiers to wear the ACU's before they start issuing them because then some soldiers aren't wearing the same uniform as everyone else (negates the term "uniform" lol).

 

[welovedis]

If you don't have a specific refund policy, then you may want to work with this guy and then write up something for your auctions from now on. If you dare to risk the negative from him, then you can decide not to refund, but you might also do well if you offer them to the next highest bidder.

I also include an invisible pen mark on everything I sell so that if it is returned without it I know I've been given the old "bait & switch" and can deal with it properly. One of the biggest scams on eBay, believe it or not, is people that are claiming items are misrepresented & asking for refunds, then sending back other products.

I would say something like "I'm disappointed that you were not pleased with the items, especially since I felt I did a good job of representing them accurately with pictures and stock number information. However, I've decided that I will offer a refund of your bid price as long as the items are returned in the condition they were sent. Upon receipt of the items, I will check them for my seller's mark and will process the refund. Please be sure to send the items back in the same way they were received and to include delivery confirmation and/or insurance to protect yourself."

or something like that--i'm also way too emotional with my answers and usually wait a bit to respond.

GL!

 

[tlbwriter]

I agree with welovedis. I wouldn't offer a refund at all, but if you do, follow that advice. But do not refund for shipping - either what it cost you to send it to the buyer, or for the buyer to send it back. Refund the cost of the item only. If you had truly made a mistake on your auction, you should pay shipping both ways. But in this case, the buyer simply didn't make a wise decision, so that's not your problem.

 

[sanibelover]

Sorry about the bad experience. Just reiterating what others have said. DO NOT refund any money until you have the items back and don't refund any shipping. I think you would be well within your rights not to refund anything since you put a lot of info in the listing, but it might just be better to refund and be done with this guy. Just realize that you may end up with negative feedback either way. Good luck.

 

[krdisneybound]

I definitely would not refund his money. He bid and it ended with a contract for him. IF YOU DO DECIDE to refund at your own discretion, then you are out your listing, ending, pay pal and shipping fees. All that should be deducted from his refund, if you do refund. BUT DO not REFUND without the merchandise in your hands first.

 

[Chim Chiminy]

Not that this is right of me, but I looked to see if maybe he had won a similar auction thus changing his mind.

This guy is buying some scary stuff, all in the last two weeks. Swords (3), body armor, books on emerging viruses, police armored vest, and several items on Martial Law-Police State 9-11......................................freaky stuff. Maybe he is a collector??

I shouldn't have read all that.................but I did.
I will refund, but like you all say. Items returned first. Refund minus my fees.......
Not afraid of a neg, since I have 100% positive and I can respond to it.

 

[epcotfan]

Don't refund any money until you get the merchandise back and inspect it.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Not that this is right of me, but I looked to see if maybe he had won a similar auction thus changing his mind.

This guy is buying some scary stuff, all in the last two weeks. Swords (3), body armor, books on emerging viruses, police armored vest, and several items on Martial Law-Police State 9-11......................................freaky stuff. Maybe he is a collector??

I shouldn't have read all that.................but I did.
I will refund, but like you all say. Items returned first. Refund minus my fees.......
Not afraid of a neg, since I have 100% positive and I can respond to it.

That's kind of creepy, is that something that maybe you should report to someone? I don't know, then again he obviously isn't trying to hide

 

[~Kathie]

If you don't have a specific refund policy, then you may want to work with this guy and then write up something for your auctions from now on. If you dare to risk the negative from him, then you can decide not to refund, but you might also do well if you offer them to the next highest bidder.

I also include an invisible pen mark on everything I sell so that if it is returned without it I know I've been given the old "bait & switch" and can deal with it properly. One of the biggest scams on eBay, believe it or not, is people that are claiming items are misrepresented & asking for refunds, then sending back other products.

I would say something like "I'm disappointed that you were not pleased with the items, especially since I felt I did a good job of representing them accurately with pictures and stock number information. However, I've decided that I will offer a refund of your bid price as long as the items are returned in the condition they were sent. Upon receipt of the items, I will check them for my seller's mark and will process the refund. Please be sure to send the items back in the same way they were received and to include delivery confirmation and/or insurance to protect yourself."

or something like that--I'm also way too emotional with my answers and usually wait a bit to respond.

GL!

Karen!!! Great job. I think what you typed is great. Non emotional, and honest and just the facts.

BTW............the marking pens are for sale on ebay. Search under marking pen or security pen. Using this pen has saved me more than once.

Good luck OP!!

 

[Chim Chiminy]

Thanks again everyone.

I sent him a message, now I guess I wait to see what his response is.
I used to have in my auctions that I don't accept returns, all items are sold as is. Maybe time to add that back in.

 

[PrincessKitty]

Let us know how things work out!


My auctions say, "All sales final--no refunds unless I have somehow misrepresented an item."