I’m sure you’ve heard tales of disgruntled buyers on eBay (and let’s be honest, some scammers), causing a problem for good, honest sellers. Perhaps you’ve encountered them before, which puts you off selling now. If this is you, then don’t panic. I’m going to cover the most common eBay cases and give you some ideas for protecting yourself.
When you sell on eBay, both buyers and sellers are protected. It is important to remember this, and if you follow the correct procedures, as a seller, you will be protected. An example of this happened to me a few months ago. Money was extremely tight as I was just about to quit my job without another one to go to. I sold a pair of trousers on eBay for around £5. When the buyer received them, she was unhappy as they weren’t described as 3/4 length instead of full length. I disagreed with the buyer over this, but I agreed to give her a refund once I’d received the trousers back. She then told me that not only did she want me to pay the postage for her to return the trousers (which, by the way, as a private seller, you do not have to do), she wanted the refund before returning the trousers. I responded in a polite and professional manner, explaining that I didn’t have to offer her a refund in the first place, and I wouldn’t be paying for her to return the trousers – certainly not giving her a refund before I received them back. All of these messages were sent through the resolution center on eBay, and when I was getting nowhere, I escalated the case to customer service. A few moments later I received an email telling me that the buyer had received a refund. Great – I thought eBay had automatically sided with the buyer and that was that. Until I checked my paypal balance to find that I still had the money. Reading the email once again – eBay had refunded the buyer AND given me my money back. Result!
When a case has been opened against you for an item not received, Paypal will automatically place a hold on the full amount (purchase price and postage) in your account. If you don’t have enough in your account then your balance will go into negative numbers. When you then go to pay for anything through Paypal, Paypal will try to take the held amount AND the amount to cover the payment you’re trying to complete. When your item is low value this isn’t too much of a problem, but if a large amount has been placed on hold then you could face difficulties.
There are a few types of cases that an eBay buyer can open. They are:
Item not received
Item not as described
I want to return the item for a refund
Item not received
eBay recently made an awful (in my opinion) change to their cases. Now, if a buyer messages you to ask where an item is, they will automatically open an “item not received” case. Please don’t be mad at the buyer for escalating the case quickly – they were probably just trying to email you to ask about it, and now eBay is jumping the gun. You need to take a few things into consideration. Firstly, have you actually posted the item? If you print your postage via eBay then items will automatically be marked as dispatched, but if you get the postage printed at the Post Office, or use a courier, you will need to manually mark each item as dispatched. You need to check that you have done this in the time frame you said you would (when listing the item) and that the buyer has given enough time for the item to arrive. If it has been a week or so since posting, to the United Kingdom, you probably need to start worrying. Royal Mail ask that you wait 15 working days from when the item was posted to submit a claim. Make sure that you have the proof of postage for your item. Sending our parcels via Royal Mail automatically gives you up to £20 cover for compensation for lost or damaged mail, but you cannot claim without the proof of postage. It is free of charge and most Post Office staff are more than happy to provide them for you. Our Post Office has no problem providing us with proof of postage, enough though we print all our postage at home. If your item is likely to sell for over £20 then it is a very good idea to offer recorded delivery, so that you can provide a tracking number. I actually don’t offer recorded delivery as most of the item, items selling for over £20 are being sent by Collect+ anyway, which provides it’s own tracking.
Be sure to tell your buyer to check things on their end too. This includes making sure no one else living with them has put the parcel somewhere, ensuring it isn’t in their safe place and then also checking at their local sorting office in case a “while you were out” letter wasn’t left.
In all the time that I’ve been selling, I’ve only ever had two parcels go missing, the most recent has been in the last 6 weeks. That’s not to say that it doesn’t happen, but it does make me very wary of buyers claiming to have not received an item.
Once you have proof that you’ve sent the item, you can breath a bit easier. If you can’t find proof that you’ve sent it then be sure to check everywhere. I’ve had a parcel remain in the boot of my car or roll under a car seat. I’ve also been human and sometimes real life has got in the way of sending an item out, or I’ve just forgotten. As long as you’re honest with your buyers and offer them a choice of you sending the item out by a certain date or a full refund, they’re pretty nice about it.
If you’ve sent the parcel using recorded delivery then you can use Royal Mail’s track and trace function to locate the parcel. If it has been delivered then you can see this and provide the signature it was signed with. Perhaps it has been delivered to a neighbour, or sent to the local sorting office, awaiting collection.
Should you put a return address on your parcels? I do, simply because eBay/Paypal postage automatically do this. I have never had a parcel returned to me as undelivered, and putting my address on has actually bitten me in the arse. I sent an item off, and the buyer returned it to me, without sending me a message through eBay. I think in the long run it is better to put an address on, so that mail can be returned if Royal Mail are unable to deliver it.
If you only have the proof of postage then it will be up to you to refund the buyer straight away, and to claim from Royal Mail for the missing item. You will be required to provide a print out of the Paypal transaction, showing how much your item sold for, and fill out a Lost, damaged or Delayed mail claim form. If you don’t have access to a printer, or, like me, you’re cheap, you can ask for a copy of the claim form from your local Post Office, but you will still be required to print out the Paypal transaction to attach to your form. You then send the completed form and evidence to a free post address and wait what feels like 100 years before the investigation is complete and Royal Mail give you your compensation.
Further down I’ll cover what you can do if you think that the eBay buyer is lying.
Item not as described
I hate that this is a claim! As I mentioned above, I thought a photo clearly showed that a pair of trousers were 3/4 length, but the buyer was unhappy because I hadn’t mentioned it.
The best way to combat cases like this is to make sure they don’t happen in the first place. This means taking lots of photos and showing any defects or marks. eBay now allow you to have 12 photos for free in every category, so you can provide your buyers with lots of detailed photos. Just because something is damaged, it doesn’t mean that a buyer won’t want it. Show holes on clothes – someone might be a keen sewer and be more than happy to fix a hole to slash the cost. If you have the time, take measurements of your items and just generally describe them well.
Once a buyer has opened an “item not as described” case, it could go either way. Again, Paypal will place a hold on your funds, and you will have to resolve this between yourself and the buyer. If you believe that you have a strong case and you can provide proof, then fight the case. Otherwise, it may be easier in the long run to ask your buyer to return the item for a refund. I had a buyer who bought £80 worth of games from me for £30. They were new games – still in the wrapping. When they arrived, he opened a case against me because some of the cellophane had ripped. I checked out his other items, and he’s actually a game seller – and had the games he’d just bought from me listed (for much more than he paid me. Which is fine, I bought the games for £1 in the first place!). I responded to his case stating that he could return them for a full refund – and he was having none of it. He wanted a partial refund, getting the already heavily reduced games for a discount. I declined and said I would only offer a full refund – pointing out that he already had the games listed on eBay. As I’m sure you can imagine, that case got closed very quickly. I also used eBay’s “report this buyer” function, and a few months later, my negative feedback from this buyer was removed.
As a private seller, you are under no obligation pay postage for the item to be refunded to you. This is between the buyer and seller to decide. These cases really can go any way, and if you cannot reach a suitable conclusion then feel free to escalate it to eBay customer service.
I want to return the item for a refund
As a private seller, you are under no obligation to offer returns on your items, and you are exempt from the Distance Selling Regulations. However, you may wish to choose whether you accept a return based on the individual circumstances. If you do decide to accept a return, you must refund the buyer the full price, and you are under no obligation to pay the postage for them to return the item(s).
Remember:Always be polite when sending messages through the resolution centre. These can be seen by eBay customer service, and they’re more likely to reach an agreement that favours you if you have been polite.
eBay buyers can be vindictive. If you have a bad dealing with someone, it is a good idea to block them from bidding on your other items.
What to do if you suspect the eBay buyer is lying
Unfortunately, this does happen. Just a few weeks ago we had two item not received cases open up on eBay, to the same buyer. The two parcels were sent a few weeks apart and luckily we still had the proof of postage. I find it amazing to think that not just one, but two parcels, to the same person at the same address, would go missing. But throughout all of this we had to remain calm and professional, hinting at their lie without calling them a liar. The buyer then stated that he’d been having problems with Canada post, and if items weren’t sent tracked then they’d be returned to the sender. Upon learning this, we asked him why he therefore hadn’t opted for tracked delivery, which is an option we offer. No response, until a few days later, both his parcels just magically turned up, on the same day, despite being posted months ago. Strange that.
If you’re going to get super Sherlock then you can have a look to see whether the eBayer is now selling on an item they said never arrived – it does happen! If your item is unique enough you can search on eBay and pull out any listings close to where the buyer lives, in case they’re using a partner’s/friend’s eBay account.
You can also report a buyer if you think they’ve done any of the following:
- The buyer made unreasonable demands.
- The buyer left inappropriate Feedback.
- The buyer abused the eBay Buyer Protection process.
- The buyer misused returns.
- The buyer hasn’t paid.
- Other problems.
Please don’t let eBay cases put you off. They will happen. They seem to happen to me all at once. Just keep calm, remain professional and try your best to work it out with the buyer. If you’d like to explore other options then you may enjoy how to sell on Facebook or what to do when your eBay listing doesn’t sell.
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Rowe says
A really interesting read. I’d been put off selling after a case a while back. Wish i’d known all this then.
christmascraft.co says
This is a fab blog post, I dont like ebay for the same reasons
Juhi says
One buyer lied and had ripped the item and claimed that I ripped it when I clearly checked !!
allison carter says
I sent pair shoes to mrslisamona9 with proof postage she claims she never got. Accusing me of not sending I even had manager from.post office write a letter to say I sent it! She got refund I claim with royal mail and had a letter back and refunded 50,00 pound as mrslisamona9 lied shed told postman that she didn’t like shoes and said she going say she didn’t get them! Her name is lisa doyle. So it worked out. I only sold them 6.00 pound. So I made 44 pound. Her lie back fired
Jenna says
Just want to say that I Iive in an area where my packages are consistently delivered to neighbors, held at the post office when its marked delivered– all kinds of mishaps so I would always give a buyer the benefit of the doubt on item not received cases.
I hate when buyers use the system and like you I would have refused to pay for the return if the trousers but if you did not say they were 3/4 length then I actually agree that you were at fault. Unless of course you pictured the pants on a full length mannequin — the. The buyer was wrong. I just don’t think most people would assume they are 3/4 from a picture of pants on a hanger or laid out on the floor.
And you can’t leave negative feedback in the positive field for buyers. You will only get policy violations for this – and I would doubt many sellers would refuse to sell to someone because of it–best to report the buyer.
Overall though — great that you took the time to write this
Elizabeth @ Rosalilium says
Brilliantly detailed post. Thank you for sharing! I’ll totally keep this bookmarked.
MargotBarbara says
As a relative novice on Ebay, this is really helpful, thank you!
kirsty says
This is a very interesting read, im currently having a problem with a buyer who won a pair of vintage shoes for 0.99p, the picture is very clear and clearly shows the shoes are brown but the buyer seems the think that on the picture they are black, my partner is colour blind and still they look brown to him. Anyway as a good gesture I refunded the 0.99p paid but the buyer is wanting me to refund for the postage paid aswell, I just think how very cheeky, im wondering if she can open a claim still because I have already refunded, it is very off putting when as a buyer you have more to loose.
[email protected] says
I had a bad buyer: kjwshopping she had buyer’s remorse. Told me an item I shipped got damaged in shipping. I took her word for it and even though the pics she supplied showed no damage, I returned it refunded her entire paypal transaction but not her shipping back as I promised with an explanation. She gave me my very first and I promise my last bad feedback. I love ebay and plan to have many many many happy buyers and sellers as I have an have had in the past but she was very nasty and unfair. Ebay still expects me to pay the fees for a sale that has been refunded and I had pledged 10% to a Charity that I didn’t have the heart to take back. This experience cost me $260 thanks to kjwshopping
Who has a very good rep on ebay. It is unfortunate that I was the first to stand up to an unfair situation and suffer. Next time I will just refund it all and take it as a small loss instead of a bad feedback I did not deserve and hundreds of dollars worth of money lost…take it from me, being right didn’t pay this time.
Alison says
Hi, I’m actually in the middle of a case with a private seller at the moment, I was sent a sequin dress that was supposedly new but when it arrived half the sequins were hanging off or missing!!
I politely emailed saying that the dress did not match the description as new, and I would like a refund of the original price plus the return postage. If this had been an eBay auction I would have had no right to ask for this but as she sold it as Buy It Now it actually comes under the Distance Selling Regulations, and if a faulty or “not-as-described” item is received then I have the right for my return postage to be refunded too.
Just wanted to add it as a note so that anyone selling on eBay doesn’t get caught out!
Emma says
That’s really interesting about the Buy It Now coming under the DSL – thank you for letting me know, I’ll be changing my blog post to reflect that this weekend.
Brian Douglas says
This is all very nice but I have been in situation as a buyer on Ebay having to go to resolution centre because I had to pay postage to return an item clearly damaged before it left seller. Ebay found in my favour but then seller refused to accept ebay decision and accused me of theft. In the end I paid seller purchase price to stop the nasty emails arriving at my end on hourly basis. Next time I shall write it off if cost is more than what I will get back if I return and leave negative feedback. I am sorry if an item is damaged yes I do think seller should pay for a return. We are not talking here if I get it and don’t like it in which case yes iwouldexpect to pay for a return.
linda says
Really good advice and nice to know that there are decent people out there. Someone recently gave me a negative comment for thinking I did not pay the postal. Anyone with a brain must know that the post office does not take parcels off you to send without being paid first.its being dealt with because I do want it removed. But thanks for the advice.
Emma says
It’s so frustrating, isn’t it? I’m glad eBay are dealing with it for you. They take their time, but they are a lot fairer on sellers than they used to be.
Brian Douglas says
I bought an item clearly damaged before it was sent out but seller wanted me to pay for return which would have made even further out of pocket. I complained all the way to the resolution centre where I was afforded full refund but though they forcibly deducted the money from the seller they wouldn’t allow me to give him the bad feedback he richly deserved. End of the matter not a bit of it as ebay had given me a full refund he then claimed I had stolen item and wanted to involve police. So I sent him purchase price and the second time ebay then blocked him from trading rightly so.
hedelex says
It has happened to me that 2 parcels, weeks apart one from another arrive at the same time, late to my house. It had to do with problems on my local post office :-p
Kevin says
A new scam I have been hit with a few times here in the UK is a buyer ordering two or more of the same item and then claiming that I only sent one item. I almost always send any sales over £10 by Royal Mail recorded delivery. Ebay/PayPal, in their wisdom, ALWAYS side with the buyer and ALWAYS refund them. No messing, Ebay/PayPal take the buyers word for it EVERY time.
Just before Christmas 2013 I had three buyers of the same item who all live on the same street in the same town claiming not to have received their purchased items. They had been sent by standard mail as I only sold them for £3.50 each. Surprise, surprise, Ebay didn’t seem to think my message to them pointing out the circumstances was even worthy of a reply and just refunded all three buyers.
I am told that there are secret/private groups on social media sites such as Facebook where professional scammers exchange ideas on how to rip off sellers on Ebay, etc. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ebay didn’t run those groups themselves and tell them how to con people out of their goods and money as they appear to be complicit with the scammers.
Collectibles NJ says
This is a good write up with regards to dispute basics,
the fact is ebay does side with the buyers, they do have discretionary funds they will use in some cases if a claim is escalated to refund them and let you keep the money, it doesn’t happen often. The real problem is the blanket faulty return policy with relation to being sent back an empty box. Another ebay user (stoneman38) recently stole $500 in the form of 2 Hummel Statues and sent back an empty box. I offered a notarized affidavit from my mail carrier as I always open returns in front of him. Ebay says its cost of doing business which is reasonable for me since I sell 20-30k a month and can weather the loss.
They are definitely LESS fair to sellers than ever before as they continue to panic while losing market share to Amazon Etsy, and other on the rise marketplaces. This is evidenced by their patently derisive new defect rate that will eliminate 60%+ of TRS volume sellers.
jon says
Ebay user yeee6666 tampered with a pair of shoes I sold him and I made sure the scum didn’t get his money back!!!!
Freya says
My husband sold a pair of sneakers for somebody from CA. The buyer received the item and he said that the item is used. however my husband did not sell use shoes, just brand new. Actually he has a store on eBay. Also, we do accept return. But, this buyer send back to us, just an envelope, nothing inside. We did not want to refund, but the buyer open a eBay case. Moreover, eBay refunded the money to this “buyer”.
How this is possible?
Mohamed Kenawy says
I bought HTC one x from seller called mummy-zack0 on eBay 06aug14, the mobile is blacklisted by the carrier (vodafone), seller refused to give refund until I return item, I called ebay, they advised me to send item back, so I did send it back royal mail first class signed for, after seller received item asked me to close the case I opened on eBay because that is blocking the refund process, I was suspicious so called eBay and they told me if I close the case I loose my case and the refund, the seller should refund me through reseliotion centre, seller till now unwilling to give me refund and claiming that they are unable to refund because PayPal or eBay not letting them refund my money, what a layer. I wounder if seller laid to Vodafone insurance as will and claimed that the mobile was stolen or lost, and after a while tried to sell on eBay, this kind of dishonesty behavior should be taking more seriously by eBay and block those sellers from selling on eBay.
liz says
I am a new seller on eBay and I recently sold two items to1 buyer she placed two orders 1 day apart.
as I had already posted one of her item that day,iI dispatched her second item the next day she received her duvet set and complained that it was only 50% cotten
I explained she can return the duvet set.2 days later she messaged to say she has not received her matching curtains.I explained it was 2nd class delivery and wait till Monday/Tuesday .
I later received an email from eBay confirming the buyer account was hacked and not to email the buyer or send or buy.
I contacted eBay to confirm if it was a genuine email I also made eBay aware that her parcel had not arrived as I may have to contact her to confirm if she has received parcel.
I was advised not to contact buyer as we are recovering her account
2 days later I have a open case for not sending parcel,I have sent over 60 parcel since June and not one parcel went missing.
I am sure she has received the curtains as I have not received the duvet set back.or reply for a refund for the duvet set.
I refunded the buyer for the missing curtains as I had sent the parcel out in good faith but this has really upset me and left me with a defect on account too.
EBay have not helped me to get the defect removed plus I have to wait for 15 days to put a claim for lost item.
I was going back and fouth with email that I decided I did not want this hassle.
now I have listed my items as 2nd class sighn in.
I never new how easy it was to sell on eBay but nither did I know what would come along my way I hate stress specially when it involves are unhappy buyer.
A says
I purchased an smartwatch – to give as a birthday gift – this seller named (2guysfromuk) said we will send the item out, next day they said sorry we don’t have it in stock, you will have to wait. I waited 2 weeks to receive the item I finally received it. When I opened it the smartwatch was broken – I demanded refund – they wouldn’t fake a word for it just kept saying we will exchange it. I just kept going in circle. I put the case up with ebay, they did not respond. However I did get an email from them saying – send it back we will refund it back. I have now sent it off. Mind you this seller does have a lot of negative feedbacks also neutral feedbacks as well as positive feedbacks. I took the risk thinking it will be fine. But anyone see that name don’t bother buying it from them for ANY GOODS!!
kare m says
There is ZERO seller protection for Ebay disputes over a certain dollar amount. Ebay will refund out of pocket for items under approx US$50 but over that amount, the seller is out of luck.
I closed my store and will never use Ebay again. Buyer, debrad48, Debra Dickson from Cleveland, OH, bought a $209 new dress from me and said it arrived with a small tear. She opened a dispute and ebay automatically decided in her favor. I was informed by an ebay rep they do not look at photographic evidence, they almost always decide in buyer favor, and, even though they advertise an appeal process, there is none. She sent the dress back smelling of body odpr and for good measure ut a 2″ slice in it next to a seam. While it was fully insured, I couldn’t even collect-she would not fill out her part of the ShipSaver affidavit, presumably because she won;t commit insurance fraud.
Sadly, in my case, this buyer defrauded another seller out of $200 in the past year but ebay said she hasn’t committed enough fraud.
Buyer protection should extend to sellers who are buying ebay services. Ebay does not adhere to their own rules and regulations and terms of service.
I wiped out my paypal account before ebay could steal the money from me. And yes, they’re just as culpable as this buyer-initially I blamed her alone but then ebay got involved. Sadly, she’s been given their blessing to do it to another innocent seller.
Alana Walker says
Great post, thank you. As both a buyer and seller on ebay with over 450 100% feedback rating, I feel that there is absolutely no protection for sellers. Ebay will always side with the buyer. As a result, I will now only sell higher value items as cash on collection only. It narrows the number of people who will be able to bid on my items, but gives the control back to me.
allison carter says
Don’t use hermes or couriers as always leaving items out then stating in myregistered safe place when I haven’t got a registered safe place!
Mike lastly says
To be fair to the buyer in your case a pair of 3/4 trousers are VERY DIFFERENT from a full length pair of trousers (and not something you can discern from a photo) and I would have done the same thing as the buyer and asked for a FULL refund . You did not describe the item correctly and you should have refunded without being petulant and risking your seller rating for a £5.00 pair of trousers…just refund, block the seller and MOVE ON! I also sell on ebay and accept when I make a mistake in the listing. When charges go up for the rest of us on paypal and ebay it is because of sellers like you. And when buyers receive shoddy, misrepresented items from sellers, then have to waste time emailing back and forth Ad nauseam, it’s because of lazy sellers like you!
prakash Varanasi says
Hi I di bought an item on ebay and paid money through skrill through my skrill account which is not like paypal in sync with my ebay account. Now seller never send me my item , I am waiting since 3/30. After a week I have opened a case in ebay resolution center. yesterday ebay have closed my case saying that i have resolve my payment issue with skrill. Please help me how to resolve this issue. This is a big amount more than 6K total.