Mumsnet Talk

I have sent a genuine YSL bag to Germany and have now just received an email from the buyer saying it is not real and that the've had it verified in a store over there. I know for a fact it is real from trapsing around Selfridges with my mother and watching her purchase it four years ago.
PLEASE, can someone guide me on which route to take on proving the authenticity of the bag as I'm unsure of which direction to take this.
I have taken the first step by asking the buyer to forward me an email with the serial numbers on the YSL bag. Do I contact Selfridges, YSL asking them to verify the bag? Will thay do this? Am I using the correct terminology?<<shrugs shoulders>>
She wants a refund on the bag and the P&P so I will be £15 out of pocket and bitter from the hassle of wrapping and sending it over.

Do YSL even verify bags? I know that LV don't and would have thought that a common practice.

I would ask her to send the bag back to you and refund the money, and just take it. I suspect she is regretting the purchase rather than believing it is a fake, especially if it is such a modern bag.

I would much rather if possible fight my corner if I can prove my case. I suspect she's slung it over her shoulder and thought 'nah, not my cup of tea' but why should I pay £15 for selling a genuine item?

Don't give her any refund unless she returns the bag!

I have been selling on ebay for 7 years now, just our own unwanted/outgrown bits and bobs and make enough for a cheap hol each year for us. However, no matter how careful you are, there is always one idiot buyer that will leave you out of pocket. I force myself to look on the total I make each year and not the individual amounts. I also force myself to look on these occasional idiots like shoplifters from a real shop.

However I never ever just refund, as most of them are scammers wanting something for free. So tell her she will get a refund if she sends the bag back, stick to telling her that it is real.

Did it only sell for £15 inc p&P or is this the amount of p&p you will be down if she refunds it?

Also, i learned the hard way NEVER to send items outside the UK and Ireland. Just far too much hassle and too much postage costs if something goes wrong. I may get slightly fewer bidders but it works out better in the long run. Learned that after sending something airmail to america at high postage costs, for the buyer to whine about it. Strangely enough as soon as I said she can have her refund when she has returned it to me, the item was suddenly perfectly ok

All you can do is ask them to return it in the condition in which it was sent and then refund them the money.

And just hope they send your item back, and not another they have swapped.

tell them once you receive your item, and you have verified it is yours by checking your security marks, then you will refund them.

I'm going way this weekend and the funds from the sale were going towards my spending money .
I too usually block international bidders and am now sorry I gave in. Thanks for taking the time to reply but am still curious to know if I can verify authenticity?

I don't see how you can without the bag in your possession?

Ok, I have a fruitbasket on my hands. Now saying if I don't refund immediatly, they will report to the police and paypal. Shall I just report to ebay? The bag sold for £300 and they seem to be refusing to send it back <<nightmare>>

I had same thing from a buyer of tiffanies necklace user ID colintenn. Stand your ground ebay found in my favour!

I asked them to email me the serial number on the locket and was going to see if I could get the manufacturer to verify fergoose

well they cannot have their money back without returning it - that is utterly ridiculous

if they open a dispute with eBay they will need to prove it has been returned to you before they get a refund. They are clearly trying it on so refuse the refund until it is returned.

There isn't a report you can make to eBay about them regarding this anyway.

I think they have either got buyers remorse and don't want it any more, or they are going to try and return a different bag. I think the serial number is irrelevant.

Just tell them to return for a refund - there is nothing else you can do I don't think.

Tell them to do exactly that! They won't get anywhere, lol. Only contact through Ebay and tell them to return for a refund as per ebay/paypal policy. It will be at their own expense anyway, you don't have to refund their return postage, and as you know it's genuine - don't!.

The person i mentioned threatened police etc, said at one point he was a police man?! Fricking nutters. This is a common con where they swap your genuine item and return a fake my listing stated no returns and the buyer waited two weeks to contact. I let ebay take it further and after a few calls to them they found in my favour.

'sneaks back to retrieve spare full stop'.

Thanks for the replies everyone. The buyer has 87 positive feedbacks, no negatives but all items bought and sold private.
I'm just going to let them do a claim and battle away from there.

If the buyer reports the item as fake and ebay believe her, she may not have to return for a refund.
You may need to keep her a little sweet and encourage her into sending the bag back to you, but definitely don't refund without having the bag back, otherwise where's her incentive to send it back if she already has the money?

but surely the buyer should have to prove to ebay the item is counterfeit otherwise we could end up/ or do end up with buyers winning genuine items claiming they are fake while hanging onto the goods after being refunded.

IF the buyer opens a dispute you will have the option of refunding on receipt of goods.

Ebay will not let buyer et a refund AND keep the goods that isnt how they work at all. I would stand your ground x

Unless they give a no fault refund out of their own pocket - but I doubt they'll do that for this amount

Thats what they did for me thy let me keep buyers money and refunded the twunt buyer, he was out of line but i didnt care as it suited me. Hope things go your way.

What YSL bag was it? .. Just out of interest?

A web site called the purse forum may verify/authenticate the bag. I use this forum alot because I collect Louis Vuitton and an item can be verified by submitting certain photos/info. May be worth a look.

Dragging up an old thread as I have recently returned from my hols.
The buyer went quiet for over a week after I told her that I was happy for her to open a case.
Today she emails again still threatening. I told her to hurry on and open case because I am not refunding until I get my chance to prove to ebay that I have sold a genuine item. katespade it's a YSL over-sized black patent muse bag which I actually loved. laluna coincidentally I have registered to join purse forum this evening, I'm just waiting for my account to activate. Do you know if I can verify authenticity with the serial numbers inside the bag??