Hi all,
First time posting in this area of mumsnet, but looking for advice please regarding an item we recently sold.....apologies in advance for the length of this post!
We have a registered business (both with eBay and HMRC) and occasionally use it to sell off unwanted household items as well as our regular stock. Having recently moved house to the Midlands we found we had no space for a reasonably large piece of antique furniture. This was purchased about five years ago from a reputable London dealer for around £800.
Having listed it on eBay for considerably less than half the price we paid (buy it now), it was purchased by someone in London who arranged for a courier to collect. The buyer paid by PayPal.
Before the courier arrived we received a phone call saying one man was unable to make it so the courier was travelling alone and would someone be on hand this end to assist. As DH works from home we said this was fine. The courier - a very tiny bloke - turned up in a most unsuitable vehicle for transporting antiques - a fabric-sided van full of new fridges with no blankets to protect the item. He and DH easily carried it from the ground floor room that had outside access up the lane (our house is on a slope) to the van.
Today we received a message from the buyer saying they are unhappy with the colour of the wood and that the pics we used don't show a true depiction as flash was used. Apparently it doesn't match with the rest of their furniture. Flash was used in 2/3 of the pics, but not all and anyway surely some monitors show things differently? Also, why if it was that important for items to match, did they not ask questions about the colour/patination?
They then went on to say that on top of the courier's fee they paid a tip as the courier said access to our house was difficult!
The upshot is the buyer wants to either a) return the piece but wants eBay to decide if we are liable for the courier's costs or b) have the piece stripped and waxed (sacrilege on a piece that's over 100 years old!) with us contributing to the cost!
I guess that as a business seller we have no choice but to agree to take it back - but where do we stand regarding the courier costs which were paid direct to him.....and regarding return courier costs?
There is no way this item would not fit in with similar items of differing timber patination/shades from the same period - it has sat beside such items in our house with no issues.....but the buyer is always right, I suppose.
However, after some digging on Google etc we discovered the buyer is a dealer themself - of items from the same period, no less, although not furniture - and we are guessing that (whilst they used a different ID to purchase) they intend to sell this piece on and are just trying to get some money off by using the 'stripping' as a way to get us to capitulate and offer a partial refund......
Apologies again for rambling on, but needed to get all the facts across!
So guys, what - if anything - can we do here?
TIA x
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Problems with eBay sale......
9 replies
RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog · 04/08/2015 11:29
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