EBay - sent perfect bag and had a complaint!

[BatFaceOwl]

Any advice please? I've had an eBay account for years but don't sell very often so I'm not sure how to deal with this

I've got 100% feedback and this is the first time I've had an issue

I sold a brand new leather bag. Only for £22. It's new and tagged and I know it was immaculate when I dispatched it

Buyer has messaged me saying some thread is coming undone and has sent me a photo. There's no way I missed it but meh what can I do?

I've also just clocked this is a brand new ebayer with zero feedback

I've said to return to me and I'll refund but what do I refund ? The whole of it plus the return postage?

Would appreciate any advice

Thanks

Yes, for ‘faulty’ items the buyer shouldn’t be out of pocket at all so you have to refund all postage.

”if the buyer is sending an item back because it doesn't match the listing description or it arrived damaged or faulty, you're responsible for the cost of return postage, even if you don't offer returns.”

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/return-postage-sellers?id=4703#:~:text=If%20the%20buyer%20is%20returning,don%27t%20normally%20offer%20returns.

I expect they will say that they will reluctantly accept it if you offer a £5 discount. But don't do this - do the full refund, cut the thread and sell again. Its a common scam.

I agree. I suspect you may hear no more if you offer a full refund once you've received it back.

Thanks all

This is what I've done. Send me it back and I will refund you in full.

I wish I'd noticed this was a zero feedback buyer. I know we all start somewhere but I know that this bag was pristine

He/she has readily agreed to send back so I'll see if the bag turns up.

Yes, someone did this to my husband recently on an expensive mountain jacket which had never been worn. I really didn't want him to accept the offer at a discount because why should this kind of behaviour be rewarded?

I bet the bag gets lost in the post on the way back, or something else magically happens. Ebay is just not worth the bother these days - it's like a paradise for ratbags.

Why bother though? What exactly is the scam? Trying to get it more discounted or for free?

In our case it was a technical jacket my husband bought for me and it is definitely his thing, not mine, so I asked him to resell. The buyer reported the material as damaged with pictures of some kind of staining that was definitely not there previously. I packaged it, so I know and took pics.

My husband offered a refund, and they then offered 50% of the original price to keep it. Our experience is that ebay always find for a buyer. They are cynical gits about it, so it was refund and at best get something possibly ruined back or effectively give the 'buyer' half the price back and they keep the jacket and presumably clean it up and resell.

I would have let them keep it over my dead body. I'd rather have charity shopped it, but not everyone has that option.

Some people are scammy cheeky bastards. I've had a few of those on eBay. But most buyers are genuine.

It depends how long they've had the bag. Could they have used it for one outing and now they can get their money back?