EBAY buyer Email!!!

[Gemscho]

Hello everyone,
Argh!
I've sold quite a few items on EBay, and since my parents are moving house, I have helped them sell some stuff at auction.
One person bought two, hardly used, Radley handbags, for £25, and requested that I didn't charge the postage since she had bought two things (I obliged, and even sent them 1st class, rather then 2nd as advertised!) I posted them yesterday, and today, I have received an email complaining that the bags "reek of smoke" and she wants a full refund, and for me to pay her postage!
Normally, I would advertise items as being from a smoke free house, but as my mum smokes occasionally, I didn't write it in the description. I didn't specify that it was from a smoking household, in the same way I didn't specify that It was from a house with carpets! Surely, if you are that concerned about smoke, you would ask, or only look for listings that mention a smoke free home?

Some advice would be appreciated- I don't like the smell of smoke either, but that's why I check when I am buying. I specified that I don't do refunds on the listings. I've done some googling and some people are saying that people do this as a scam to return things they have changed their minds about (probaby if she just said that, I would do the refund!!) I don't want bad feedback on this! Help!!

Now that's definitely beyond my level of knowledge, TinLizzie!

My guess would be that, if you are using the money generated by your Ebay sales to fund your business, it might be that you should be a business seller on Ebay, but I'm no expert and could be entirely wrong there. Does your business have an accountant who could perhaps advise you?

Sorry not to be able to offer anything more useful!

You don't need to refund postage as you paid for it originally, and there is no rule to say you have to refund her postage to return it. So ask her to return them so you'll be back to square one, at least and hopefully you can sell them again.

Tinlizzie - it would completely depend on what was being sold on your private account. If you're selling your own second hand goods, then it's fine to remain private. It doesn't matter what you do with your profit from it.

If you're buying items to sell, then you should have a business account.

Sounds like ike shes at it. Always mention a security mark. I recently so,d,a pair of genuine ugg boots, first thing I knew £75 was gone from my paypal account she had filed a claim because I refused to refund her, luckily I had close ups of the security tag as I think she was gong to trash them and send me her mates pair or something- ebay reversed the decision and I got my money back. Go to the resolution centre and keep on at them, my boots arrived back today and the buyer had taken the Schuh labels on the outside off, defaced the box, and cut the suede above the heel- not even a pressure point stupid woman. I reckon their fixable (for me to wear) with a bit of superglue from the inside. I had immediately emailed I had the security numbers so she'd stopped the damage then I think. Ebay refunded me under the ebay protection scheme.

Ebay will side with the buyer and refund her anyway- so you may as well do it the easy way and accept the return.

tinlizzie- no you are not breaking any rules- but if your sales reach a certain level then ebay will "politely" suggest that you change to a business accout.
It happened to me.
Details of all ebay accounts- private and business are passed to the Inland revenue.

fulltothebrim - ebay may not just suggest you change to a business account. chances are they will automatically change your account to a business one if they notice certain patterns is sales.

And I'm pretty sure, they don't pass the details of all ebay accounts to the HMRC.

Back to the OP, I'm afraid you will need to suck this up and refund upon return of the bags. Getting something that honks of smoke is not nice. You say your DM only smokes "occasionally" but it's enough to stick to items, obviously so , if they buyer has noticed!

As a private seller you don't have to pay the return postage, but IMO you should - why should the seller be out of pocket because you've misdescribed an item? (VGC does not = stinks of smoke, sorry). Also, if I was the buyer and you made me cover return postage, i'd definitely leave you negative feedback.

PS I know ebay and paypal respond to HMRC requests, but don't hand over everyones details automatically.

and to the people saying "ignore her" this is the worst thing you can do on ebay in cases like this, so please don't follow this terrible advice!

it really grates me when people offer advice on things they know nothing about.

(sorry for the third post in a row, wish there was an edit feature on this forum)

Thank you so much for all the advice with this!!
I have received the bags back, they are in the same condition that I sent them out in, and I have refunded her.
Still annoyed- I have smelt the bags myself, and I have forced all my colleagues to smell them, and all they smell of is leather!

Also, thank you for the tip regarding putting items in the freezer to get rid of smells! I have been passing that along to everyone!! :)