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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

CF eBay chancer: AIBU/WWYD?

356 replies

ZazuMoon · 04/06/2019 13:05

First time poster.

I sold a Dyson airwrap last week as unused (which it is, it was an unneeded gift). Buyer messaged the day after purchase asking when it was arriving despite me providing delivery information. I paid almost £30 for delivery to cover its insurance. The package was lost over the weekend due to an admitted fault by Parcel force. Buyer emailing all weekend chasing despite me reassuring that I'd spent 2-3 hours on the phone/going to the post office to chase. It arrived today, one day after the estimated delivery time. She is now claiming the item is used. I asked for photos and they are not of my hair and not the condition the item was sent in. I know this but I can't prove it to eBay. She wants £100 refund and has sent a string of nasty messages all morning. I have acknowledged to her that I accept that she is unhappy with the whole experience but that I felt this was too high. Privately, I feel that she is seeking compensation for the late delivery or trying her luck but I have no way of demonstrating this to eBay. I am heavily pregnant and whilst I would Ordinarily be disputing this, I am considering relenting. AIBU/WWYD?

OP posts:
19lottie82 · 11/06/2019 22:24

Even if you can prove she’s used it then that doesn’t mean that the case will go in your favour.

Wait until (or if) she returns it and see what state it’s in.

19lottie82 · 11/06/2019 22:26

I would withdraw all money from my
PayPal account and contact my bank to
say do not authorise any payments to
PayPal

PayPal can only deduct from your PayPal balance, not your bank account.

If your account goes into a negative balance and is not restored then they will chase you for it and threaten legal action, but if you ignore them they won’t do anything bar a few letters / phone calls. You won’t be able to use PayPal again though.

Mammajay · 11/06/2019 22:32

Surely by activating the warranty, she owns it?

19lottie82 · 11/06/2019 23:22

Surely by activating the warranty, she owns it?

Unfortunately eBay / PayPal regulations aren’t based on common sense.

lhastingsmua · 12/06/2019 00:24

PayPal may force the refund and put your account into a negative balance. They don’t take you to court over negative balances, they just sell the debt to 3rd party debt collectors. So you won’t be defending your case at court with PayPal all, but you’ll have the additional stress of debt collectors hassling you instead. You’re free to take the buyer to court to reclaim your losses but PayPal won’t be involved like a PP insinuated.

When you get the item back, call PayPal & tell them that it is not in the same condition and is damaged/used/missing parts etc. Sometimes PayPal will refund out of their own pocket for situations like this. Their UK call centre is very helpful.

I would send the buyer a letter before action, it’s hard to quantify your losses though. I suppose you’d have to take the average price of a used model and deduct that from the value of this transaction to calculate how much your item has depreciated in value etc

lhastingsmua · 12/06/2019 00:26

She better have the decency to clean it at least, imagine sending you back a brush head covered in her own hair🤮

e1y1 · 12/06/2019 02:12

She'll be pissed off that she isn't keeping the item and getting some money back.

Wait for the item to come back, she'll have to pay return postage as PayPal have already advised.

When it comes back, check what state it's in, as mentioned by PP film it if possible, from BEFORE you start opening the package (also check your postage weight against her postage weight, to ensure she hasn't left anything out - eg the heat pad).

After you got it back, you can file a counter claim on eBay/PayPal saying the item wasn't returned in the condition it was sold in (as per your original listing photos and the chats you had with her, and the video of yum opening the return). You can also point out, she has ADMITTED use of the unit and registering the warranty AND the fact she wanted to keep the item because of this (why would any one use an item if it was so poor upon delivery).

e1y1 · 12/06/2019 02:13

Don’t sell to 0% feedback either!!!

Don't be ridiculous. Everyone has to start somewhere

Nope, if you have 0 feedback, you can be sure ima cancelling your bid. Everybody does have to start somewhere, just not with me.

Ruru8thestars · 12/06/2019 03:50

I hope it works out for you

FabulouslyGlamourosFerret · 12/06/2019 06:27

I wonder if she's used it and then decided they're not worth the money, so rather than actually planning on all this, that's why she's being twat.

If she is a scammer she won't bother returning it.

onyabikeivy · 12/06/2019 13:50

Fabulously I wondered something like that, if she's bought it and she's got a partner that isn't happy about her spending that much money so she's trying to get money back or she's someone younger and her parents aren't happy ... either way it's a shitty thing she's doing

ChewbaccaHutchinsCool · 12/06/2019 13:55

Any update, OP?

Original poster
ZazuMoon · 12/06/2019 18:40

@Chewbacca nothing so far from her.
@Fabulously and @onyabike I wondered if she was a younger buyer who had changed her mind but I don't know why she didn't just order it from QVC where she could have changed her mind. As I said to her, I'm just an ordinary person and not trying to deceive her in any way.

OP posts:
lhastingsmua · 12/06/2019 19:48

She probably didn’t buy from an actual retailer because she purposely set out to scam and it’s easier to do that on eBay unfortunately

julensaor · 14/06/2019 00:25

This thread has opened up my eyes to eBay as I have a 'bit of a value' item to sell (large for me anyway Grin) and difficult to sell because it's a specific thing; and it has completely put me off using eBay.

You sold it for it for 400 GBP, what is the normal retail cost? Pretty close I think? So if she bought it new would she save about 100 quid on getting it off eBay? I remember I bought a camera off eBay, a canon 60D, several years ago, it's something I really wanted. It was a factory refurbished model from a seller with over 10,000 stars and a rating over 97%. At the time it was expensive but buying it this way saved me 500 quid.

I would find it hard to spend 500 quid on a hair styler/object/piece of tech I hadn't tried and certainly if I was prepared to spend 500 I wouldn't get one off eBay for 400. I know I am not putting this across articulately, but she was set out to screw you from the beginning. You have to look at the money she paid, the differential between the risk and the cost of buying the item first hand, new.

I would absolutely get off eBay, shut down PayPal and take the money already paid. I would keep all mails sent and draft a mail to eBay based on many of the responses you have been given on this thread about the loss of value on the item. I would also ask (wondering myself also) why if the transaction was done through eBay i.e. contracted through eBay, what the hell has Paypal to do with it? (Or are they the same company nowadays)

19lottie82 · 14/06/2019 07:18

seller with over 10,000 stars and a rating over 97

That’s a terrible seller rating. With sales of that volume and that percentage, I’d assume a chinese seller.

GatsbyWasntGreat · 14/06/2019 07:33

Urg, I hope you don't hear back from her now and it all dissolves as you're sticking to your guns. She won't want to return it.

I don't sell on eBay anymore. 10 years ago I'd only have a problem say 1/100 transactions, but it got to be that 90/100 buyers had issues, and used the eBay system fraudulently to their benefit.

I sold camera lenses and buyers would use my products as a bloody free rental service, buying, leaving positive feedback, then wanting to return a week later due to it being 'faulty'. I'd have to accept a return at my cost, lose 10% eBay fees and I was lucky if the lens wasn't scratched/dirty/worse condition. And they were never faulty.

The last straw was when someone returned a BRICK instead of the £1400 lens and even with countless emails, phone calls and picture evidence I still lost. The buyer kept my lens AND had a nice free £1400.

Now I only sell via Facebook and Gumtree, cash on collection. It takes longer to sell items but it's so, so much less stressful and works out much better profit wise without fees and postage, no stress of items damaged in post, lost or CF scamming bastard buyers.

Horsemenoftheaclopalypse · 14/06/2019 07:52

God this is why I gave up with eBay...

Secretly, I hope she sends it back unsigned for then you claim you never received it!!! However I feel you are too nice for that so I would go for this...

After you got it back, you can file a counter claim on eBay/PayPal saying the item wasn't returned in the condition it was sold in (as per your original listing photos and the chats you had with her, and the video of yum opening the return). You can also point out, she has ADMITTED use of the unit and registering the warranty AND the fact she wanted to keep the item because of this (why would any one use an item if it was so poor upon delivery).

Original poster
ZazuMoon · 14/06/2019 08:02

@Julensaor you are probably right regarding her motivations. She opened a paypal dispute so it's being resolved there rather than ebay. Not sure why she did that.

@Gatsby that it is awful. Will definitely record me opening it if and when it arrives. No communication from her at all which is funny given the multiple daily requests for updates I had from her within hours after purchase.

OP posts:
DonkeyHohtay · 14/06/2019 08:08

I used to sell a lot on Ebay and stopped because of the cheeky fucker brigade. It's so unfair that as a seller you are always assumed to be in the wrong. It's equally unfair that after this whole saga is resolved, the OP won't be able to leave negative, honest feedback and warn other sellers about this woman. We've pretty much stopped using Ebay as a buyer too as it's just not what it used to be.

Gumtree is a good alternative - yes you have to put up with people emailing and offering £20 for something you've listed at £60, and with people not turning up when they say they will but it's a simple "hand over the cash" transaction.

Hope it gets sorted soon, OP.

greathat · 14/06/2019 08:15

People like that are the reason I gave up on eBay. I don't even buy stuff from there anymore after a similar cf.

GatsbyWasntGreat · 14/06/2019 08:26

From her actions, I'd bet you don't hear at all now. She was hoping for a partial refund, I'd pay money that she's succeeded before and got confident with an expensive item.

You'll probably not hear from her again, and I'd be very, very surprised if you get your item back.

mmmhazelnutchocolate · 14/06/2019 13:08

I stopped selling on eBay after I sold a near new top, washed and in perfect condition. I had 100% feedback, sold a lot of clothing. This girl demanded a refund stating it STUNK of BO and had sweat stains, and smelt of cigarettes. I don't smoke. Looked at her feedback after and realised it was something she did frequently.

19lottie82 · 14/06/2019 13:13

The last straw was when someone returned a BRICK instead of the £1400 lens and even with countless emails,. phone calls and picture evidence I still lost The buyer kept my lens AND had a nice free £1400.

I take it you took them to the small claims court?

Sindragosan · 14/06/2019 13:16

I miss the way Ebay used to be - full of things that were in good condition but not wanted anymore. I've bought and sold lots over the years, but now its a pain as you can't buy anything of value as its probably a fake, can't sell anything of value, and there isn't any point selling stuff under £10 due to fees.

Facebook selling also gives me the rage with people not turning up, so a lot just goes to the charity shop or free give - the admin of our group throws out anyone who doesn't collect on time.