EBay selling nightmare

[xxxPandora]

Hello,

I have been buying and selling items from eBay for over 11 years. Not as a business, just as a person selling a few bits no longer required or to make extra space in my wardrobe etc.

I recently sold a brand new with tags Ted Baker coat for £130. The buyer received it and contacted me to ask why the postage was £3 more than what I actually paid and asked for a refund. I explained that the added charge was added on to cover my packaging and fuel costs and that it was clearly stated on the listing. There was no message from the buyer advising that there was something wrong with the coat or the coat was not as described. The buyer then submitted an 'item is not as described' refund request which I accepted. I was advised to do this by eBay after ringing them directly. I explained that they have used the 'item not as described' return policy falsely and eBay advised that they could see from our message correspondence that the buyer had never mentioned there was a problem with the coat itself.
I paid for a return label through eBay and received the coat back from the seller damaged/marked, smelling of cigarettes and had clearly been worn.
I've again been in touch with eBay who advise that I can offer the buyer a partial refund but the buyer can refuse this and then the buyer will be refunded fully and I'm out of pocket left with a coat that I can no longer sell as brand new and sell it at a significant loss.
I'm so annoyed about this. I've got 100% feedback and I'm a very genuine seller.
Has anyone else experienced this or have any advice?

Yeah this tbh. People pay higher postage because they assume the parcel will weigh more. I would have refunded straight away and moved on.

Equally I wouldn't have messaged, I'd have just written you off as a CF. And of course I wouldn't have worn it and then sent it back.

EBay can be a minefield. I bought trainers, listed as a 9, turns out that was a US 9. The seller hadn’t mentioned this or shown the label. He told me to go through PayPal as he refused to pay it back. Idiot didn’t seem to realise it was his PayPal account that would be debited when I inevitably won the case!

My DH sold an ipod, the buyer couldn’t get it working after multiple messages saying he needed it urgently as he was leaving the country-we upgraded the postage at our expense. He was told how to make it work, the usual turn it on, it was fine. Then he wanted a refund but didn’t want to return it because he didn’t have time to go to the Post Office (hello, they do collection!) then went over the time given him to return, complaining lots of times that he shouldn’t have to return a fully working iPod and we should just refund him. Bonkers.

I sold on eBay for years with no problems. Literally, never a problem. This year, I sold only two things and both times buyers started complaining, trying to find faults with the items (priced really low) and were blatantly lying to get a full refund and keep the item> clearly the items were so cheap I wouldn't bother paying return postage to get the item back. As a result, I don't sell on eBay anymore. I don't know if the introduction of vinted, depop changed the dynamic and population of eBay. There now seems to be a culture of getting things for free through eBay. I can just take them to charity shop near me

Yes exactly so put it on the item price and be done with it. Postage price is for postage. Not petrol to the post office.

I sold loads on eBay until last year, when I had a similar experience. I took everything down and only use Vinted now. It's been great so far!

I don't bother with ebay anymore
Have used FB marketplace in the past. Found ebay abit stressful especially for a higher paid item I was selling.

I have been eBaying for 30 years now, having 6000 100% positive feedbacks.

However, I don't eBay much these days as it's full of scammers and opportunists.

Your major error was this
'The buyer then submitted an 'item is not as described' refund request which I accepted.'

You allowed the buyer to manipulate the eBay system in his favour. Item not as described gives you absolutely no protection from eBay. It was as described, so you should not have accepted that reason as the cause for return. Doing this, you shot yourself in the foot, and now you don't have a leg to stand on. Ebay frowns upon dodgy sellers. INAD is a black mark against you as a seller. You should have rejected this and asked the seller to correct the request, so you could accept the return. That the item is as described, so you could not refund for that reason. Better still, phone eBay before agreeing to anything, and explain to them.

It's a hard way to learn a lesson. If you are going to eBay you have to protect yourself by putting YOUR OWN Terms and Conditions on EVERY LISTING.

These include what the postage charges consist of. The definition of the condition of the items, i.e used means the item has been worn and is not in NEW condition. There may be minor signs of use, or if there are signs of use, show them in the pictures. Also, state the pictures form part of the item description and should be inspected thoroughly before bidding. You can also specify NO BIDDERS with LESS THAN 50 Positive feedbacks. This helps and you can remove bids and refuse to sell to new bidders who are potential scammers. Your T&Cs protect you.

By bidding on my item, you are fully accepting my T&Cs and no refunds will be given unless the item is grossly not as described.

Sorry you had to go through this. Hopefully, you didn't leave feedback for the item and can leave actual factual feedback. The item was brand new and tagged. Buyer returned item dirty, stinking of smoke, obviously worn, and leave 1 star and negative. This at least warns others of their scam.

I no longer leave feedback until 4-6 weeks after an item is sold, or until after feedback has been left for me. People sometimes prey on new eBayers because they know they are easy targets and too trusting.

Sorry, it's a waffle but I hope it helps.

P'S £3 is far too cheap for postage on an expensive item. I never send anything expensive not fully tracked. You will pay 10% in fees and you pay the fees for the postage as well, so he only paid you £2.70.... that's ridiculous.

A few years ago, I sold a mobile phone on eBay.

It was my dad's old phone who never leaves the house due to ill health and the phone spent it's life on the table in a case barely used. He wanted a different one and so I sold the old one for him.
It was boxed and in mint condition.

It sold for around £50 if I recall correctly.
I received positive feedback.

4 months later, I got a PayPal claim against me to say that the screen had smashed and they wanted a refund.

They did it through PayPal because eBay returns were 30/60 days back then I think.

PayPal actually sided with them and I had to refund.
Their policy at the time was that the buyer was allowed 180 days after a sale to raise any problems.
I'm not sure if that still applies.

I argued that they had the phone for 4 months, left positive feedback and anything could've happened in that time.
They still sided with the buyer.

I took it to the ombudsman and got my dad's money back, but they still got the refund also after using a phone for 4 months and breaking it.

I refused to sell anything on eBay after that.

OP charged £3 more than the postage actually cost.