Buyer wants a refund - says my item is not as described!

[RiffyWammal]

I sold a folding walking stick on eBay this week (private seller not business), it is used and was described as such in the listing, I also added three pictures including one close up and mentioned the minor paint scratches that it has. It sold for £18 plus postage and a couple of people bid on it. The listing states 'No returns accepted' although to be honest I didn't intend this particularly, it was just the way the template 'sell one like this' did it.

The buyer has received the item and has sent me the following email today:

hello I would like to return the walking stick please as it is in very poor condition on the photo you show a scratch the hole walking stick is scratched and in very poor condition which does not show on the pictures and was not detailed correct in the add I am very disappointed . could you send me your address to return this item please and I would like the postage to be taken in consideration I will not leave bad feedback or report this to e bay if all of my requests are considered and dealt with on prompt time

My first reaction was to tell her to do one. It was clearly stated as a USED item that had scratches and there were photos! And in my opinion, the scratches were minor. I feel like telling her that if she wants a mint condition one she can pay the £30 they cost brand new! The bit about feedback and reporting to ebay gave me the right hump too, like she's holding me to ransom.

I'm not bothered if she leaves me bad feedback really, I have a 100% score on 207 items so I assume it would still be 100% if she did? Who reads the feedback details anyway, I know I don't.

What should I do?

well tbh if she opens a case and escalates it she will get a refund from ebay so you can't really refuse - but her comments about feedback is extortion and is against ebay rules.

it is not technically feedback extortion if you ask seller to resolve issue before leaving feedback

I think buyer is being a pain but I would suggest you tell them to return for refund as they are bound to win a case, if he says it is more scratched than he thought he will win case, however you are under no obligation to give return postage as a private , seller unless you really messed up or it arrived broken ( they can't make you then either but it would be bad form to expect a buyer to be out of pocket for something broken)
your feedback would be 99.5% ( 207/208) after
saying I will not open a case if you just take it as refund is actually helpful to seller though perhaps expressed abruptly though the seller is not threatening just stating his case
it is best to solve things amicably without involving ebay resolution if possible

Thanks for the advice. It really seems that ebay is a bit weighted against sellers.

I have replied to her as follows;

Hi,
I am sorry you are not happy with the stick. It was clearly listed as 'used', I mentioned the scratches (which I considered minor) and the listing also states 'No returns'. These sticks sell for over £30 new. It would be impossible to buy a used one with no scratches, as the scratches are inevitable when the stick is folded and the metal parts rub together.
However, I am willing to refund you if you return it to me. I cannot refund you any postage however as I am a private seller and will be left out of pocket. Alternately you could list it for sale yourself - I think you would sell it easily as it had other bidders when I sold it.
I hope you feel these options are acceptable. My address is;

When I refund her, do I refund her just the £18 or do I also have to refund the postage she paid for it to be delivered to her?

you refund once it arrives back ebay rules says refund must be within 3 days of receipt of item

ebay is definitely weighted against sellers "the customer is always right" your reply is fine and polite

if he raises case you will have to refund the original postage but not his return postage

eBay doesn't always find in the favour of buyers. I recently sold my DH's designer jumper that had shrunk in the wash. It still fit him around the waist (just) but the arms had shrunk.

We clearly stated this in the description. The buyer then wanted to return it saying the item wasn't as described. We fought it and won, because we were honest and hadn't done anything misleading.

bloody hell, I fought a case when I didn't do anything misleading but bottom line was the buyer thought item was only fit for skip and I thought it was well worn but still useable. Ebay found for buyer, but at least buyer returned item to me undamaged.

I later sold same item for £75 to pick up buyer.

Riffy, if they return it you are obligated to return their bid AND their initial postage I'm afraid (if they open a case). Obviously the buyer will be responsible for return postage.