Opeing eBay case.

[CJay]

Long story short, bought an item from eBay, it's arrived, mangled in transit, seller is asking me to get it repaired locally and offering me a pittance to do so (probably less than the amount of money I'd need to pay for fuel to drop it off with someone).

What's the best way to proceed, it's meant to be brand new, it's not a cheap item and it's going to cost me a significant amount of money to return, the seller has stated the buyer must pay return shipping?

eBay case or Paypal?
Paid with Paypal credit...

[Zucca]

If you paid with PayPal you should have no problem.

Once my item was damaged in shipping, I took pictures and contact the seller, clearly the package was a joke so it was his fault.  After a few ping pong messages he did not reply anymore. I opened an Ebay case waited a couple of days and received for free a label to ship the thing back. Done and got my money back in PayPal.

If it is a rare item and you really want it, try to talk with the seller to manage a better partial refund.
If it is something you can find later somewhere, then return it and by opening an Ebay case <--- Not knowing the details I suggest this.

Good luck.

[cdev]

Don't fall for it, if you pay for shipping you will never get that money back, just hold your guns, insist that it was not new and not as described and Ebay should send you a shipping label, understand that the seller has probably tons more experience than you and is almost certain to try to stick you with the thing so take lots and lots of photos and try to get lots of advice. I went through this with a seller Item he claimed was working but which immediately blew a fuse upon it being plugged in so I opened a case as item not as described not working. If its not as described not working and he said it was I think he HAS to pay shipping. Ebay has to send you a shipping label. Open a Pay Pal dispute too.

 Its not even the slightest bit your fault. Stick to your guns or you will end up eating the shipping money like I did. Again take LOTS of photos and DONT COMMUNICATE OUTSIDE OF EBAY BY EMAIL or any other method. Make them use ebay so ebay has a record of their sleazy behavior.  My biggest mistake was falling for the you pay shipping line. If not as described and they said used or working then thats it, it has to be working. Document everything. I would also make a folder where you store everything related to the incident, make sure to take lots of photos. Its also very helpful if you also take screenshots of all the communications because sometimes they seem to vanish out of the ebay system. Again dont communicate any way other than via ebay.

[Fred27]

Definitely open a case. The seller should provide you with a return shipping label. If they don't sort it then you can ask eBay to step in.

I recently had an issue and the seller seemed to find a "loophole" by accepting the return, telling me they couldn't provide a shipping label and then playing email ping-pong asking me the same questions repeatedly. Unfortunately this disables the "get eBay to step in" button. I asked eBay to sort it out via messaging and they did. To be honest everything is stacked in the buyer's favour so you should be OK. I feel sorry for sellers up against dishonest buyers though.

[CJay]

Done, actually spoke to a human being on the ebay contact number and they looked at the case, confirmed my worst fears that I'd have probably have to ship it a *long* way back (China) even though it was drop shipped from London.

However, they assured me that I won't have to pay return shipping, as the item was damaged in transit shipping is the seller's responsibility and that I should refuse to accept a partial refund from the seller to 'cover shipping' if they offer one.

eBay will force the seller to issue a prepaid return label and I am to phone them back when it's issued as the usual label only covers items up to 2KG (the item is a 40W laser cutter)

So, fingers crossed, it will all be resolved by new year.

[Fred27]

Difficulty and expense for shipping is the seller's problem. For a lower value items you will probably find (like I did) that they just give a full refund and don't expect it returned. For something like this they might offer you a reasonable partial refund and to keep the item.

What's up with the laser anyway? If it's a K40 and the tube and PSU are OK then you could always keep it as a donor for a rebuild such as this one: https://manmademayhem.com/layzor/

I'm sure it will get resolved satisfactorily. eBay have many faults but that's one area they do seem OK.

[MrMobodies]

Yes, typical of dodgy sellers. They are asking you to do stuff outside Ebay policies. I had this many times before, I phone up Ebay and report the seller and most of the time they deny this and start to behaving themselves and issue a returns form or let you keep the item if it is not economical for them. Sometimes they are so arrogant of Ebay policies that automatically refunds the buyer in any case like this they loose the item as well but I do give them an opportunity pick it up at their own expense.

Also when I buy things on Ebay and if they are used I specify how they should be packaged, and what can go wrong in the post like many other damaged parcels I have received. I offer to pay the seller a a bit more to get hold foam and other packaging materials to prevent the parcel from easily being crushed or the contents experiencing shock. So if they turn up with inadequate packaging it makes it easier for me to say "I did warn you" and it is case of a refund.

[Siwastaja]

Just open the case. Ebay/Paypal almost automatically returns you the money, unless the time window for opening the case is over, which is why the sellers often try to play time.

[ignator]

When I was still ignorant to eBay, a seller from China sent the wrong items. I communicated via the message system, and I sent the item back without eBay in the loop. This released eBay from any interest in helping me. I lost $126 USD as the seller never received the item, as sending it back with tracking exceeded the original price, so I smartly saved the seller money. So always start with a formal ebay return.
The seller can say what they want about not paying return shipping in their auction, that depends on the classification of the item per their policy. Even if they say this in a message. Ebay buyer protection is your friend, but follow the process and ebay will make sure you don't loose your money.

[JackJones]

Paypal is usually very fair with cases. Although I did recently get a decision from them that was less than fair. An item arrived damaged and paypal decided that I will get my money back if I return it to the seller. At my own expense too. Thankfully it was only less than €5 so I wasn't out much.

Sometimes it takes them really long time to handle them. Last one took 2 months for them to make a decision.

[vtwin@cox.net]

I buy and sell on eBay.

Open a case on eBay. At some point, you will automatically provided with a return label (when either the seller accepts the return, or you escalate the case to eBay after the requisite # of days the seller has to work it out w/ you, which 99% of the time means 'send you a return label'.) When you ship back w/ that return label, eBay charges the cost of the return shipping to the seller's account automatically, doesn't cost you a penny.

Paypal doesn't get involved any longer, the dispute resolution process occurs within eBay (unlike years ago when item not as described complaints were handled through PayPal.)

Honest sellers have very little options against dishonest buyers. You can sell something for "parts only", and *still* be forced to give a refund if the buyer claims the item is not as advertised. Couple this with the inability to leave negative feedback against a buyer when you do get scammed, as the years progress I sell less and less on eBay, given how stacked the system is against sellers (all for the low, low commission of 13% of your item sale *AND* shipping!). For the amount I sell, one dishonest buyer can eat two or three months profit margin. As another poster indicated, most time it is easier to just let them keep the item and write it off. Fortunately, most buyers are honest folks.

[CJay]

I used to sell on eBay, gave up when the buyer of a 2M linear amp I'd sold as spares/repairs (even though I'd tested it as working to spec) claimed it produced no power and tried to get a 50% refund.

I demanded he return the thing, refunded the full amount and sold it to a local ham for cash instead, fully working.

I've also seen 'respected' members of mailing lists openly claim they're going to defraud sellers, it's an unpleasant place to do business.

[vtwin@cox.net]

it's an unpleasant place to do business.

I agree. The system is unfortunately stacked against sellers, to the point that small mom and pop sellers really can't do serious business there any longer. There really is no way these days for a dishonest seller to flourish on eBay, unless the seller can get the buyer to somehow go around eBay's policies and do something stupid like sending cash.

However, if you think about it, these problems are really no different than what brick and mortar sellers encounter (parts swappers, etc.) so it is really any worse?

On the gripping hand, it's easy for buyers to scam sellers. For instance I recently bought an Eaton UPS from a local seller and paid with PayPal. I did a local pickup. The seller had me sign a pickup slip. I could have easily gone to Paypal and filed an "item not received" claim, because Paypal requires signed proof of delivery via a bona-fide online tracking system (UPS, Fedex, USPS, etc.) for orders over $250.

Fortunately, most buyers (and sellers) are honest.

I've mainly been using eBay to "downsize" a lot of possessions I have which I no longer need or use. However, now in the US, there is apparently an IRS reporting requirement where if you sell a certain $ amount over the course of 12 months Paypal sends you (and the IRS) a 1099 saying you received so much in monetary transactions... so now I get to report "income" for personal items I'm selling which I purchased using money I already paid income tax on at the time I purchased them.

[CJay]

Well, there we go, eBay refunded me in full and  told me to dispose of the item.

I feel rather guilty as the seller lost out completely but they didn't offer a way to return it, just offered me a partial refund if I arranged to ship it back to China at my cost, even after they'd told me they were claiming against their courier (which would have cost me roughly the same as the cutter)

So, now to see if I can make anything good from it or if it's unsalvageable.

[vtwin@cox.net]

I feel rather guilty

I wouldn't. Seller had an opportunity to make good on transaction and did not.

[dexters_lab]

Well, there we go, eBay refunded me in full and  told me to dispose of the item.

I feel rather guilty as the seller lost out completely but they didn't offer a way to return it

don't, if it had been packed properly to survive a journey 1/2 way around the world in the first place it could have all been avoided

i work for a large courier company and handle 100s of packages leaving the UK for destinations all over the world, it's amazing how poorly people pack things for international shipping