eBay buyer dispute

[Converse2020]

Hi,

Not sure where to post this so if this is wrong then I apologise....

Younger family member has sold an item of clothing on eBay. It’s by a U.K. high street fashion designer. Item cost approx £75 when new and sold for £25.

Now the buyer has said it’s fake and demands a refund.

The auction was from a non-business account and said no returns. Buyer has sent a photo of a clothing label and claims it looks like a fake. The buyer also says the size is different to other items from the same make so therefore it’s 100% a fake.

The buyer has opened a dispute. eBay has said it is holding the money.

The seller (family member) has raised an eBay item against the buyer saying it looks like they are trying it on, but should they give up now and just refund it and prepare to be scammed in return (I’ve read of cases where seller refunds and then gets sent a fake from the buyer). Or is it worth them waiting to see what eBay say? Or is there a risk eBay refund the buyer and tell them to keep the item of clothing.

Thanks

[Simpo Two]

You say 'Dear xxxxx, thank you for your message. We were greatly concerned to learn that we may unknowingly have sent out a fake item. We would like to investigate this matter with our supplier and therefore ask you to return the goods for checking. Upon safe receipt we shall of course issue a full refund'.

You get the idea. But they MUST send the goods back by tracked delivery to get their refund. At that point they will probably give up because they were chancing it and don't want to pay the postage.

Presume it was Paypal?

[Saleen836]

Simpo Two said:

You say 'Dear xxxxx, thank you for your message. We were greatly concerned to learn that we may unknowingly have sent out a fake item. We would like to investigate this matter with our supplier and therefore ask you to return the goods for checking. Upon safe receipt we shall of course issue a full refund'.

You get the idea. But they MUST send the goods back by tracked delivery to get their refund. At that point they will probably give up because they were chancing it and don't want to pay the postage.

Presume it was Paypal?

And the tracked delivery is an empty box,tracking says delivered so Paypal refund buyer

[Converse2020]

It’s a private sale on a non-business eBay account.
Buyer paid via PayPal.
eBay dispute process seems to oblige the seller to provide a pre-paid return for the buyer to use.
The seller will get charged by ebay for this return label.
Then eBay will refund the buyer all charges paid.

So. If I understand it the Seller will end up paying two lots of postage and risks getting fake clothing returned by the buyer if they swap the item, or maybe that’s unlikely and the buyer has just decided they don’t want it and so fabricated their claim it’s a fake.

In the scheme of things getting stung for two lots of postage is not the end of the world but it just seems unfair for the young family member selling some of their things to make some pocket money.

It will eBay see through this and side with the seller?

[MitchT]

My money is on the buyer returning a fake for a refund while keeping the genuine item that was sold to them. Happens all the time. eBay and PayPal always side with the buyer. It's why I've never sold anything on eBay and never will.

[Canute]

MitchT said:

My money is on the buyer returning a fake for a refund while keeping the genuine item that was sold to them. Happens all the time. eBay and PayPal always side with the buyer. It's why I've never sold anything on eBay and never will.

Then the seller can raise a reciprocal complaint I guess, but what a load of total BS.

[pigface1000]

OP

You have been scammed, you will probably lose both money and the item as ebay nearly always side with the buyer.

Never sell on ebay unless you can stand the loss.

[Simpo Two]

Saleen836 said:

And the tracked delivery is an empty box,tracking says delivered so Paypal refund buyer

Technically it's a risk but would they be that smart? The OP is likely to lose the money if he doesn't play the game, so he may as well play it. I've had a few whiners but they've never sent the goods back. You can get stty FB of course, but if it's libellous eBay will remove it.

I haven't had many issues but the best whiner I had was a female student who bought a roll of 12-exposure film. She complained that she only got 14 shots out of it. Why? Because she thought it was 24-exposure... probably too thick to read the number '12' in the title, the description and in the photo.... Naturally I held my ground so she then escalated to how 'all films are 24 exposure', how I'd 'ripped her off', then 'wrecked her degree' and all that snowflake crap. I won.

Converse2020 said:

It’s a private sale on a non-business eBay account.
Buyer paid via PayPal.
eBay dispute process seems to oblige the seller to provide a pre-paid return for the buyer to use.
The seller will get charged by ebay for this return label.
Then eBay will refund the buyer all charges paid.

So. If I understand it the Seller will end up paying two lots of postage and risks getting fake clothing returned by the buyer if they swap the item, or maybe that’s unlikely and the buyer has just decided they don’t want it and so fabricated their claim it’s a fake.

That's how it's been for me.

[akirk]

dear buyer, thank you for your concerns, we use smart water on all items we sell, so please do return and once we have confirmed that it is the same item we sent you, we will refund your money...

honest buyer will still return, dishonest one might be put off...

[VEX]

We have been discussing something similar on another forum.

About non-delivery, fake deliveries and jointly came up with this sort of wording. One guy tried it and several claims disappeared.

"Dear *****

Thank you for bringing the non-delivery of your item to our attention.

We take any non-deliveries very seriously and report them to the relevant courier to investigate.

We also report all non-deliveries to Action Fraud so that they can also carry out their own, independent, investigations in partnership with the Police in case there is a spike of non-deliveries in areas (theft from doorsteps or rogue courier staff - especially during the Christmas period, etc).

We will rectify your concerns as a matter of urgency - but in the meantime, please notify us if your item arrives so that we can close the case with Action Fraud and also notify the relevant courier too.

Best regards"

V.

[DSLiverpool]

akirk said:

dear buyer, thank you for your concerns, we use smart water on all items we sell, so please do return and once we have confirmed that it is the same item we sent you, we will refund your money...

honest buyer will still return, dishonest one might be put off...

That would work but not on eBay who won’t care - I suggest in future a small mark on the label which won’t help in the grand scheme but might just make a fraudster think when pointed out.

[markcoznottz]

I nearly got done on gumtree last week. The use of incorrect broken English is often a giveaway, as it’s a cut and paste. This is easier to spot on gum because there’s usually a bit of messaging before the sale, rather than click and buy. Having said that it’s only due to advice from some on ph that I avoided a problem I just refunded the amount through PayPal.

[Terminator X]

pigface1000 said:

OP

You have been scammed, you will probably lose both money and the item as ebay nearly always side with the buyer.

Never sell on ebay unless you can stand the loss.

So if no eBay where does one sell items?

TX.