Refund for bad Ebay deal

I bought some stuff from ebay that I'm not happy with. The seller stated the ferrule on the shaft was in good shape, whereas it's cracked in several places.

Obviously I can raise a claim with ebay/PP, but do I do this first or go directly to the seller?

Also, who is responsible for paying postage? It was quite a large item and postage to me and back to the seller is about 30% of the cost of the item. Am I liable for postage in both directions or does the seller bear responsibility?
 
Last edited:
First thing to do is contact the seller and see what they are willing to do to make things right. The shipping depends on the terms of sale. I sell many items through ebay with my business and we stipulate that all return shipping must be paid by the buyer.

So contact the seller first
Check the terms of sale to see who owes for shipping
If the seller is unwilling to work with you then file a claim with ebay.
 
Contact the seller first and give him/her a chance to clear this up.

Yes, you are stuck with postage.
 
i just had a big lot i bought that came in the mail yesterday and it wasn't as described and the seller even included a partial refund in the package pretty funny really, i have paid return shipping b4 and would never do it again or ask 1 of my buyers to either is just a bad policy all around

i would msg the seller out of courtesy and tell them all that u aren't satisfied w in a calm manner but also throw in a compliment or 2 about other things that matched the description and then see what they're reply is if any and go from there, as a rule of thumb i try to get them to refund the shipping, i have asked twice and once got back $15 on a pair of shoes that were the wrong color and yesterday i got back $8 which is a lot better than me spending $12 to send it back

i wouldn't threaten leaving a negative unless it's a last option and if u get no response open up a case, if they're shady they'll just ignore it and hope u don't raise it to a claim after so many days, if u open a case call ebay after a few days if u get no action from the seller and they'll tell u which day u can raise it to a claim

i had a damaged item a month or 2 back and the seller said tough luck pal, ebay said to wait then escalate it to a claim and they let me keep the item and gave me a "courtesy refund" but it was only my 2nd ever claim in 13 years over an items condition

if u agree to return it u pay return shipping w tracking and enter the # into the claim and then when it is returned u get a full refund but are out the return shipping

as a rule of thumb anytime i spend over $30 on ebay about 25-33% of the time there is an issue but on cheaper items it is much less than 3% that have issues, u r better off buyin mid range items @ the store where u can see them and not have to pay shipping and are a lot simpler to return
 
Last edited:
Be sure to....

I bought some stuff from ebay that I'm not happy with. The seller stated the ferrule on the shaft was in good shape, whereas it's cracked in several places.

Obviously I can raise a claim with ebay/PP, but do I do this first or go directly to the seller?

Also, who is responsible for paying postage? It was quite a large item and postage to me and back to the seller is about 30% of the cost of the item. Am I liable for postage in both directions or does the seller bear responsibility?

Yes... always deal with the seller first... BUT ONLY THROUGH EBAY MESSAGING!!!
I speak from experience here on a matter of a limited edition pool cue that I bought that was advertised in "New Unused Condition". Seller stated that it was given to him as a gift from his wife (seven years earlier), perfectly straight and never once used or taken out of the case. I should have known something wasn't going to be right, since the cue was only made for about 2 years and hadn't been produced in the past 12.
The cue arrived having a warped shaft with a tip that had been both shaped and chalked.
The cue was a limited edition classic so I still wanted to keep it, but I wanted the seller to cover some of my cost for a new shaft to make the cue stick "As Advertised". We sent several emails back and forth and I was being friendly and respectful to the seller, as I believe the guy just didn't know anything about cue sticks (but he sold a lot of Les Paul guitars and music equipment) and he was being friendly (and agreeable) to me... at first. Then he suddenly decided that he wasn't going to do anything about it, accused me of pulling a "bait and switch" on the cue stick and even suggested that he would pay me a visit "to settle the matter like men" LOL. He wasn't willing to pay $100 toward a $170 shaft but was willing to spend more than that in gas to come fight with me over his false advertising. (highly doubtful... but laughable).

That was the point that I just cut him off and opened a dispute case against him with eBay. I was ultimately told by eBay that "because they had no record of our conversations before arbitration", that they would only allow for a return with full refund. They said that if we had used eBay messaging then they would be able to view what was said (and admitted by the seller) but they couldn't accept transcripts of my emails on a dispute.
Yes, try to settle with the seller first... BUT ALWAYS DO IT THROUGH EBAY MESSAGING!!! so that they have a record of what was said between you two. If you decide that the seller is not trying to do what is right, then open a dispute claim. Just make sure that eBay has the documentation to back up what you say... because they often like to side with the seller (that's where they make their money). If it's an obvious case of "false advertising" then eBay should give you a full refund once it's confirmed that the package was returned properly.

As for the cost of the return shipping, eBay emailed me a pre-paid shipping label so that I could return my item without any cost to me.

Good luck.
 
Yes... always deal with the seller first... BUT ONLY THROUGH EBAY MESSAGING!!!
I speak from experience here on a matter of a limited edition pool cue that I bought that was advertised in "New Unused Condition". Seller stated that it was given to him as a gift from his wife (seven years earlier), perfectly straight and never once used or taken out of the case. I should have known something wasn't going to be right, since the cue was only made for about 2 years and hadn't been produced in the past 12.
The cue arrived having a warped shaft with a tip that had been both shaped and chalked.
The cue was a limited edition classic so I still wanted to keep it, but I wanted the seller to cover some of my cost for a new shaft to make the cue stick "As Advertised". We sent several emails back and forth and I was being friendly and respectful to the seller, as I believe the guy just didn't know anything about cue sticks (but he sold a lot of Les Paul guitars and music equipment) and he was being friendly (and agreeable) to me... at first. Then he suddenly decided that he wasn't going to do anything about it, accused me of pulling a "bait and switch" on the cue stick and even suggested that he would pay me a visit "to settle the matter like men" LOL. He wasn't willing to pay $100 toward a $170 shaft but was willing to spend more than that in gas to come fight with me over his false advertising. (highly doubtful... but laughable).

That was the point that I just cut him off and opened a dispute case against him with eBay. I was ultimately told by eBay that "because they had no record of our conversations before arbitration", that they would only allow for a return with full refund. They said that if we had used eBay messaging then they would be able to view what was said (and admitted by the seller) but they couldn't accept transcripts of my emails on a dispute.
Yes, try to settle with the seller first... BUT ALWAYS DO IT THROUGH EBAY MESSAGING!!! so that they have a record of what was said between you two. If you decide that the seller is not trying to do what is right, then open a dispute claim. Just make sure that eBay has the documentation to back up what you say... because they often like to side with the seller (that's where they make their money). If it's an obvious case of "false advertising" then eBay should give you a full refund once it's confirmed that the package was returned properly.

As for the cost of the return shipping, eBay emailed me a pre-paid shipping label so that I could return my item without any cost to me.

Good luck.

Thanks. Is the pre-paid shipping label standard practice? If so, sounds like I should just go straight to ebay. Not coughing up for shipping on goods that were falsely advertised is my priority here.
 
Thanks. Is the pre-paid shipping label standard practice? If so, sounds like I should just go straight to ebay. Not coughing up for shipping on goods that were falsely advertised is my priority here.

I'm really not sure how that came about on the shipping label. EBay will tell you to try to resolve with the seller first before arbitration. I do believe that the paid shipping was due to false advertising issues by the seller. In eBay's defense of my case they were very easy to deal with once I proved that working with the seller had lead to a dead end and that the seller misrepresented the item. I'd tell the seller that you want full refund for all charges (including shipping). If he says no, or you don't hear from him in a reasonable amount of time... file a dispute. I would give a couple of days for the seller to say yes or no. As I said... only discuss through eBay messaging. You shouldn't have to pay return shipping if your item was falsely advertised and I think eBay insures against that... even if they have to pick up the tab.
 
I bought some stuff from ebay that I'm not happy with. The seller stated the ferrule on the shaft was in good shape, whereas it's cracked in several places.

Obviously I can raise a claim with ebay/PP, but do I do this first or go directly to the seller?

Also, who is responsible for paying postage? It was quite a large item and postage to me and back to the seller is about 30% of the cost of the item. Am I liable for postage in both directions or does the seller bear responsibility?

It would be cheaper and less agro to just get the ferrule done yourself.
...and don't do any more business in this spot.
 
It would be cheaper and less agro to just get the ferrule done yourself.
...and don't do any more business in this spot.

I'm not sure anyone does cue work in the UK any more, and it was expensive when people did. Simply not worth it either way.
 
Back
Top