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.