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More ebay seller fun

post #1 of 17
11/20/07 at 11:43am
Thread Starter 
Got this msg the other day from a buyer: HI-I KNOW MY SON LEFT YOU POSITIVE FEEDBACK ON THIS SHIRT WHILE I WAS ON A TRIP, HOWEVER, I WANT TO RETURN IT AS THE COLOR IS MORE GREEN LIKE THE BACKGROUND ON PAYPAL...NOT TAN AS LISTED. WHAT ADDRESS SHOULD I SEND IT BACK TO? AND ASK EBAY.PAYPAL FOR A REFUND ON YOUR SELLER FEES. THANKS IN AVANCE FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING! Did he bid on it? Did his son? Shirt went for a high bid, making me wonder if this is an angle on buyer's remorse. Shirt is tan with perhaps green element, and as we all know colors show up differently on different computer screens. Also, the background on paypal is blue. What would you do?
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post #2 of 17
11/20/07 at 11:55am
How long has the item been in the persons hands? I would think that in most cases your ebay rep is worth the hassle as you sell a fair amount of product on it.
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post #3 of 17
11/20/07 at 12:24pm
You want some kind of sustainable, across-the-board return policy, if only to spare you the hours wasted debating each individual case.

Have a return policy, keep it simple, publish it with your listings, and always honor it cheerfully.

Half the time, the customer will be too lazy to return the item anyway.
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post #4 of 17
11/20/07 at 12:42pm
Thread Starter 
I have a policy in the listings...guess I am just annoyed today.
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post #5 of 17
11/20/07 at 1:07pm

I am happy to accept returns if I have significantly misrepresented the color, size, style, features or condition of any item. Buyer desiring return must notify me within three days of receipt. Original tags, if any, must be attached, and item must be in same condition in which it was sold. Money will be refunded in same form as payment was made. As always, if you are dissatisfied in any way, please contact me.

Oh, I see. You are encouraging customers to exaggerate or invent a reason for desiring a return. The customer has to argue that you "significantly" misrepresented. You open the door a crack, but the sign on the door says they can come in only if they are loud and obnoxious. With that policy, you are basically telling the customer that (only) "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." I think it's lose-lose for you. You don't look so generous or confident in your merchandise. And the customers are going to squeak when they attempt returns. And they will attempt them because you accept them. Even if the "misrepresentation" is not "significant," with a tired sigh (last sentence of your policy), you concede (they see this) that you have to satisfy people, probably to protect your feedback. If you want all the returns to be easy, have an easier return policy. The joke here is that you say you "are happy" to accept returns when the minutia of the policy suggests quite the opposite.
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post #6 of 17
11/20/07 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dewey View Post

I am happy to accept returns if I have significantly misrepresented the color, size, style, features or condition of any item. Buyer desiring return must notify me within three days of receipt. Original tags, if any, must be attached, and item must be in same condition in which it was sold. Money will be refunded in same form as payment was made. As always, if you are dissatisfied in any way, please contact me.


Oh, I see. You are encouraging customers to exaggerate or invent a reason for desiring a return. The customer has to argue that you "significantly" misrepresented. You open the door a crack, but the sign on the door says they can come in only if they are loud and obnoxious.

With that policy, you are basically telling the customer that (only) "the squeaky wheel gets the grease." I think it's lose-lose for you. You don't look so generous or confident in your merchandise. And the customers are going to squeak when they attempt returns. And they will attempt them because you accept them. Even if the "misrepresentation" is not "significant," with a tired sigh (last sentence of your policy), you concede (they see this) that you have to satisfy people, probably to protect your feedback.

If you want all the returns to be easy, have an easier return policy. The joke here is that you say you "are happy" to accept returns when the minutia of the policy suggests quite the opposite.

yeah, dewey is right. that's why whenever I sell, I do the returns for any reason, as long as in condition shipped and within a reasonable time period from receipt (I think 7 days). That's also the reason why I don't buy from a lot of sellers who have difficult return processes.

As for me, I think I've only had one return my entire time selling.
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post #7 of 17
11/20/07 at 2:33pm
Mack,

I guess it's too late for me to ask you to refund me on those two ties because I thought the paisley one was really a herringbone and the green stripe was really purple?

:-p
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post #8 of 17
11/20/07 at 3:21pm
in the words of Jim Rome....... that is " ridicous"
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post #9 of 17
11/20/07 at 3:45pm
Essentially this is a litmus on whether you think "buyer's remorse" is a valid reason to return something on ebay. If you think it is, you should take it back, if not, then no way.
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post #10 of 17
11/20/07 at 4:37pm
I wouldn't accept the return, especially after you already got positive feedback. Tell the person to resell it themselves. I honestly don't think the very occassional bad feedback will hurt your sales.

Also - I'm assuming that the buyer had missed your three day window for returns. If they responded within that window, I would consider the return.
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post #11 of 17
11/20/07 at 5:04pm
Whatever you decide, I'd block this bidder in the future. Who has time for such nonsense?
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post #12 of 17
11/20/07 at 5:05pm
I don't have a ton of experience buying or selling on eBay, but my thought is that returns on auctioned items are bull$h!t unless there is a clear case of misrepresentation.

Retail and fixed-price transactions are totally different, because everyone knows what the price is going in. However, in an auction, the seller assumes the risk that the item won't sell for what he/she might like it to, and vice versa. Putting an item up for re-auction may or may not yield the same price. You can't use soft criteria such as subtle color differences to return unless the return policy is blatantly generous and understood by all parties.

The reason I feel so strongly about this is that when I buy things from eBay, I am not willing to pay what I might be willing to pay in a store where I can a) have a good look at the item and b) have the option to return it. This fear of the unkown is priced into the way I bid... and should be priced into the way anyone bids on any eBay item.

I'm sure others will disagree... maybe this is why I'm losing so many auctions.
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post #13 of 17
11/20/07 at 5:37pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mack11211 View Post
Got this msg the other day from a buyer:

HI-I KNOW MY SON LEFT YOU POSITIVE FEEDBACK ON THIS SHIRT WHILE I WAS ON A TRIP, HOWEVER, I WANT TO RETURN IT AS THE COLOR IS MORE GREEN LIKE THE BACKGROUND ON PAYPAL...NOT TAN AS LISTED. WHAT ADDRESS SHOULD I SEND IT BACK TO? AND ASK EBAY.PAYPAL FOR A REFUND ON YOUR SELLER FEES. THANKS IN AVANCE FOR YOUR UNDERSTANDING!

Did he bid on it? Did his son?

Shirt went for a high bid, making me wonder if this is an angle on buyer's remorse.

Shirt is tan with perhaps green element, and as we all know colors show up differently on different computer screens.

Also, the background on paypal is blue.

What would you do?

What more need to be said?

Also, depending on who you talk to, "tan" can be anything from almost dark khaki to greyed out military green to off-white. Each and every person has a slightly different idea of Tan IME; however, the buyer's version is obviously not to be trusted.
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post #14 of 17
11/23/07 at 3:13pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks for feedback.

Decided to refund the guy's money and add him to my blocked bidder list.

Will also rewrite my return policy to make it more simple and friendly-sounding.

Thanks to all for your input...the seller-buyer dialog is a very useful part of the forum.
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post #15 of 17
11/23/07 at 3:44pm
mack, you might also add links to your newer New York Sun writings. and all that stuff should centrally located (at least as links) on a blog. your ebay listings could link to that location as well. peoples will pay extra to know they are buying from an expert, and this would increase their satisfaction with the purchase. i am sure i am not the only one who reads almost all of your listings, even for stuff that's not my size, because i learn from your descriptions. it may be the case that you don't want to mix up your ebay selling with your professional writing, but as a regular ebay shopper, i can definitely say that buyers would pay extra after learning more about your credentials and bona fides.
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