Return request from the buyer - who bears the return costs - private individual
Summary: The discussion concerns the question of who bears the cost of returning goods in the case of a sale by a private individual. piotres1 raised this topic, and guangxi_hone joined the conversation, but the details of their exchange were not provided.
hello
I am a private individual, I sold used wheels (rims with tires) for a passenger car on ebay.de - the wheels matched the description, and my photos.
The person who bought the wheels claims, however, that they do not match the description because they have a lot of scuffs on the inside - which was, however, 100% visible in the auction photos.
The buyer is requesting a return and I have to respond what to do about it. I sold the wheels for about 1000eur plus shipping costs of about 100eur. Of course I am not even considering that I would have to additionally pay the cost of returning the item, but my question is whether I will be forced to refund only the payment for the item itself or also the shipping cost that he incurred so I could send him the rims.
To sum up - I feel wronged by the buyer's demands and I hope I won't lose the money I spent on sending the wheels to this man. I am ready to give him the money back for the wheels if he returns them to me - but not for the shipping costs.
piotres1
OP10 months agoI’m a private individual, the wheels were 100% as described so I don’t understand why I should have to bear additional costs? The dispute has already been opened. I sold the wheels for 970eur through eBay + 170eur shipping, and the seller is demanding a refund of 1000eur .... or the return of the wheels and the cost of sending the wheels back to me. This is not a normal situation, it’s some kind of absurdity. I don’t sell much on eBay, the money from selling these wheels is already in my account.
guangxi_hone
·10 months agoI understand that the money is in your bank account? Or in the seller’s eBay account?
either way, at the moment of opening a dispute, eBay blocks the amount in the eBay account. If there isn’t any money there, it creates a negative balance that they can take from a bank account or card if you have that set up (backup payment source). If you don’t have it set up to be taken automatically, they will block the account until you settle the negative balance.
Unfortunately, the seller is in a losing position on eBay. The situation is difficult but not hopeless. Let us know what you decided. My advice: choose to return it before eBay takes over the case.
guangxi_hone
·10 months agoDid he open a dispute?
If he opens a dispute, eBay will automatically block the full amount the buyer paid on your account, meaning the price plus shipping.
If you resolve the dispute yourself, eBay will refund your fee and won’t charge you again for relisting the wheels. If, however, after the deadline specified in the eBay email, eBay steps in and decides (in the buyer’s favor, always), it won’t refund the fee or waive the charge for the next listing.
My advice: work it out with the buyer now, before he opens a dispute, and offer a discount. The best way to do that, in my opinion, is to ask whether a discount is an option and what amount would satisfy him.
eBay expects you to pay for the return shipping, so you have 100 euros at your disposal. If you decide to issue a refund, do it of course only from within that auction. Also conduct any correspondence through the eBay system, and if a dispute is open, through the dispute.
Write here or in a private message how things went. I may be able to advise more depending on how the situation develops