Hey guys. Wanted some advice on a recent transaction. I’ve got over 1,000 positive (100%) feedback, and I’ve always tried to do my best by my buyers and customers. Today I got a return request + accompanying messages that seem unfair to me, but I’d like a second opinion.
The card was undamaged/unharmed/fresh from PSA when I got it. I shipped it literally the same day that I received it from PSA. I took it out of PSA’s box to me, verified that it was good to go, and shipped it to him.
The item was shipped to a US address
10 days after the item was delivered to that address, the buyer opened a return request
The buyer is apparently in Australia and used a middleman address
The buyer sent me pictures of “white spots” on the card, which to me look like dust/mold/something else: i.imgur.com/O3Apoad.png
I’m mainly frustrated because the card was fine when I sent it out… and I have no idea how the middleman stored/handled it/etc. and I didn’t even agree to that scenario.
Now the buyer literally is saying “if I escalate I will get to return it and you will receive a negative.”
I just want to understand if I have options here because I feel like I held my end of the deal and now I’m paying the price, especially on a card that has devalued in the time since I shipped it to the designated address and it apparently had to be shipped further to another country. I have no idea how it was handled / how the package was treated… ramble ramble. Sorry for the long post. If anyone has any insight, I’d love some advice.
Sorry for the silly situation in advance. I hope I’m not being unreasonable.
Threatening negative feedback is against eBay policy. Call their customer service, talk to a person and explain the situation. Once you mention they have threatened negative feedback customer service d should hopefully step in.
Unfortunately I don’t think you can do much about that and I don’t really think you have options, whether a middleman was used or not. If the buyer opens a case he’ll get to return it, you’ll be forced to accept the return and refund them and the buyer can give you a neg if they decide to be a douche. It definitely sucks because of the decline in card value since the sale, sorry dude.
I’d be surprised if they blocked a return based on a threat of negative feedback, the buyer might get a note on their account but I think if they open a return case it’ll still go in their favor.
Especially since, if I understand his messages, he’s asking for a refund before the item is returned. Could be considered extortion.
Even though you did nothing wrong the return process is usually highly favored towards the buyer in this case. Once the claim is open and you’ve agreed to the return you’re obligated to refund only once you receive the item back, not before. So if he wants to return it it’s typically better just to accept and block the buyer. I would personally want to know his/her ebay name so I can block them as well…
I think the fact that he is threatening negative feedback and used a middleman service might work in your favor. What stance does ebay take for middleman services?
Also check the buyers feedback left for others, does he seem to leave a lot of negative feedback?
They normally side with the buyer unfortunately but, you did everything on your end and what your supposed too. This might be overkill but I started thinking of just recording when I pack stuff and say the date, time, and show the condition of whatever I send as proof (not sure if it makes a difference). When a situation like this comes up, I have recorded evidence and would only do this for high value items.
You were the first to bring mention to negative feedback per what you’ve shown, not him. He simply said he would open a case for return as the item doesn’t match the photos. He will indeed win the case against you and be able to force a return whether or not the issue was present in the photos. Buyer always wins in that respect. I don’t like returns, but if they are going to happen I much rather have them happen through messages than cases.
I would accept the return and block him. It sucks but it’s how it goes. Especially since the price of this item has been falling and is probably worth 25-40% less today than what you sold it at here. (May be why he is actually returning it)
If he does end up leaving a negative in either case you may get by saying that he was trying to extort you with it, but honestly as I mentioned you initiated the conversation and negative feedback and he just continued where you left off. Unless there are earlier messages you omitted in which case if he actually started mentioning negative feedback first then I have a 100% success rate removing those negatives. As Pierce said though I don’t think that nullifies their ability to return, just gets negatives expunged.
Overkill would be doing more than necessary when solving a problem. E.g. triple boxing a single PSA slab so it doesn’t break in shipment.
What you are describing is just a fools errand that accomplishes nothing. Nobody is ever going to watch that video and even if they did it proves nothing except that you wasted your time giving yourself a false sense of security. I don’t mean it to come across as harsh, just that’s the truth. Stop doing it and save yourself the time. You could pack that box and ship another, the video could be doctored, what happens after the camera turned off etc. etc.
This is overkill and a waste of your time. Don’t get me wrong, being in situations like this sucks; it just does. But recording something you could theoretically record at a later date, switch out contents afterwards, or edit, or whatever is in no way, shape or form solid evidence.
Besides, as a seller you’re responsible for getting the item to the customer (or in this case middle man). Who says shipping/handling didn’t cause the problem? That’s also on the seller to fix.
Again, don’t get me wrong; I too feel sellers deserve more protection than what we’re getting, but that’s just not the case. The best advice I’ve gotten over the years is to set aside a single percentage of all your profits in order to soften the blows of these kind of situations. Because the more you sell, the more you’re going to get hit with these kind of situations. I wish it was different as well.
Reading this again, I feel bad for being such a Negative Nancy, but it is what it is.
He was lucky and found a reason to return it, after the price dropped (IMO). Not much you can do, the negative feedback will probably be able to be removed if he leaves it, but you will be forced to return it.
I will accept the return. The buyer has already left me negative feedback. I’ll get it resolved, but I’m incredibly annoyed. I didn’t even get to sleep on this before he went nuts again.
I am sorry this is happening to you. It sure makes it hard to enjoy the hobby of buying and selling with people out there like that.
Someone did something like that with me, granted it was $20 not $1000, but it hurt so bad that I now select the no returns option now when selling. That one guy ruined it for everyone else I sell to in the future.
That probably won’t protect me all the way and eBay may force me to return an item anyway of someone puts up enough of a fight.
Again I’m sorry. Know that everyone on here supports you and has your back. You did nothing wrong and I hope karma comes back to you with many good future sales.
Check the barcode to make sure it matches the card you sent. I tried but unfortunately too blurry to scan from the image. Seems fishy that the buyer didn’t photograph the whole case including the cert.
Using a middleman voids buyer protection, keep that in mind, the buyer has voided all his protection by using a middleman. Also feedback extortion is being dealt very seriously by eBay nowadays and will most-likely help you winning the case.
Did you receive any front side photos to verify it’s your card? Because maybe this buyer just picked up a random one with marks to scam you out of money.
That’s why when I sell something I always look up buyers address and if it looks fishy - i cancel (yes, he may leave neg, but it can be easily removed).
In your case, you will probably have to accept return, but you refund only after you receive, you may try to give him partial refund and charge a restocking fee, it worked for me several times. You will need to have pictures before you shipped and after you received back and if there’s something wrong like scratches etc and I refund him less/charge restocking fee, most likely you will win.
