I have sold an item and 13 days after the buyer received it I rcvd a message item is faulty???

[madamrockabella]

Item was a vintage unused mint condition waterman pen set. Buyer purchased and parcel was received on 29 June.  It was sent insured with tracking and signature.  Today (13 days after the sale) the buyer has written me a long message via ebay to let me know that the fountain pen leaks and is asking me what else he can do to do to fix it and is considering returning the set.  He also states that he is very experienced with fountain pens and has never come across the problem before and has used different cartridges in an attempt to resolve the problem and also 'cleaned' the fountain pen. My concern is that the pen set was in mint unused condition and now no longer would be in same condition.  Waterman has a lifelong warranty and the leaking fountain pen has been unheard of to date.  Can someone please let me know how it is best to respond to this buyer and what my rights as a seller are. Thank you in advance.

[beautysecretfashion]

The buyer can request a return of item via ebay and if he does when you receive it you either respond with return accepted and pay the return postage or decline.  If you decline he can then go through Paypal (if this was the source of payment).  He would probably use the Item not as described ie: working order (perhaps).

As a seller you do have an obligation to accept returns of faulty items.  When item is returned I would then go to the manuf and make a claim re their lifelong warranty??

A buyer has now up to 180 days to request a return of item.

Personally for me as a seller if a buyer has an issue re item is faulty, I never decline a return as I feel customer service is everything. Also if it is faulty I ask for either photos showing (if possible) what the problem is.

For sellers ebay is now a minefield and all in the buyers favour.