Item listed as non-working, for parts or repair... buyer still able to return item?

[jurlissimo]

Hi,

Just a quick question in regards to selling items on ebay that are listed as non-working, for parts or repair only... Are buyers still able to pull the stunt of returning it to seller and claiming the item is defective??? 

I was just chatting with ebay rep and he claimed that the buyer still able to choose return option of item been defective when our listing clearly said selling it as non-working... he said once item received and inspect that it's in the same state claimed in the description you can then file complaint. I'm like **bleep**??? item listed as non-working, buyer read the description and would like to try their luck to repair it... but turn out they couldnt... so file a return claiming not working and get full refund??? as a seller you get your stuff back but lost on initial postage fee and possibly on the return postage too??

Anyone gone through this issue? please share your experience. 


Thanks!!

[shoppingbag*]

I think every eBay rep you talk to will give you a different answer to the same question, that is my experience anyway. If the item is for parts and you clearly state "not working", I do not see a problem.  Just make sure you have that stated in the heading, not just in the description because buyers are notorious for not reading the descriptions.

[4channel]

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@jurlissimo wrote:

Hi,

Just a quick question in regards to selling items on ebay that are listed as non-working, for parts or repair only... Are buyers still able to pull the stunt of returning it to seller and claiming the item is defective??? 

I was just chatting with ebay rep and he claimed that the buyer still able to choose return option of item been defective when our listing clearly said selling it as non-working... he said once item received and inspect that it's in the same state claimed in the description you can then file complaint. I'm like **bleep**??? item listed as non-working, buyer read the description and would like to try their luck to repair it... but turn out they couldnt... so file a return claiming not working and get full refund??? as a seller you get your stuff back but lost on initial postage fee and possibly on the return postage too??

Anyone gone through this issue? please share your experience. 


Thanks!!

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While it is possible, the best way to go is o cover yourself as much as you can. Put (For parts or not working)  or (For parts or repair) in the title. State that the item is not working and sold as is but MAY have the potential to be fixed.

See how you go.

[gutterpunkz05]

Basicly the buyer can claim  INAD, but it is up to them to support such a claim and for you to refute it.  For instance if we are talking about the sub, if a buyer goes to repair it and finds that there are internal parts missing or evidence that the internals have been previously tampered with. then it would be up to you to dispute an INAD claim. 

[digital*ghost]

It's possible for any item to be not as described, so eBay wouldn't exclude this kind of item from protection (otherwise, a lot of sellers would likely list everything as "for parts, not working", I suspect). 

However, technically if the issue was mentioned in the listing, the item should not be eligible for a request / return. If this is currently happening with one of your sales, I would try to contact eBay CS again and hope for a new rep. Be very clear about your expectations - instead of saying "can the buyer do this?", say "the buyer can not do this, because...." - in this case it would be because the buyer is abusing the request system to return an item that is as described, therefore it is a change of mind return (this will go better if you had no returns accepted). Have all your evidence on hand, be calm, polite, but firm.

[gutterpunkz05]

Electronics can be a pain to sell, even for parts or repair as it is very simple for buyers to remove a part then state the item is not complete.   Over the years I have sold a fair few IT items,  PC's with hard drives removed etc  and sold most as for parts or repair.

Had a few  buyers claim that internal parts were missing, even though the listings in most cases included pics of the internals

with all parts included.  Even  though it is not generally recommended for sellers to escalate, in these cases I was able to contact CS and in all instances they escalated the cases, found in my favour and closed the cases all at the same time.  Note sometimes you have to be patient with the  CS agent, suck up to them and nudge them in the right direction, as quite often, apart from the power on switch, they have absolutely no technical knowledge as to what the item actually involves.