eBay not as described case - seller protection?

[*kazumi*]

After some 16 years with no problems somebody opened "significantly not as described and not matching the photos" case.  It was an eight hundred dollars item, for which I accepted $700, and it went to UK.  The buyer messaged me that it arrived in UK, and they are about to pick it up, and asked how much did I declare.  I thought that was weird, as obviously they knew how much it was that they paid.  I gathered that they were not happy with sum they have to pay, but I always have a clause in item description, that it is the buyer's responsibility to find out how much import duty they have to pay.  

Anyway, they then decided the item was not as described, and they want $200plus refund.  Interestingly, that is about the sum they had paid out for the duty. 

They opened eBay case.  There are only 4 options for me to respond to:
1 - send them shipping label; you are responsible for the cost of shipping (it was $110 to send to UK)

2 - Give a full refund and the buyer will keep the item

3 - Offer a partial refund

4 - send the buyer a message

There is no option to say, I do not agree with the claim.  There is no option to escallate.  I have heard that sellers do lose cases with eBay and the buyer keeps expensive item and gets full refund. 

When ever I as a buyer I had a problem with an item, I had to send it back at my expense to get a refund.  Few months ago I bought $300 jumper, and it had one armhole 3 inches ( 7.5cm) bigger than the other.  I had to send it back and ended up $70 out of pocket.  I had photos which did clearly show the disaster that the jumper was. 

How can I fight this claim against me?  My mistake was that I listed the item as new, but it is few years old, which I disclosed in the description.  However it is not used, it was stored in a box.  It's a collectors item.  Is there any way to protect myself?  I have 100% FB, with full stars, the only little chip one of my stars ever had was for shipping time, which is a joke, as I often post the same day, next morning at the most.  Can I expect any seller protection from eBay after all these years?

[*kazumi*]

Oh, well I just offered the money they asked for.  I am sure she knows exactly what she is doing.  When I went to check on the cost postage back it came pretty much to the amount that with the original postage adds to the requested sum. 

thanks everybody for the advice.  🙂

[countessalmirena · Accepted solution]

Kazumi,

This sounds very much like an abuse of the process. The fact that your buyer specifically asked you how much you declared on the item is highly suggestive that the buyer was hoping or expecting that you undeclared the value. Why would a buyer ask such a thing unless something of that sort was in his/her mind?

Under the MBG:

❝Fraudulent claims and abusive buyer behaviour

Buyers who engage in activity as described in the Abusive buyer policy may be subject to a range of actions, including warnings, being blocked from requesting returns or refunds on eBay, being blocked from opening claims, loss of eBay Money Back Guarantee coverage, and account suspension.

Activity that is not allowed includes, but is not limited to:

• A buyer opening duplicate requests using other buyer protection programs
• A buyer colluding with a seller to misdeclare an item's value for customs
• A buyer filing a chargeback after receiving a refund
• A buyer claiming an item was not received when the Order details page shows proof of delivery to the buyer's address
• A buyer falsely claiming an item was not as described
• A buyer returning an item other than the original item received
• A buyer using or damaging an item and then returning it.❞

(Rubrication mine.)

It appears that the buyer attempted to collude with you (after the fact) to misdeclare the item's value for customs, and upon finding that you had declared the value correctly, the buyer subsequently decided to falsely claim the item was not as described in order to get a partial refund that was suspiciously similar for the import duty payable on the item.

Were I you, I'd get onto eBay Chat immediately and explain the situation in those terms, quoting from the policy above. Ask if they can close the dispute immediately on that basis. You may not have any luck (because you did cave in and offer the partial refund), but you could claim that it was made under coercion, as you believed that your options were limited under the buyer's manipulative behaviour and false claim.

At any rate, try it. I have zero sympathy for false claims of this sort where a buyer attempts to defraud a seller into paying the import duty, when it's very clear that the buyer is the one responsible for paying the import duty, as clearly stated in the same policy:

❝The buyer is responsible for paying any customs and duty fees for international postage.❞

You can report the buyer for abusive buyer behaviour as well. If the buyer has done this to you, it's odd on that he/she has done it previously.

I'm sorry you've had this rotten experience and felt pressured into giving in to the buyer's manipulation. In these times, when there's a deadly pandemic creating havoc and loss all around the world, such acts of greed and selfishness strike me as so petty... Where is your buyer's integrity? Flushed down the closet of nihilistic excrement?

[*kazumi*]

Yes, I know that underdeclaring value is actually criminal offence, and there is absolutely no way I would do that for anybody, nor would I ask a seller to do it for me. 

I thought that if I fight the case that eBay would consider my side.  But after what people said here and on other boards, I got scared that I might lose the lot, I decided to refund the couple of hundred dollars.  Once that is settled I will certainly look  into reporting the buyer.  I would not be surprised if she has done that before.  Interestingly, the ID is in a name of a male, but the person communicating is female.  Wife, girlfriend?  Weird, why would she not have her own account, if she is a grown up.  All what I need is the account holder to start unauthorised card transaction.  

[tazzieterror]

I've occasionally had some success in sweet-talking an eBay CS agent (via online chat) into checking the activity of an eBay account to see if they've been "taking advantage" of other sellers as well.

Technically an agent isn't allowed to reveal any details (though some will), but they'll usually at least admit they're reporting an account for investigation which a tenacious seller might be able to put to use in appealing a case.

Not sure it would help you given you've decided to refund, but worth knowing.

As for male/female account name and use, it's not uncommon for a couple to share a single account, sometimes by design, and no doubt occasionally out of necessity if one has abused the system enough to have their own account shut down.

[jellybirddesigns]

What a horrible thing to happen to you.

I've only ever had one UK buyer years ago who was upset that they had to pay duties, but fortunately they never opened a claim.

Whilst I do ship to the UK, I know their threshold for duty is really low (about GPB 15-20.00), so it's just something to be aware of for any future sales.

If an item is really expensive, maybe set up a separate shipping profile with certain low threshold countries such as UK and Canada excluded for high value items so you can minimise your risk.

[*kazumi*]

All my listing have warning along these lines :

" Overseas buyers please make sure that you know how much you will have to pay in custom tax in your country, before you purchase or bid.  These payments are your responsibility.." 

[jellybirddesigns]

Kazumi, I have something similar on all my listings, however, so many people are unaware that they may have to pay some type of duty.

Part of the problem, in my opinion, is Amazon, because a seller has to include ALL taxes, fees and duties etc, in the cost of an item if they are selling to places like the UK. Amazon does not want buyers to pay another cent to get their items once they place an order. I think this has had an effect of making people dumbed down to the fact that sellers on Ebay, Etsy, etc are not bound by the same parameters and that in countries with low thresholds, they will have something to pay over and above.

[*kazumi*]

But putting it in my listing means that they cannot blame me for not knowing.  🙂

[tazzieterror]

Honestly, the only "safe" way to do it is to message them before sending the item and have them acknowledge that there will be an import duty corresponding to the value paid - at least then you know for sure they're aware, and they can't go playing dumb later on.

Even then, an unscrupulous buyer could still do what yours is doing,

[*kazumi*]

 I was waiting the whole day yesterday for the buyer to agree to the partial refund, and then I found out the refund was already issued, without asking me where to take the money from!!!  So they used my account I only opened for PP and never keep any money in.  Was it too much to expect to be given the option how the refund was going to be paid?  Fortunately, this bank has never (so far) issued dishonor fee when on occasions I accidentally paid for something from that account instead of CC. 

Few years back I had a chargeback issued against me for "unauthorised transaction"  and then my PP account went into negative and I was told to transfer the money in.  I never found out what happened, but I was reimbursed for that money few weeks later under the seller protection. 

I am really angry.  I like to be in total control of my finances.