topic Re: Return problem in Buying

Return problem

ricric6236 — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 10:51:12 GMT

The bought item is a lot smaller than advertised. The return address is in Lithuania, which is, of course, far too expensive to ship.

Re: Return problem

davewil1964 — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 10:55:43 GMT

Use the MBG. eBay is extremely buyer-centric.

Re: Return problem

imastawka — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 11:35:13 GMT

If it's not as described then the seller pays for postage (upfront) if they want the item back.

Otherwise they can refund you in full and let you keep the item.

eBay Money Back Guarantee policy | eBay

Do not close the case until you have a full refund, no matter what they say to string you along till it's too late.

Re: Return problem

sugar249 — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 12:57:36 GMT

take the advise already given.

My advise to you is to stop buying from problematic sellers, your last three (no make that 5), all have **bleep** feedback, it is sad that Ebay will provide you with a money back guarantee when you insist on buying from problematic sellers.

Re: Return problem

ricric6236 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 01:11:18 GMT

Thank you for your comment! I am a dedicated Ebay buyer and would like to contribute to make it a safer place.
How do you make them pay the refund though? They are, obviously far away and Ebay has excepted their far away postal address. Lithuania would cost me more than the item is worth in the first place.
All the best to you!

Re: Return problem

ricric6236 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 01:12:18 GMT

Thank you! What is the MBG though?

Re: Return problem

padi*0409 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 01:17:18 GMT

@ricric6236 wrote:
Thank you! What is the MBG though?

Stawks gave you a link to that, read it.

Re: Return problem

sandypebbles — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 01:18:58 GMT

money back guarantee

aka, open an item not as described dispute

The seller does not get a say in it

Follow through with it, do not let it time out, do not accept excuses or promises from the seller, do not close the dispute if the seller tells you too

Important for a dedicated eBay buyer to know basics like this

Re: Return problem

ricric6236 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 03:21:36 GMT

Please, where do I open an item not as described dispute?
I wrote to the seller. I also opened a return, and that was excepted. But the address, as I mentioned, is in Lithuania. I have not as yet heard from the seller.

Re: Return problem

padi*0409 — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 03:30:01 GMT

@ricric6236 wrote:

Please, where do I open an item not as described dispute?

You open it within the MBG dispute. Stop messaging the seller and only deal with them through the dispute.

Re: Return problem

*sons_n_daughters* — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 09:31:38 GMT

@padi*0409 wrote:
@ricric6236 wrote:

Please, where do I open an item not as described dispute?

You open it within the MBG dispute. Stop messaging the seller and only deal with them through the dispute.

It sounds like they've opened a return request, rather than an item not as described dispute. As we know, a return request is for change of mind, but the OP probably didn't know that. If that is the case, the seller isn't up for the postage.

Re: Return problem

imastawka — Wed, 09 Aug 2023 10:42:01 GMT

I can give 'em links but if they can't read them, what can you do?

Can't help those who can't help themselves.

Re: Return problem

springyzone — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 21:15:46 GMT

I know this is one area we don't agree on, but I think if ebay is willing to host 'problematic' sellers without placing any sanctions or restrictions on those sellers, then the money back guarantee still needs to apply to each and every sale.

Ebay is willing to have those sellers for one reason only-ebay is earning oodles of money off them.

In return, ebay has to accept a certain degree of risk. It's not a high degree of risk in any case as the refund would generally come out of the seller's coffers, not from ebay.

Re: Return problem

ricric6236 — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 22:27:55 GMT

Hello springyzone,
in fact, I had to admit that the measurements given at Ebay were right. Still the item remains an expensive toy, meaning it is of no real use and very expensive at that.
How would I go about getting Ebay to get involved, as the return address is in Lithuania, even more expensive to ship than the toy itself?
I am actually surprised, how responsive all of you in this community are. Good on yeh! And many thank's!
As I am a frequent buyer with Ebay, I will certainly feel drawn towards your community. Will be very interesting to see, what kind of influence or if any at all we can have on the policies of Ebay.
Catch you on the rebound, I say for now! Cheers! Richard

Re: Return problem

sugar249 — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 22:28:31 GMT

@springyzone wrote:
I know this is one area we don't agree on, but I think if ebay is willing to host 'problematic' sellers without placing any sanctions or restrictions on those sellers,

Not direct sanctions, because it causes an issue for the robots to determine what is a good seller and not, is it percentage bad feedback and where does it fall, the algorithm would be horrendous.

But Ebay gives the buyers tools to use to determine if they are buying from a reasonable seller. It's called feedback. But sadly buyers such as the OP either don't bother to look at the feedback, or just totally ignore it.

In this case OP appears to seek out and hunt for sellers with bad feedback.

Re: Return problem

sugar249 — Thu, 10 Aug 2023 22:39:12 GMT

@ricric6236 wrote:
Hello springyzone,
in fact, I had to admit that the measurements given at Ebay were right. Still the item remains an expensive toy, meaning it is of no real use and very expensive at that.
How would I go about getting Ebay to get involved, as the return address is in Lithuania, even more expensive to ship than the toy itself?

Hang on so the dimensions are correct, and your opinion is that it is an expensive toy.

Thats no justification for a return, just because you didnt read the ad in the first place. Last I checked there was no option for returns because the buyer didnt read the ad.

There is nothing for Ebay to get involved with, in fact I hope the ones that read here see your admission and cancel your claim.

Re: Return problem

countessalmirena — Fri, 11 Aug 2023 02:04:49 GMT

ricric6236,

If the dimensions were correct, then your reason for returning aren’t based on INAD / SNAD (item not as described / significantly not as described). It’s thus a COM (change of mind) request, and yes - in those cases, you as the buyer would be responsible for return postage. That’s in eBay’s MBG’s terms and conditions.

That’s one major reason for not buying from a seller registered in another country. Overseas postage (tracked) would be prohibitively more expensive than the item in many cases!

You’d be best off selling the item (possibly on Facebook Marketplace? Or in a car boot sale?) to recoup some of your money.

Re: Return problem

springyzone — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 00:16:04 GMT

@sugar249 wrote:
But Ebay gives the buyers tools to use to determine if they are buying from a reasonable seller. It's called feedback. But sadly buyers such as the OP either don't bother to look at the feedback, or just totally ignore it.

If feedback is a tool that is provided by ebay & ebay expects that buyers can act on it and if buyers were to be deemed negligent if they didn't, then ebay could be seen as negligent as they could quite easily act on it too.

I must admit I am no tech guru but if people here consider eg 99.5% & above to be the acceptable standard, then I can't see why it would be hard (only once a seller reached a certain number of sales eg over 100) to implement a program where any seller who fell below eg 96% could face stiff consequences, maybe double fees. That would allow for quite a bit of leeway.

And maybe kicked off altogether for a time if they fell below 80%.

And although I am a buyer, I also think it would be fair to at the very least temporarily ban buyers who received over a certain number of unpaid item claims in a certain time frame. Just expecting sellers to block isn't enough in my opinion, but I suspect both these scenarios will never happen as ebay is all about the money.

They know very well that some buyers never claim for small purchases not received or items not as described. They know some sellers never claim back fees for small unpaid items, so for them it is worth the risk of having 'iffy' buyers & sellers on ebay. Anyway, I guess I am cynical but that's how I see it.

-----------------------

Now ricric, if the item is exactly the size in the ad, then, as other have said, you don't have a leg to stand on. I don't know on what basis you could expect ebay to be involved.

I do understand that you are disappointed as you received an item much smaller than you had in your mind's eye.

Here's what I do when I am ordering something. And I am not being sarcastic here, I actually do this. Say I am ordering a photobook, I will measure & cut out paper to the size of the different dimensions offered so I have 'visual'.

At the very least, I have a ruler handy so I can better imagine an item.

I've seen numerous people who have ordered things and been very disappointed when those things are smaller than they expected. Ideally, a seller should have something in a background shot to show perspective, but sometimes they don't. So you really need to pay attention to dimensions in ads.

Depending on the terms of the ad, you may or may not be eligible for a change of mind return (it is not a given) but I think you are right in that return postage costs make that not a very viable option. As countess says, maybe find another way to recoup some of your losses. Marketplace may be one option but also look for special interest groups for whatever you bought, there may be a buy and sell group for it on facebook.

Re: Return problem

imastawka — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 00:51:15 GMT

......I can't see why it would be hard (only once a seller reached a certain number of sales eg over 100) to implement a program where any seller who fell below eg 96% could face stiff consequences, maybe double fees.

They do this already, Springy , if you fall below standard-

We evaluate your performance on the 20th of each month based on your recent sales, and assign you one of the following seller levels:

Top Rated means you're exceeding our performance expectations, as well as having an established sales history and complying with other eBay policies
Above Standard means you're meeting our expectations
Below Standard means that your performance has fallen below our minimum standards and as a result, we may place limitations on your selling activity, including charging higher final value fees, until your performance improves

Seller standards policy | eBay

Re: Return problem

springyzone — Sat, 12 Aug 2023 22:55:18 GMT

I knew that sellers faced some consequences if they fell below standard but thought this applied to actual claims made against them eg undelivered items, items not as described.

Is negative feedback % taken into the mix?

I realise this is a debateable topic as I recall when I first started posting here, some sellers would be upset about unfair negs received and I think they did affect evaluation back then. Quite a few sellers felt it was a case of being penalised for subjective opinions. Which it is, in many ways.

I am a bit hazy about this but I thought at some stage that the evaluation method changed & feedback was no longer taken into consideration. That doesn't worry me particularly, except in the context of suggestions that buyers should not be covered by MBG etc if they are 'bad' buyers who bought from a seller with a lower % feedback.

At the very minimum, if ebay did this (which in my opinion they never will unless they totally overhaul current conditions), they would need to publish a warning to buyers as to what was the lowest acceptable safe % to buy from in order to have the MBG. And probably have a pop up on ads that fell below that, to warn buyers that those items were not covered by MBG.

Which to me, sort of negates the whole purpose of the MBG. I assume it was put in place by ebay to give buyers confidence to buy on the site and to cover buyers if they struck trouble with any iffy seller.