I am assuming that you mean there was no product in them.
If that is indeed the case, double-check that it’s not a case of your needing to sharpen the pencil.
If it truly contains no lip pencil product… then it’s not as described and you will seek a full refund under eBay’s MBG.
You will need to open a request for refund on the basis of Item Not As Described (also known as Significantly Not As Described). You’ll see these referred to as INAD or SNAD, and both mean the same thing with regard to eBay and PayPal.
Most purchases on eBay include buyer protection, but there are some exceptions. There are also - as expected - terms and conditions, and a rigid timeframe for the required actions by the buyer. This protection is provided in the form of eBay’s Money Back Guarantee. I urge you to read the policy page to which I linked, and make yourself familiar with the T&Cs.
❝When an item isn’t significantly as described
If a buyer receives an item that doesn’t significantly match the way it was described in the listing, the buyer needs to request a return. The seller should address the buyer’s concern and provide a postage label so that the buyer can return the item for a replacement or refund, or otherwise offer another solution such as allowing the buyer to keep the item and providing a full or partial refund. In some circumstances, eBay may also automatically accept a return request on a seller’s behalf and require the buyer to return the item to the seller.
Buyers can ask us to step in and help if:
- The seller doesn’t respond to the return request within the timelines described below
- The seller doesn’t provide a return postage label or offer another acceptable solution
- The buyer returns the item but doesn’t receive a refund or replacement from the seller.❞
What you should do is follow the procedure for requesting a return. (I always caution against requesting a replacement or waiting for a missing part to be supplied if you as the buyer are dealing with an eBay seller who is overseas (in particular in China), and more especially if the sellers has ceased to respond to you. I would not trust a seller who has acted in that way, and a refund is the only solution I would be happy to pursue in that case.)
To start the return process, look on eBay’s Return an item for a refund page. The direct link to start the return process is here.
Note that for returns based on Item Not As Described / Significantly Not As Described, the seller is responsible for ❝[p]roviding a return postage label or another return method that is acceptable to the buyer❞. (The buyer is not responsible for the cost of returning INAD/SNAD items.) This may be problematic if the seller is overseas, as they cannot then generate an Australia Post label.
❝The seller should address the buyer’s concern and provide a postage label so that the buyer can return the item for a replacement or refund, or otherwise offer another solution such as allowing the buyer to keep the item and providing a full or partial refund.❞
A return label provided by eBay to the buyer can be used rather than a return postage label issued by the seller. This will end up being paid for by the seller:
❝Return postage costs will be added to the seller’s invoice separately if:
- The seller authorised the buyer to use an eBay return label
- eBay provided a return label to the buyer because the seller hadn’t provided a return method.❞
In some cases, the buyer can ask eBay to waive the need to return the item, if the cost of returning it via a tracked postage/shipping method is, for example, disproportionately high in comparison with the cost of the item, or if the seller is not willing to pay the return postage. In that case, the buyer should destroy the item upon receiving their refund.
❝In some instances, we may not require that an item be returned to the seller. For example, we may refund the buyer and seek reimbursement from the seller if:
- The seller has not responded to a return request, chooses not to accept a return request for a not as described item, or has not provided a return postage label or another return method
- The item location was misrepresented
- It’s hazardous to send back the item
- The item no longer has a value.❞
Through the return process, the seller has the opportunity to agree to a refund (including item price and original postage, plus return postage if/as applicable), and it’s then up to the buyer to return the item using the supplied postage label or using the agreed-upon postage method (it must be via a fully tracked postage method). Upon the item being returned to the seller (tracking number shows "delivered"), the seller has 3 business days to issue the refund. To make it even easier, if the buyer uploads tracking into the return request (after sending the item), eBay will automatically issue a refund once the item’s been delivered and the seller hasn’t issued the refund within 3 business days.
Timeframes
You can’t open a return request under eBay’s MBG any later than 30 days after the item’s delivery date.
Once the request has been opened, you have 21 business days to ask eBay to step in if the seller has not given a satisfactory solution. After 21 business days, the request will automatically close, no refund will be issued, and you will not be able to re-open it.
If you are asked to return an item, you must do so within the timeframe specified. Generally speaking, ❝[i]f a return is accepted, the buyer has 5 days from when the return label is provided to send the item.❞
Don’t expect any leeway in the timeframes. eBay’s return/refund system is automated, bot-driven, and provides the money back guarantee only if an eBay member follows its T&Cs to the letter.
