I love how overseas sellers negotiate with buyers

[letscleanupmycupboards]

Well not really love it. But find it amusing how sellers negotiate with you when an item is faulty. They ask for a video etc showing the fault then offer a very small percentage of the purchase price as a refund "but no need to send the item back". Then offer increasing random amounts until eventually they agree to a full refund.

Wonder how many newbies fall into that trap.

[lyndal1838]

Too many fall into the trap.....and then come to the boards to complain.

[fixnwear]

"Too many fall  in that trap"

What does that mean? And why is there a trap?

I would have thought any negotiation is always part n' parcel of trading.

Getting a return is always a huge inconvenience for any seller, not to mention waste of their time (waiting for it to return and then relisting it), so to me any agreement that avoids the return is a good thing!

And besides, "hagling" is part of an everyday business in some cultures - and they most likely think nothing of it (by suggesting various possibilites and dollar amounts to customers)

And when you say they fall for it - who does?

What is there to fall for?

After all, some buyers will agree agree - some wont, but I can't see that they are being cheated if that is what the implications are here - as they are the ones to say yay or nay - they have every control over the deal.

Unless there is something else here, hidden and sinister, something I'm missing - that only more experienced people know and recognise.

[lyndal1838]

It is my understanding of the OP that the question is "how many newbies fall into the trap of accepting a very small part refund for a damaged item" rather than make a fuss and get a full refund as they should.

My answer is....too many newbies (and even experienced ebayers) fall into the trap.

[papermoon.lady]

I think that the problem is that sending an item back can be very expensive, and they know, so they try to take advantage of the situation to only provide a partial refund.

PayPal can help up to $40 return costs though, and this is something many don't seem to know (you have to register though).

[digital*ghost]

From the other side... 

Offering a small partial refund also quickly takes care of a lot of the "I put a small scratch in an unnoticeable place specifically to angle for a refund" or "I am selectively showing something as non-functional even though it's fine" kinds of buyers, of which I have encountered a few. Buyer gets their 'fix', and the seller doesn't have to go through an elongated process that costs them more in time and money. 

Damaged also doesn't automatically mean value-less to a seller, things can be repaired, or still function etc, and many of the initial offers can take this into account - you may perhaps be surprised how many people complain about damage, say the product is useless and so demand a full refund, but refuse to return the item even though the seller offers to pay for postage costs up front. These kinds of replies can be to figure out who is genuine in their complaint and who is not. 

I don't engage in these 'testing' tactics personally - I will offer partial refunds if the buyer wants to keep the item but there is a clear and obvious fault, otherwise it's return for full refund or nothing. 

My point is, even if you're a perfect buyer that will follow all the rules, never lie or mislead to gain an advantage, the fact of the matter is sellers have to deal with enough buyers who are not like that, and their tactics and policies can often evolve from those experiences.

What one interprets as a seller's attempt to shaft a buyer, can just as easily be interpreted as an attempt to not get shafted (too much).

(This does not mean I think that there aren't sellers who do it for the exact reasons as assumed here, just that it isn't a given). 

[papermoon.lady]

I did it too once, but I was aware of what I was doing.

I had bought something from China that was about $13. It didn't work and the seller said he would refund half the price without me having to send it back. I was well aware of the situation, but unfortunately I have problems going to the post office in the first place (and a taxi would have been more expensive than $6.50 anyway), and then it would have taken longer, without even knowing if PayPal would help for sure with free returns under $40...

So I was definitely not happy, but had to do it because it was easier for me.

It is tricky because I understand that the rules are to send an item back for a full refund otherwise anybody could claim it doeesn't work and ask for a refund, but then the rules can also be misused.

Of course for an expensive item it is clear that it is still better to send it back, but for something cheap from China it is not always so, and they know. 😞

[letscleanupmycupboards]

In this case it's an electronic type item that doesn't function as it should, I found it amusing even after sending a video of it not working that the seller openly admitted it was too expensive to send back and they would refund $10 which equates to around 25% of the price. Item was posted from Australia but seller in china (usual story). I know it's always iffy buying from those sellers but for an occasional use item it's an acceptable risk (everything electronic is made in china these days so rather pay less and get it from the source if possible).

[papermoon.lady]

If it was posted from Australia they should have been able to provide you with an Australian return address, which is much cheaper than having to send something back to China.

[*tippy*toes*]

Mr Tippy recently bought some filters for the lawn mower from a seller in China for $12. When they arrived, they were the wrong ones. They were square rather than rectangle. Being the numpty that he is, he negged them, then proceeded to tell me about it. I of course slapped him across the back of the head.

The Chinese being the way they are about feedback, went into meltdown mode. They offered him a refund of $1.50 and requested the feedback be revised. I took over the communication and said that it was a full refund for feedback revision. They came back with a counter offer of $2. Mr Tippy only has 16 feedback on his account, so I think they thought they could convince him to comply, being a "new" buyer and all.

I replied that even though that account only has low feedback, I have 4 other accounts, 3 of them selling accounts, all with over 10,000 feedback. Therefore, I knew how eBay worked. I then repeated that it was a full refund and feedback revision, or nothing. If I had to open a dispute to get a refund, the feedback wouldn't be revised. 

15 minutes later, Mr Tippy was notified of the refund and I revised the feedback on his behalf. I  believe it was a genuine mistake on their part. They were a high volume seller, have TRS status and 99.9% feedback. I got the impression from other buyers that they always got what they paid for. I did offer to send the filters back, but they said it wasn't worth it. It would cost way more than they were worth.

Regarding your comment about newbies falling into a trap, Mr Tippy did assume that he had lost his money. He even said as much in the original negative feedback. Even though he's been buying on my account for years, he's never had any issues, so no reason to ever need to return or get a refund. 

He also knows now to negotiate before flying in with feedback as leaving bad feedback can reflect badly on him. I said that most sellers, especially the Chinese, are happy to work things out without disputes and bad feedback.