Buyer Returning Collection Only Bed

[tastebuds63]

Buyer bought bed as described and photographed. The bed was as i bought on Ebay but I found too big and modern. Ebay is not try before you buy so I did the right thing and accepted it as sold and listed to sell. 

Bed was Collection Only but buyer then asked of my husband would act as courier. The buyer agreed to be there to assist but went out leaving his wife who was very happy with bed and delivery. It took my husband an hour to take inside the house was not even offered a drink!

Two days later after chasing i got the collection code and buyer was happy.

Then two weeks later he sent photographs of a damaged bed saying he wanted to return. His wife had said they have the exact same bed and I am worried he bought to cherry pick parts. 

I did offer him a partial refund to end the saga which he took over a week to deny. 

I can't afford to lose the bed/money and I believe the buyer is abusing Ebays Protection. 

Any advice as i take buying and selling really seriously.

[jckl1957]

If the buyer is saying the bed has damage which wasn't explicitly detailed and described in the listing, then Ebay will allow them to return it.

Really, you would have been better to only use photos of the actual bed you sold and to take pictures of scratches, replacement slats etc.

If they have turned down a partial refund, you need to accept the return and arrange to get the bed back.

Once you have the bed back, if you feel the buyer has not returned exactly what they bought from you, then you can contact Ebay Customer Services and ask them for help and advice.

If you don't accept the return, the buyer can ask Ebay to step in.  If they do, the buyer will be refunded from your funds and told they don't need to return the bed.

If Ebay step in and refund, you can then appeal the outcome of the case.  However, the buyer will have the bed and the refund so you would be in a bad position if Ebay did not allow your appeal. With so few photos of the bed, you would find it difficult to prove the buyer's case was false.

[red_magpie]

Ebay is not try before you buy

No, but buyers have 30 days in which to return items for a full refund, with the seller paying for delivery each way. All they have to do is claim that it isn't as described in some way and pen a case under eBay's money back guarantee. eBay never sees the item and generally takes the buyer's word againsnt the seller's.

Your husband acting as courier won't help, as you won't have tracking evidence of delivery. Hopefully the buyer did at least provide the collection code, as proof that they received it.

Anyway, I'm afraid that if the buyer complains that it isn't as described you are almost sure to have to refund them in full, and arrange for the bed to be collected and returned to you by courier to provide tracking proof of return. Unless you refund them without requiring the bed to be returned.

All that sellers can do in this situation is to report the buyer for alleged abuse of the money back guarantee. If enough other sellers do the same it's possible that eBay may warn the buyer or restrict them from making ffurther claims. But you will never know.