Need some advice

[stem35]

Hi everyone,

I've sold an expensive set of golf clubs, brand new with each club still in the wrappers for nearly £1k, the buyer has had them nearly a week and has now opened an item not described case stating the golf clubs are longer than advertised ( which I believe there not ) but fair enough I am happy for the buyer to return them, now I've been told by the buyer that he's used them for a round of golf and there no longer new in the wrapping or in brand new condition that they was sent out in but are now a used set of clubs. 
Any advice on how I proceed, do I still need to accept the return, do I need to refund in full once they arrive or can I give a partial refund as there now not worth as much and I'll have to relist them as used golf clubs.

any advice is greatly appreciated as I'm not sure how to proceed from here and want to sort it as quickly as possible

thank you

[4_bathrooms]

Did you sell them via another account?

Anyway, you have no choice but to send a return label. If you don't the buyer can escalate the case on the 3rd day, will receive a full refund and be told they don't need to return anything.

You can do nothing until you receive your clubs (or whatever the buyer sends) back. Did you record the serial numbers? Also note you will need to use a service that requires a signature on delivery due to the value involved.

[stem35]

Yes, through my dad's account as I work away for 2 weeks then a week at home, he's panicking now as he's not sure how to proceed and I'm trying to explain to him what to do but not too sure myself, I'm happy for them to be returned and will tell him to use the proper postage that they was sent out with but what about them being returned in a used condition compared to the brand new condition they was sold and dispatched in. 
thanks for your advice

[4_bathrooms]

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@stem35 wrote:

Yes, through my dad's account as I work away for 2 weeks then a week at home, he's panicking now as he's not sure how to proceed and I'm trying to explain to him what to do but not too sure myself, 

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eBay are unlikely to have sent a return label themselves due to the value of the item. The return case should state whether a return label has been automatically sent or not - if one hasn't been sent the case will be asking for a return label to be provided. If a return label is being requested you need to purchase one from somewhere like Parcelforce, Interparcel, Parcel Hero, Parcel Monkey etc. ensuring the service requires a signature on delivery and has adequate insurance for the item's value (were they sent in a box)? Once you have the tracking number it needs to be uploaded to the case with the shipping label.

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@stem35 wrote:

I'm happy for them to be returned and will tell him to use the proper postage that they was sent out with but what about them being returned in a used condition compared to the brand new condition they was sold and dispatched in. 

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I doubt you're getting your golf clubs back; I think it's more likely the buyer is going to send their old golf clubs instead. Did you record the serial numbers of the golf clubs you sent? I'm suspicious because the buyer's story makes absolutely no sense - they would only have needed to take one club out to realise how long they were not play an entire round of golf with them!

Anyway, there's nothing you can do until you receive whatever the buyer sends back. If they send something other than your clubs back there is a way to ensure you only end up left out of pocket for the return shipping cost; just post back to this thread for advice if that is what they do. If they return your clubs in a used condition you can report them and might be able to deduct an amount from the refund but this will depend on the status of your account.
  

[stem35]

yes I agree, I don't understand why the buyer has used the full set and unwrapped them instead of inspecting them properly due to the large amount payed, as I would of done, but that's unfortunately where we are at. I don't believe eBay has issued a return label but has asked my dad to do it. I'll tell him to do it in the morning using the same tracked and insured post and wait and see what returns. 

Thank you very much, your help is really appreciated.
You've also gained a customer for any bathroom products that I need in the future 

[myriad*seller]

Sounds like you have been used as a hire service so he could go for a day's golf and now return them for a full refund (and cost the seller two lots of postage)!

Make sure you send the label in time and make sure it covers the full weight and length of the parcel, as if you send a label that does not allow the buyer to post them back they will get a refund without returning them 

[m25jet]

In addition to the advice that has already been given on this thread, make sure that you add the buyer's User ID to your Blocked Bidders List - as well as to your father's Blocked Bidders List, just in case he ever entrusts you with the use of his eBay account again - so as to prevent this buyer from purchasing anything else from either of you in the future and wasting any more of your time.

[dancewithadingo]

Good Evening Stem

A galling but all too familiar situation that you find yourself in.  You will have to refund in full, including the postage, when you receive the clubs back again.  The only way to head off a return is to give your buyer a partial refund before he returns them.   This must be done through eBay.

As you have discovered when selling on this platform you send items out on approval and like the days of say Littlewoods catalogue if the buyer doesn't like his purchase he sends it back and gets a refund. 

If you come to sell anymore high value golf clubs then approach your pro and see if he will sell them for you on a commission basis.  In other words do not sell any high end/value items on eBay keep it to the run of the mill stuff.

There is one question nagging away at me and that is why on earth did you pay over £1000 for the clubs and then not use them?  Did you not examine them in the store and make sure that they were right for you? 

Good luck in resolving this tricky situation.

[vinylscot]

IF the buyer is genuine, I can see a scenario where he turns up for a round of golf with his brand new clubs. Only when he has used a couple of them will he realise that they are longer than they should be. As he is now on the course, and won't have his old clubs with him, he finishes his round, and lets you know as soon as possible.

It's sometimes impossible to determine if an item is "not as described" without using it. Your difficulty, assuming you get your own clubs back, albeit now used, will be convincing somebody at eBay that the buyer should have realised this BEFORE he played a round with them. Sadly, I doubt you'll be able to convince them of that.

[red_apple_av]

Oh the joys of selling on eBay or any platform is the misuse of the returns system and lies many use to make you the selller pay for the return 

[robbtyke132010]

This is a nightmareish scenario especially as your father has been dragged into it - absolutely no consolation for you but new sellers need to start off by listing cheaper & smaller items. Scammers will be taking advantage of new kids on the block because they are low-life pond scum - the scammers I mean not the sellers!

[rjwilmsi]

Start on the assumption that the buyer is genuine but a bit of an idiot - they bought the clubs, used them for a round to try them out and have now decided that they don't like the clubs so want to return them, so have made up an excuse. The item condition has changed (from new to used), so they cannot technically return the item in the condition received. However, eBay don't care about any of that, they assume the buyer is right unless you can categorically prove otherwise (you can't).

You will have to buy a return label with adequate insurance e.g. Special Delivery, upload that to the return case and approve the return. Don't let the return deadline expire, eBay may just forcibly refund the buyer at your expense.

If you are a business seller you can deduct up to 50% when item recevied back to reflect the loss in value from use by buyer. If private, you will have to contact eBay customer services after getting the item back to see if they will help with some level of courtesy refund to you (likely not).

What the buyer should have done was tried the same clubs in a shop first, or bought yours but put masking tape on them to try a couple of clubs carefully/briefly on a driving range, or measured the shaft lengths before hitting a ball. Or, use a shop that will lend a demo set to try first. But some buyers are idiots.

If something worse happens e.g. buyer sends back their old clubs instead, then that's fraud so post back here for further advice.

[signs_and_vintage]

There has always been a risk in using this site, and in some ways I'd argue that at least the balance has tipped remembering the 90s - 2000s era when SELLERS got away with daylight robbery e.g. the old 'advance paypal refund' scam*. Unfortunately now eBay is so pandering to buyers, and confuses buyers so much that I genuinely think the stupidest buyers think they are buying from an online shop called eBay not a private person, or at least think all sellers are big storefronts run by businesses. After all, Argos and eBuyer are on here.

These buyer provisions are also now so generous *and more importantly automated & inflexible* that intentional scam buyers, rather than genuine buyers, are flocking to the honeypot. I'm also finding a lot more highly entitled buyers that think nothing of doing something like the OP has suffered, e.g. buying a nice new thing from a private seller, ****** it up then sending it back in a battered box, or worse.

As soon as I've sold all this rubbish from my midlife clearout, or perhaps sooner and sending the rest to charity, I really am outtahere.

*You complain about an item, which is likely some scammy thing that genuinely isn't as advertised. Seller pretents to put up a bit of a fight, but then relents and gives advance Paypal refund plus something for the P+P, great you think, no Evri then or anything else like it so untracked RM 2nd class it is. 7 days later seller opens a Paypal (not ebay) case [no such thing then anyway] for 'item not delivered' - they've done the refund as a PURCHASE ORDER and no tracking, no refund, unlike eBay which didn't have managed returns at that time. You the buyer lose the item, original payment stays with the seller, and the refund money gets sucked back. Ching!

[vintagewatchpart]

When they are returned you have the option of deducting part of the price.

See what they sell for used and inform the buyer before returning that you will have to deduct part of the price paid for the fact they are in a used condition and not as originally sold, it may put them off returning.

This has happened to me in the past and people are happy to not receive their full price paid back as they have opened or used the item meaning it is no longer as sold to them. 

This is what the feature on the page is designed to account for.

[signs_and_vintage]

Not if it's a private sale, and when I used to have a business account, and someone returned something scuffed up, I deducted 20%, the buyer appealed to eBay and 'won' the appeal in all of 2 minutes, despite me sending pictures.