Returned item received, condition not what it was when sold (missing packaging)

[peturning]

Hello, I thought I'd come here for some advice as I have never navigated the returns process before.

I sold a graphics card that was subsequently returned to me, I received this return today. I sold the card in its original retail packaging, pictures of this were included in the listing.

What I received today was the card but missing its original retail packaging. It was in a random box with no anti-static bag and squeezed between two pieces of foam. This isn't appropriate packaging for a sensitive electronic device and is not what I sold to the buyer originally.

I am slightly confused by the returns process, how do I raise this issue? reading through policies it would seem like I am obligated to return a minimum of 50% of the original value but I am not quite sure about this.

If anyone could give some advice on how to proceed and how I even raise the issue as regards the returned not being what I sent it would be appreciated, thank you.

[tressygirl]

I answered a similar question recently.

If the buyer has opened a case for item not as described you Have to accept it within 3 days or the buyer can escalate,  eBay step in,  force the refund,  and the buyer can also then,  keep the item.

You need to contact eBay Customer Services,  explain the item was not returned back in the same condition as sent out so cannot be resold.  The buyer here has abused eBay's 30 day MBG,  Money Back Guarantee policy and should not receive a full refund.

In the other case,  CS then  closed the case for the seller,  and a 50 % refund was made.

Now ,  it wasn't clear if Customer Services made a discretionary refund ,  as the message stated... ' We are closing the case,  we are sending £**  50% refund ',    or the charge was made to the seller, but a full refund should not be the case here.

To Contact Customer Services it's a Live Chat, or you can select to speak and request a Call Back. Click on this link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/eua?id=5275&mkevt=1&mkpid

On weekdays lines open between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

On weekends they open between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

[myriad*seller]

You don't offer free returns so you have to refund the buyer in full

Only top rated sellers who offer free returns can make a deduction from the refund as far as I know 

Otherwise you have to refund in full and then appeal to eBay 

[peturning]

I contacted Customer Service and explained the situation, the 50% refund policy was explained to me and I chose to make a 70% refund instead since the product is still sellable but at a lower value now it is unpackaged.

[douglaspuglas]

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@peturning wrote:

I contacted Customer Service and explained the situation, the 50% refund policy was explained to me and I chose to make a 70% refund instead since the product is still sellable but at a lower value now it is unpackaged.

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From what I've read there's a chance your buyer could appeal to eBay and get the rest of their refund.

If you are lucky it would come out of eBay's coffers not yours.

Alternatively they could go to PayPal or their bank and initiate a chargeback to get the full amount back.

If they do that and you lose eBay will charge you a dispute fee of I think £16.80.

[rjwilmsi]

General: sellers have the option to deduct up to 50% from a refund if item returned damaged/missing parts etc. You don't have to offer free returns for that (I have "buyer pays" returns and have this option and have used it on occassion), though I think you may not be given the option if "below standard". My understanding is that private sellers don't have the option at all, but maybe they do when raised with eBay CS as OP has done here. eBay has a published policy on what is a reasonable deduction - it is supposed to be proportionate to the loss in value, not used to punish a return or recover other costs. eBay may take away the option from a seller if they think a seller is abusing it, so I would use it sparingly.

If I've found the right sale here it was a boxed GTX 1080 sold for £145. I certainly would have been very annoyed if a buyer had returned the card without the box (whether incopetence or they just wanted to steal the box), due to loss of value and risk of damage. Boxed cards are worth more, but I'm not sure they are worth 30% more (unless a very rare/special edition, which I don't think that one is), so the 30% deduction sounds high to me. I think I might have withheld 15% or so, but if eBay have permitted 30% then OK.

The buyer may still appeal to eBay, and then eBay should review and if they want to appease the buyer they will make up the rest of the refund at their cost.

OP, are you sure that your exact card was returned? There have been issues with graphics cards being swapped, so I would be sure to check card serial number (on board and via GPU-z) etc. if you haven't already.

If the buyer opens a payment dispute the seller should be covered because it follows a return on eBay, so if buyer wins the dispute it should be eBay covering the difference. But, that said, we have known eBay to make the wrong decision.

Note: the deduction from refund isn't quite as generous as it seems because eBay don't refund their fees on the proportion of the refund withheld, so taking 30% off only gets seller around 27% back (depending on category etc.)