"There is no need to return the item. You should receive your refund in 3-5 working days"

[sdcycles]

UK eBay.

I bought an item that arrived damaged, I opened a case. The case was instantly won by me and I was refunded instantly but told by ebay not to return the item? 

In this instance what happens to the seller? They don't get their item back so do they get to keep the funds and ebay covers it? If they don't get their item back and ebay takes their funds away, that seems totally unfair. 

[papso22]

Assuming the seller was covered by Simple Delivery seller protection, the seller gets to keep the original payment.

[sdcycles]

Yes it was a private seller so they would most likely have used simple delivery. 

It seems like a system that could be easily abused. 

[jckl1957]

It is true that the system could be abused - even if you are not the sort of person to try and cheat the system, you could think of several ways to do so.

However, my guess would be that Ebay would look carefully at repeated claims concerning individual sellers and buyers and, as outlined in the User Agreement, members who are judged to have abused the Money Back Guarantee can lose the right to open return cases.

[*vyolla*]

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@sdcycles wrote:

Yes it was a private seller so they would most likely have used simple delivery. 

It seems like a system that could be easily abused. 

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Did eBay ask for any evidence of the damage, such as a photo?

[papso22]

I have already seen one example where a seller tried to get the buyer of an item that was simply not the same as the listed description, to say it was damaged in transit.

I think ebay will be monitoring these refund cases.

[department28]

'Did eBay ask for any evidence of the damage, such as a photo?'

That's what I've been wondering, regarding these Simple Delivery 'damaged' refunds. Surely the buyer must be obliged to provide a photo of the damage - but does the seller also get to see the photos?

[*vyolla*]

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@department28 wrote:

'Did eBay ask for any evidence of the damage, such as a photo?'

That's what I've been wondering, regarding these Simple Delivery 'damaged' refunds. Surely the buyer must be obliged to provide a photo of the damage - but does the seller also get to see the photos?

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It would seem a logical thing to do, on eBay's part - ask for a photo of the item and the packaging (Vinted do) and then ask the seller for confirmation that it's the item they sent etc., else how do they know that it's not the sellers fault and they didn't send a dinner plate taped up in a carrier bag?

[sdcycles]

Yes ebay asked for 3 photos in order to submit the return.

Photo of defect/damage.

External photo of packaging used 

Internal photo of item inside inside packaging. 

[sdcycles]

At this stage it just seems like Ebay are using Vinted as a platform to copy ideas from. 

So it seems as a seller you should really take a photo of the box with the label on etc in the event someone tries a scam. 

[papso22]

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@sdcycles wrote:

Yes ebay asked for 3 photos in order to submit the return.

Photo of defect/damage.

External photo of packaging used 

Internal photo of item inside inside packaging. 

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That's useful information, thank you. 

Will make it difficult for some legitimate buyers to make claims if they don't keep that evidence. 

[kyanyama]

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@sdcycles wrote:

At this stage it just seems like Ebay are using Vinted as a platform to copy ideas from. 

So it seems as a seller you should really take a photo of the box with the label on etc in the event someone tries a scam. 

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Been doing that for years; I do it as soon as parcel is packed.  Started off years ago when a had a NAD from a buyer who returned my item as NAD (damaged in post despite being well packaged) and eBay told me to refund despite receiving it back in perfect working order (and providing proof to eBay!).  On checking buyer's feedback discovered they had purchased the exact same item from a different seller for less so returned the more expensive one.  eBay was quite abrupt despite me pointing out what the dishonest buyer had done (they weren't worried I was out of pocket for the return postage).  I just blocked and reported.

I keep the photos in a folder and delete them after a year.  Fortunately seldom needed them but then only have around 10/12 sales per month as a private seller so may not be feasible for all.  Was also helpful when I had an INR one time and included a photo of the parcel with my claim to RM. 

And when I made an error on my energy readings and had to phone to rectify it to obtain a refund the agent suggested I take a photo of the readings each month which I hadn't thought to do.

Every day is a school day!