Buyer saying item not as described

[secondhoof]

Ive sold a saddle on Ebay and sent off fast to the buyer, i politely asked that they tell me when they recieve it on Monday ( was tracked)

on Thursday she states she wants to return the item that cost me £20 to post as the item isnt as described ( i had no returns on my listing so she had to pick some sort of fault)

her reasoning was my saddle i sold her is short leg, she needs regular, i informed her the saddle is the bog standard regular saddle, it does not come in short leg, the only other variant is long leg which are not common, she said long leg is no good she needs regular as as i sold her short leg and didnt list it i should offer her a refund.

I contacted the manufacturers to prove mine is regular as no such thing as short leg and also phone ebay to inform them the buyer was trying it on as she obviously doesnt fit the saddle

Also its taken her until the Thursday to ask for a return, therefore shes been using the saddle probably.. so if i am deemed blameworthy which is ludicrous then I have to pay for return postage too.... aka being £40 out of pocket?

Ebay said let it go the 8 days and they will decide, we all know how this will go!

Can anyone help me?

[gindygoo]

It sucks, but that's the game on eBay. Tbf though this is all in the t&c's that you agreed to.

If you fight it, which you're well within your rights to do so. Chances are you'll lose.

Also not sure if you realise, but your PayPal fees are no longer refunded. I've owned horses on & off throughout my life, I know how much a good saddle costs. It'll be a hefty loss including postage I'm afraid 😞

[red_magpie]

Ebay said let it go the 8 days and they will decide, we all know how this will go!

If you already know where it will go, there is no need for us to point out that eBay's policy is to support the buyer unless they can determine that the item matched the description. As they never even see the item its usually a foregone conclusion that they will find in favour of the buyer.

In your case, if eBay is fair in its assessment, you should have a good chance of winning the case. I don't know how saddles are measured, or what the 16 inches refers to, but you didn't state anything about the leg length. In this case, the fact that this is shorter than the buyer wanted doesn't make the saddle "not as described". It makes it buyer remorse, which isn't covered. She should have asked about the leg length before bidding.

The worry, as no doubt you know, is that eBay falls over backwards to keep buyers happy, and sometimes doesn't seem to take any notice of anything that sellers try to explain. The drawback of contesting a case is that if you lose, you will forfeit any return of fees. You will also, I think very unfairly, be penalised by eBay with a damaging defect on your account, just for putting your side of the case. It's your call whether to risk this!

Many years ago, when eBay reps actually took part in these boards, they claimed that it's better for sellers to refund without argument. That way, they said, buyers would stay happy about using eBay, and come back to make more purchases. EBay would never admit this now, but it's clearly the basis of their policy.

[plpmr]

"bay said let it go the 8 days and they will decide, we all know how this will go!"

Typical CS bad advice - if you do that eBay will find for the buyer, place a defect on your account, force a refund [might even let the buyer keep the item] and you won't get your fees back.

Only thing to do is to accept and pay for the return and refund on return.