26-05-2020 2:46 PM
I would be grateful for any advice.
It's very easy, and you don't have any choice.
EBay almost always supports the buyer. They never even see the item, and simply take the buyer's word for faults.
Once they've supported a claim, you MUST send the buyer a prepaid return label. This is the only decision in which you have any say. If you don't, eBay enforce the refund without requiring the buyer to return the bike. You gave them this power when you accepted the user agreement.
Don't believe anything that eBay customer support told you about applying for the return costs afterwards. That is only relevant in a tiny minority of cases where even eBay admits, for whatever reason, that the return was unfair on the seller. The bottom line is that eBay is unregulated, with no right to any independent appeal, and does NOT care about the seller.