What support do Ebay give sellers who feel they have been scammed, none as far as i can see,

[billboardmusic]

A buyer bought a 5 disc rare DVD set after payment asked me to pack well as he had bought 4 of these before and they were all damaged.

item arrived he left positive feedback, a week later he claimed one of the DVD's was cracked and wished to return he then started the return process which is automatic, despite calls and messages to Ebay I'm left with no option but to refund him.

I believe he either swapped the disc for one in the damaged sets he admitted buying or misused the disc

End result I have to accept a return which is now useless and am £35 down Thanks Ebay

[tobiasd4]

Ebay are only interested in keeping buyers happy.

They never see items, but always believe buyers so believe them if they say item damaged.

[john1297576]

As said Ebay never see what is sent or received, they therefore have to accept the buyers version.

This is one of the risks of selling on ebay but there is very little that you can do to prove what you think happened, and the Money Back Guarantee is aimed at keeping the buyer happy.

Seller protection is only that if you have proof of Delivery by using tracking you are protected against claims of Not Received. This is where many buyers lose money as particularly with Couriers their Proof of Delivery is very dubious. 

[rusticrye]

Ebay have no idea what you actually sent, or what condition it was in when sent, as they were not present when sent or received, so have no choice but to accept a buyer's word for it when they claim Not As Described, as per their Money Back Guarantee.  They cannot get into disputes between you and a buyer.  Only a judge can decide if a buyer is a liar or scammer.

You agreed to comply with the MBG when you registered your account. If you dig your heels in and refuse to offer refund on return, Ebay will either force you to pay for a returns label, or they will force the refund without the need for return. You will also have a damaging defect slapped on your account for failing to comply.

This may sound unfair, but it's the fairest it can possibly be.  The MBG is a very good thing (although you may not think that at present) as it gives buyers the confidence to shop with you and every other Ebay seller.  Without it, you'd be lucky to sell anything at all. In fact, without it, Ebay would no longer exist.

You have to refund on receipt, and then report the buyer to Ebay for abusing the MBG by fraudulently claiming Not As Described (via the 'report' button on your ‘leave feedback’ page) if you're 100% sure that's what they've done. A few of those from different sellers, and their account will soon be toast. And add their Ebay ID to your Blocked Bidders List so they can’t darken your doorway again.

You can then deal with the buyer outside of Ebay as follows, but be sure that they have actually scammed you:

Send them a PayPal invoice to cover your losses, giving them 7 days to send cleared payment or you will be taking legal action and reporting them to Action Fraud (the police's online fraud unit).

If payment is not received within that timeframe, send them a 'before action' letter by Signed For post, giving them 7 days from receipt to make full and cleared payment, or you will report them to Action Fraud, and take them to Small Claims court to recover your money and all court and other costs.

If payment is still not received (unlikely, as this is generally enough to put the fear of god into small-time fraudsters), take them to Small Claims court if you wish.  Very easy to do, and the process can be started online.

@billboardmusic 

[red_magpie]

am £35 down Thanks Ebay

Thank yourself lucky it wasn't £350, or even £3,500. Plenty of sellers have had to refund for high value items, even when buyers have returned something worthless instead of the item sent.

You accepted in the user agreement that when eBay couldn't determine that the item was as you described it, they will find in favour of the buyer. As they never even see the item, it's a no-brainer who they will support. It's almost impossible for the buyer to lose.

Every sale today is a gamble whether the buyer will abuse eBay's money back guarantee. EBay has become a very risky place for sellers.

[ducatimondo]

Definitely agree that eBay has become a risky place for sellers.
Over the years, I have had an empty plastic postage bag sent to me as a returned item, buyer had done that to get the tracking to show an item had been delivered. Difficult, but managed to fight that one as back then it shown the weight of the item on the Royal Mail label as being like 5 grams or something.
So they live and learn and get smarter unfortunately.
Recently had one where we sold some motorcycle brake pads and were "returned" as INAD as we have the pleasure of paying for the return label. What arrived took us by surprise and we have seen a lot, we received some used broken wall tiles as their weight and packing profile would be very similar to the brake pads we sold. That is unwinnable, as it is your word against the buyers and they always side with the buyers.
If you are lucky enough, you can sometimes find a small detail to help you fight your corner, but usually you will just have to give in a let it go as the majority are unwinnable.

Do you have the possibility to offer a partial refund and the buyer keeps the item in the return case?
Might be worth considering and see if they go for it with offering 20% back or something, for 1 out of 5 discs "damaged", as at least then you might have a chance of saving some hassle and offsetting the return postage costs against the partial refund. You wouldn't be winning or even feeling like you were, but sometimes damage limitation is the better way of looking at it, especially when you won't win any way you try it.