Buyer says “I need to return the air chamber. It was the wrong item.”

eBay and/or PayPal may make you take the return. You definitely will have to take the return if they say that it’s an INAD (Item Not As Described). I interrupt the wording “It was the wrong item.” to mean the buyer bought the wrong item. Most buyers would state that you sent the wrong item if that was what happened. However, the wording is not clear. If it’s an INAD you will have to take the return, refund the money and pay for shipping to the buyer and back to you. If the buyer bought the wrong item then if the buyer returns it the buyer should pay shipping both way. As to whether you will have to take the return if the buyer just bought the wrong item depends on eBay.

I would write back to the buyer and ask for clarification. Politely ask them if there was an error in your listing. If they clarify and say the read the listing wrong, you can then politely inform them you don’t take returns as stated in your listing.

Th buyer can still file an “Item Not A Described” claim (and then you will be stuck taking the return), but they will have to figure that out for themselves.

A lot of people can’t be bothered making a return if someone doesn’t hold their hand through the process.

It’s good that you have evidence in the message that it was the buyer’s fault. But it’s a bad combination of clueless buyer and pricey item. You might regret trying to do them a favor to allow the return.

You do not initiate the process. The buyer has to initiate the return from their account and then you will receive notification. If they’re honest they’ll choose a reason for return for which they will have to pay for the return label. Then you can approve or deny the return UNLESS the buyer figures out to check the “item not as described” box in which case you have to accept it and you have to pay for return shipping or ebay will pull the money from you and you get a black mark on your seller account.

If they do the ebay return, you approve it, and they send it back, once you get the item back you refund their money and some of your fees will be returned but not your original shipping because you offer free shipping. The fact that you do not offer free returns limits your refund options. I don’t think you’ll have the option to send a partial refund, subtracting your shipping or whatever else you want.

So given their admission in the message, I would give a short, polite reply that your listing clearly states that you do not accept returns and that you’re unable to offer a return to them in this situation. Then give them the silent treatment and block them. If they figure out the process and attempt a return (which often never happens, as debitendcredits says above) you can take it from there depending on the reason they select.

There are other issues in the return process. I recommend you dig into the detailed ebay seller help pages that provide more detailed information. If it gets messy, call ebay customer service.