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I sold something recently “For Parts or not working” and “no returns”. Buyer is now demanding a refund and threatens a “bad review” and accuses me of “stealing”.
The Item condition on the listing is “For Parts or Not working” but the item itself is an old consumer electronics gizmo still sealed New / NIP. (Not possible to test without opening.)
In buyer’s defense, the item title does not state “As-Is” and describes the item as New / NIP. But the condition is “For Parts or not working”. And the item description states “As-Is”, “For Parts or not working” and “No returns”.
I need to respond soon so give me some ideas.
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eBay policy does not allow feedback extortion. If he sent you a message threatening a bad review, you should be able to get any negative removed because of that comment. I don’t recommend mentioning that to him, but don’t let him intimidate you.
I’m not sure what you should say. Maybe come up with an alternative solution. Maybe a partial refund, or a refund of the purchase price (but not shipping) if he returns the item. I don’t know, how much money are we talking about?
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@Sharyn: I understand what you mean about feedback extortion. ‘Bad review’ tiptoes up to the line but might not cross it like the word ‘negative’ would. Depends on the support agent if it comes to that.
What I am learning from this is that I should have but the words “As-Is” or similar in the item title. Then if a poor feedback was left that would show up about the item. Now only the words “New / NIP” would show.
This was an $18 item w/ free shipping that went out first class package.
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Seems like it is worth a shot to see if buyer will be more reasonable. Hopefully no Bad Review in the morning.
Just sent this reply to buyer:
I’m sorry the item did not work for you. The item was still sealed in the package, so I could not test it before the sale and have no idea if it works or not. This is why I offered it for sale clearly marked with “For Parts or not working”, “As-Is” and “No returns”. Did you miss all that?
I prefer happy buyers and value my eBay reputation, but this transaction does not qualify for “money back”. And, in that case, I would be out all the seller fees and shipping charges not to mention the item. What are you asking me to do for you?
Regards.
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Follow up:
Buyer replied and asked if I was evil and stealing from innocent people. That I just slipped in the ‘parts only’ and was sneaky.A few minutes later the Red Negative feedback showed up.
@Sharyn: I sure hope his written threat of ‘bad review’ via eBay message was strong enough for a feedback removal. I’ll be calling eBay Support in the morning to see if it can be removed. -
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I called first thing this morning and eBay removed the negative feedback. The eBay agent had a thick accent so I really didn’t understand everything said but the results are excellent. Negative feedback disappeared “Just like it never happened”.
There were 2 things going in my favor:
1) the item was sold “For Parts or not working” and “no returns”, thus by demanding a return the buyer has demanded something that is not offered in the listing. This alone is grounds for reporting a buyer.
2) the threat of a bad review if buyer demands were not met. Typical Feedback Extortion.So I am happy to report that eBay stood by this seller today.
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Obvious feedback extortion and glad you got it removed.
No returns/NIB/For Parts & Repair doesn’t make sense to me, but without knowing what the item is it’s hard to say whether it was the right move. I’d just assume I’m getting scammed at that point. There’s no shortage of ambiguous For Parts/Repair listings in Consumer Electronics that makes it a minefield of potential problems for buyers, and it’s commonly used by sellers trying to avoid taking responsibility for problems. Not implying this is the case for you since you clearly described the product, but this may not have been the buyer’s first time going through this.
I think allowing returns is the easiest way to prevent these problems. From creating a forum thread, getting a negative, to having to call eBay, the real question is whether or not it was all worth the effort over $18.
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@IndySales: old magicJack. Here is a picture of a similar item. Mine was same thing.
Item was sealed and I did not want it back. My thinking was that if anyone was still using these, they might need to refresh their old parts.
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You would think something new and sealed like this would still work. Possibly something he did wrong prevented it from working. Or, he was just fishing for a refund.
I’m glad eBay stood behind you in this case. It seemed pretty cut and dry to me.
Another way to title something like this is to use the word “untested”. The buyer can see from the photos that the item is new in package, and you can put that in the condition description.
I recall that I once sold a new in package prepaid cell phone. I can’t remember how I listed it. I guess I would have taken the return if it didn’t work.
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Yeah, if I bought something advertised as new in package, it didn’t work, and the buyer essentially told me “tough luck,” I would be mad, too.
Anything I sell for parts or repair only, I always put that in the title, condition description, and the item description. Helps eliminate confusion.
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