Would you give a refund in this situation?

I sold some inserts for a game on ebay. My listing photo was of the inserts, not the game, the listing title clearly stated no game and the listing itself had GAME NOT INCLUDED bold and underlined. I also said all sales final.

I mailed out the item and a day after I mailed it, the buyer(who is a very experienced buyer btw. Thousands feedback and long time buyer) said they want a refund, because they thought it was the game.

I responded saying I don't know if I can do that, because I may not get the inserts back in the condition they were in and be able to re-sell them. Also I said that it's the buyer's responsibility to read all listings carefully and the seller is only liable if they purposely try to mislead, which I did not.

A week goes by and nothing. They respond yesterday pissed off, because they didn't get their refund. I respond to them and say "First of all, you didn't even mail me my item back, so why would I just give you a refund? That is how refunds have always worked in this world. You give back the item you purchased and then you get your money back. You never even sent my items back."

Any advice?

I wouldn't give a refund regardless. 

You clearly stated it was for inserts only and no game would be involved.

That's his fault for not reading.  You'd think an experienced eBay'ed would know reading everything is essential.

Tell him to go himself.  But I wouldn't be surprised if Mommy and Daddy write you an email speaking on his behalf.

Yeah, I got two responses from two different people. The first one was a girl and the second was a man. I know, because they signed their name at the bottom of the response. You are probably right ITDEFX. Probably parents of a kid that went on and bought it and they just want their money back without even being educated on the situation.

It gets better. Person responded today and said they sent my item back and expect a refund when I receive it. I told them I am going to mail it back to them again, because I did nothing wrong and may not be able to sell the item if they aren't returned in the same condition. I said I specifically stated there is NO GAME.

They responded and said "Yeah, well, maybe the person buying the item didn't read the listing or understand it, ever think of that?"

Which tells me most likely their kid went on there and bought it without reading and they won't take responsibility for it.

I want to put my head through a brick wall.

Do you have a link to your items, or that specific one? I'd like to see the listing to see how dumb these people are.

No refund. If they leave a negative, you can get it removed. I am pretty sure eBay/Paypal will side with you on this one.

Unless the er put a track on it, I say when it gets back to you, you should keep it.  When he says, where's my money bitch? say it has been well spent er.  No returns/no refund/all sales are final.. how hard is that to understand?This is another reason I don't do ebay anymore.  not worth the hassle.

^----lol@ your title

Good luck to you in what ever the outcome is.

Avoid the problem. They'll likely leave you a negative whether you refund or not, so go within the bounds of eBay. I believe you own a case on their behalf, right? In any case, be sure to not refund shipping and keep the maximum permitted percentage for restocking fees.

Sorry it happened and the buyer (possibly their parents) aren't taking responsibility.

You should respond back again to tell them they should hire a tutor for their child because illiteracy is a plague on our society, and the sooner they get their child some help, the less likely they'll be receiving empty boxes from eBay in the future.

Did they open a dispute?

If they did/do AND the dispute is found in your favor AND they wait until after the decision to leave feedback you can have the feedback scrubbed (removed) per the new feedback policy.

They didn't open a dispute yet. I'll see what happens.

Just from personal experience, eBay almost ALWAYS sides with the buyer no matter how stupid they are.  I recently had a buyer send me back a brand new game that was sealed because he said "the plastic was ripped" (it wasn't)...he just found another auction cheaper.  eBay allowed him to send it back to me and get a full refund even though I had a no refunds/returns policy.

Your best bet is to have them send it back to you (they pay return shipping and don't return the original shipping).  If the item is not in the condition you sent it in, then complain to eBay.  If the buyer leaves negative feedback, respond saying that the auction listing was accurate and it was the buyer's mistake.  You should be able to get the neg removed or at least nullified.  Best of luck.

I've been selling on eBay since 1996 and trust me, the site has really gone downhill.  I now do 90% of my selling on Amazon or CAG.  Closing my eBay store next month after a 7 year run.  Good luck!

ShadowAssassin said:

They responded and said "Yeah, well, maybe the person buying the item didn't read the listing or understand it, ever think of that?"

Click to expand...

This is what gets me - they, or their son, or whoever, makes a mistake with the listing and don't own up to it or apologize and expects to get a refund just because. What is happening to the world? People don't seem to understand that an apology can go a long way. Anyways, forgive my rant, when you get it back, write refused mail and send it right back.

Its his own dumbass that the person didnt read it properly.  Better to get that 1 negative than to deal with the whole situation thing, Ebay will refund that person anyways.

nope i would not send anything if all was stated in the ad you did nothing wrong paypal should be on your side but they can be tricky sometimes 

hell no!

i say them