Ebay Return Request - what should I do? _UPDATE in my most recent post

[Thunderwing]

So I sold a tamagotchi on ebay. (One of many, actually).  Tested it before listing, and it worked. Tamagotchi sold, shipped, arrived. I wrapped it in several layers of bubble wrap to make sure it was well protected. It went from Canada, to Australia (part of the problem, see below about return shipping).

Today the buyer opened a 'return request' through ebay. This is their message:

Reason: It's defective or doesn't work
Comments: The tamagotchi turned on when I put in a new battery and then when I put it down it went blank again. I ve been trying to hit the reset battery but it s completely dead. 



What should I do? Ebay wants me to pay the return shipping if I accept the return. Yet her message says it was working upon arrival. (I suspect that "put it down" may mean "dropped it and broke it".)

This buyer has only one feedback. Username is b1brittanys if you want to avoid them.

Since the item was working upon arrival (as admitted by the buyer), what do you figure my odds are if I let this case go to a claim? I don't want to get stuck paying a huge return shipping fee (since it would be returning from Austrailia and would have to be sent with tracking and insurance, correct?)

I'd be surprised if dropping it would damage it, tamagotchi are pretty robust. I've dropped MANY. Silly troubleshooting question first, have you asked them to try a new battery?

Honestly, I think ebay will probably side with the buyer if it goes to a claim :/ they usually do from what I've heard.

I did ask them if they used a brand new battery, or a previously used one. They haven't responded.

[Skitterbug]

I'd be surprised if dropping it would damage it, tamagotchi are pretty robust. I've dropped MANY. Silly troubleshooting question first, have you asked them to try a new battery?

Honestly, I think ebay will probably side with the buyer if it goes to a claim :/ they usually do from what I've heard.

[ponylady]

This is a slippery slope because you can try and say he broke it himself and therefore, if he returned it, it would NOT be in the same condition in which it was sent...

 But, all he has to do is open a SNAD claim and say the item was defective, faulty or whatever and eBay WILL allow him to return it AND get a full refund... regardless of whether you want him to, or not.

It's up to you on how you want to handle it, but more than likely, if you refuse the refund, you'll end up with a claim being opened and possibly bad feedback.

 It sucks that we have to bend over backwards for rogue buyers. He may have mishandled it and broke it because he was doing something wrong... but how can you prove that? eBay will take the buyer's word every time and give them the benefit of the doubt, unless the have a history of returns/BP abuse. Unfortunately, this is how eBay works these days.

[Thunderwing]

I'd be surprised if dropping it would damage it, tamagotchi are pretty robust. I've dropped MANY. Silly troubleshooting question first, have you asked them to try a new battery?

Honestly, I think ebay will probably side with the buyer if it goes to a claim :/ they usually do from what I've heard.

I did ask them if they used a brand new battery, or a previously used one. They haven't responded.

[goddessofpeep]

Odds are ebay will side with the buyer on this one. It's very rare for the seller to win these kinds of things, even if they have stronger proof than you have. It's not fair, but that's how it goes.

Personally, I'd just refund the money, tell them to keep the item, and block them from bidding on your future auctions.  Hopefully this wasn't an expensive item. Since you're probably going to get stuck refunding anyway, at least this way you won't be out the extra intenational shipping, and have to go through the time and hassle of dealing with an international return. You might also have a *tiny* chance of avoiding bad feedback(just don't mention feedback to the buyer either way).

Good luck:(

[Ringlets]

Wait a bit longer and see if they respond to your question about the battery but I would be very surprised if it went to case and you won. Ebay would almost certainly side with the buyer who would say it was faulty. If the person doesn't respond to the question you could try calling ebay by phone and explaining the situation and see what they say, but other than that I would just accept the request and do a return/refund to save hassle and bad feedback

[Thunderwing]

They did reply back about the battery - "I tried it with the battery already in there and it seemed dead so I put a new battery in there, it worked for about 5 minutes and then it went dead again."

The battery that was "in there" was known to be dead. It sounds like the 'new battery' was a used one, as well, but there isn't a whole lot of point in arguing. This is a buyer who had trouble using checkout at the end of the auction, I had to send them an invoice to make it simple enough for them to understand.  >.< 

This is the second 'newer user' I have had problems with this week. I am going to be adding buyer requirements from here on in.

[Thunderwing]

Huh.  So I refunded the buyer, and let them keep the item, because I didn't want to pay for return postage. But just on the off chance, I sent them a message asking them to put the tamagotchi back in the original envelope, mark it 'return to seller' and then drop it in the post. And what do you know, it came back to me!  I found it in my mail box Friday evening. They had repacked it into a different envelope, and shipped it back, at their own expense. O.o

I put a fresh, brand new battery in it, and lo and behold the tamagotchi has been working fine all weekend. Yah. *facepalm*

[banditpony]

I read recently you can't return to sender if you open the package. I don't know if that's true or not...
It's good you got the item back. :/

[cloud_weaver]

I read recently you can't return to sender if you open the package. I don't know if that's true or not...
It's good you got the item back. :/

Yes, that is true. 

Sounds like buyer's remorse to me.  But very glad that you got the item back!  Those things are great to sell on eBay, they're always a quick sell.  So good luck finding it a home where it will be appreciated. 

[Thunderwing]

I read recently you can't return to sender if you open the package. I don't know if that's true or not...
It's good you got the item back. :/

Yes, that is true. 

Sounds like buyer's remorse to me.  But very glad that you got the item back!  Those things are great to sell on eBay, they're always a quick sell.  So good luck finding it a home where it will be appreciated. 

Hmmm. That is possible, but if they taped it back shut (since it was a re-used envelope) I don't think it would be noticeable that it had been opened. I wasn't too worried, since I also planned to refuse it if there were any return shipping charges, since I was already out of pocket for the refund and not expecting to get it back. But hey, it all worked out in the end, so it was worth the extra effort. (Especially since I had to explain it ... at least twice... to the buyer. "Cross out your name with a single line and write RTS on the front of the envelope and drop in the nearest mail box.")

This time around, I am selling it with a new battery in it. Since I had to buy a new battery anyway to test it with and be certain. So that should solve that problem.

[cloud_weaver]

Maybe take a quick youtube video of it working and add the link in the auctions?    Seems like a lot of work...but I suppose it could be helpful in the future.

[Ringlets]

  I'm glad you actually got it back in the end , that it's working fine and you should be able to resell it no problem

I think what the buyer did was weird but it could just have been buyers remorse and also I had an experience very similar - I sold a singing doll to someone on ebay and it was working fine. Buyer contacted me and admitted it was working fine . 3 weeks later buyer contacted me to say it wasn't working anymore. I told her to change the battery. She said it still didn't work. I told her to send it back for a refund since she insisted on sending it back saying it was faulty ( I knew it wasn't)  and I'd had enough at this point (plus I could resell for more than I originally sold it for anyways, working or not , so no problems there)  Annnnd guess what? just like your situation, when the doll arrived back she was working fine and continued to work. I relisted and sold her  (for more money) and the new buyer had no issues either