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eBay case over €500: Buyer allegedly receives an incomplete package and is refunded without returning it
Summary: novadeals831 describes an eBay incident in which he sold a valuable card for €500. The buyer claims that the card was missing from the package, while the included extras were there. The case was decided in the buyer’s favor, although novadeals831 had documented the shipment and offered a partial refund. He complains that he had no opportunity to get back the supposedly incomplete item. perfect-sally expresses skepticism about the scale of the sale for a private seller and stresses that a lack of response options can lead to such a decision. novadeals831, in turn, emphasizes that he was not given a chance to respond to the return shipment.
Hello everyone,
I hope you can help me with an eBay case that is very difficult for me.
I’ve been using eBay regularly since 2023 and so far I’ve made about 30 sales, mostly in the €100 to €500 range. Up to now, it had never happened that something didn’t arrive with the buyer as described or arrived incomplete. I’ve always packed my items properly and shipped them as quickly as possible.
This time I sold a valuable card for €500. The card’s value is roughly between €400 and €800. The card was packed together with some smaller extras. The entire packing process was recorded on video by us, and my wife was there as well and can testify to this.
The package was delivered to the drop-off location selected by the buyer the very next morning.
In the evening, the buyer told me that the card supposedly was not in the package. The extras we included were still there, though.
Since at that point I didn’t know what might have happened, I reacted completely normally and professionally, offered my help, and among other things advised the buyer to open an eBay case and notify DHL.
The first eBay case
The buyer initially opened the case under the reason “item not received,” even though he had told me that he had received the package and that only the card was missing.
The package was then handed over to DHL for investigation. From that point on, it was temporarily no longer shown as delivered in tracking. At first this worried me, since the incorrect “item not received” case had been opened.
eBay then apparently waited for the DHL review and the redelivery to the buyer. After a lengthy review by the eBay expert team, the case was ultimately decided in my favor.
I was then also told that I had done everything right on my side.
After that, the case was manually reopened again
After the buyer contacted eBay again, the case was reopened, this time as “item not as described.”
At the same time, the buyer told me that he had filed a police report.
I continued to cooperate with the buyer and responded to everything immediately. I had even been willing beforehand to split the loss at first and refund him 50% of the purchase price until the matter with DHL and eBay was clarified.
After the first case had been decided in my favor and the second case was manually reopened, at some point I was even willing to accept the return of the supposedly incomplete package and initially refund the buyer in full.
My thinking was that I would at least get the package back and could then carry out further inquiries myself with eBay and DHL.
But that didn’t happen.
eBay paused the case for 10 days. During this time, I was no longer able to accept a return myself. I assumed the buyer might use this time to clarify the matter further with DHL.
So I was waiting, among other things, for information from DHL and the recipient such as the package weight at drop-off, at the DHL center, and upon delivery, as well as whether DHL could determine whether the package had been damaged or opened during transit.
DHL
I eventually also received DHL’s investigation report.
From the buyer’s photos, I could see that the package appeared to have been opened or damaged at the bottom and no longer looked the way we had sent it, or it had been sealed differently.
DHL basically acknowledged damage to the package. According to DHL, however, in this case DHL is not liable; instead, the recipient is, because they had selected a drop-off location as the delivery method.
The buyer had previously told me that he was working on the case with DHL.
I have now called DHL myself. They told me that nothing new had been initiated by the recipient and that the status was still the same: because of the chosen drop-off location, DHL is not liable.
The final eBay decision
The second case dragged on for about a month. In the end, the decision was again in the buyer’s favor.
Over the phone, eBay explained to me that, in particular, the buyer’s statement that the package had arrived without the card and the fact that he had filed a police report were enough for the decision.
Whether the card was actually missing from the package, when it disappeared, or who was responsible for it was, to my knowledge, not determined. On the recipient’s side, there was also no effort to clarify further with DHL or request information about the weight.
What particularly concerns me:
The buyer was fully refunded, but I neither got the €500 back, nor the card, nor the supposedly damaged or incomplete package returned.
And I was basically ready at first to take the package back.
If the buyer actually only received an incomplete package, then of course I don’t want him to be left with the loss. That’s why I tried from the start to get to the bottom of it and even offered a partial refund.
But if eBay ultimately refunds the buyer in full, why don’t I at least get the package back so that I can carry out further inquiries with DHL myself?
In my opinion, the package in particular would be important evidence. The buyer still has it, while I have no way of checking for myself how it actually arrived.
My questions:
That’s why I’d be interested in the following:
1. Can eBay actually decide such a case in the buyer’s favor solely on the basis of the buyer’s statement and a police report filed by him?
2. Why wasn’t it required, in the case of a refund, that the supposedly incomplete package be sent back to me, even though I was willing to take it back?
3. Couldn’t eBay at least have paused the case until further clarification by DHL or the police?
4. What options do I still have now to contest eBay’s decision?
5. Is there a way to get a specific explanation from eBay or the basis for the decision?
I explicitly do not want to accuse the buyer without evidence. If the card really did disappear in transit, then of course he shouldn’t have to bear the loss.
At the same time, as a private seller, to my understanding I did everything the same way I had done it with my previous sales as well. The card was packed, the packing process was documented, and the package was shipped.
What therefore worries me a lot is the question of how a private seller is supposed to continue selling high-value items on eBay if, in the event of a dispute, a buyer’s statement together with a report can be enough for them to get their money back, while the seller gets neither the money nor the item nor the package returned.
I would be very grateful for experiences and concrete advice from people who have already had a similar eBay or DHL case.
samantha@ebay
MentorAug 13, 2026 at 2:31 PMHello @novadeals831
The case was actually decided according to the guidelines, and you can only challenge it outside of eBay. You had offered the buyer a partial refund directly, which they declined and then contacted customer service. Customer service asked the buyer to file a report, and once that was available, made the corresponding decision.
In principle, we decide such situations in favor of the buyer, since the seller is actually compensated by DHL. In other words, we refund the buyer the money so that the seller can take care of everything else and not two parties have to wait for their money.
Clarifications often take several weeks, so we usually do not wait for them, since any possible reimbursement always goes to the seller. You should have addressed the return directly with the buyer, since no return is предусмотрено for an "empty package".
Please clarify what options remain for you regarding DHL or the buyer, unfortunately I can't tell you anything else about that.
Thanks for the tag @perfect-sally
Best regards
Samantha
perfect-sally
MentorAug 13, 2026 at 12:09 PMWhat therefore really worries me is the question of how one is supposed to continue selling high-quality items on eBay as a private seller, if, in the event of a dispute, a statement from the buyer together with a report can be enough for them to get their money back, while the seller gets neither money nor goods nor the parcel back.
In general, truly private sellers do not sell high-quality items on eBay, and certainly not in the quantity that you supposedly do as a private seller!
I haven't read your novel from start to finish, and probably nobody here will either.
But if eBay refunds without a return, that is usually because the seller did not cover the return shipping costs. And yes, eBay can make decisions within eBay, and 99% of the time that is in favor of the buyers. If the seller does not agree with that, they can take action against it outside of eBay at any time and sort the matter out with the buyer.
novadeals831
OPAug 13, 2026 at 12:50 PMFirst of all, thank you for your reply, even though you apparently didn’t read my post all the way through.
When the case was reopened, eBay actually did not give me the option to accept the return myself and arrange for the return shipment. The case was put on hold for 10 days relatively shortly after it was opened. After that, eBay itself arranged the full refund to the buyer, without me still having the opportunity to accept a return.
That is exactly an important point for me: I would even have been willing to take back the supposedly incomplete package and cover the return shipping costs, because I absolutely wanted to have the package myself for further inquiries with DHL.
perfect-sally
MentorAug 13, 2026 at 12:58 PMFirst of all, thanks for your reply, even if you apparently didn’t read my post completely.
I wrote that too, nobody reads huge novels like that here. However, I think there are quite a few things here that can’t be right.
If eBay has paused the case, you have the opportunity to respond within that period, and that apparently wasn’t done in time. And when making a complaint to a parcel carrier, there are also only relatively short deadlines, which with 10 days should probably have been exceeded by a long shot.
Please post the item number and an eBay employee can take a look. She’ll then get back to you here.
@samantha@ebay could you take a look please? Thanks a lot
novadeals831
OPAug 13, 2026 at 1:16 PMJ
I also generally think that, in my case, quite a few things here were not handled correctly.
When the case was paused at short notice for 10 days, I no longer had any way to respond to the case myself and, for example, accept a return shipment. All that was left for me was the option to report an issue.
Here is the order number: 23-14909-72285