Locked
Antworten können hier nur von erfahrenen Mentor*innen sowie der Person verfasst werden, die die Frage gestellt hat.
More and more buyers are abusing 'item defective' to avoid return shipping costs
Summary: emmamik0 reports on the problem that more and more buyers on eBay are abusing the return option "item is defective" to avoid return shipping costs. Despite clear item descriptions, buyers have returned items in several cases using false reasons, such as a broken glass on a tablet that was marked as defective or missing batteries in a phone that were never included. emmamik0 asks the community about similar experiences and possible solutions, as the situation is becoming increasingly frustrating.
Hello,
I’ve been selling commercially on eBay for a year now and have sold around 800 items in the meantime. What’s been obvious to me from the start: I actually only get normal returns when someone has eBay Plus and return shipping is free anyway.
For me, outgoing shipping is free, but return shipping in a normal cancellation is subject to a fee.
More and more buyers are taking advantage of exactly that: they simply choose the “item is defective” option to force the return shipping at my expense.
Three current cases out of many:
I sold a partially defective tablet with a cracked screen. The title, description, and pictures explicitly point out the crack.
-> Buyer files a return stating: “Arrived defective, cracked screen.”
I have to accept it and can’t deduct anything.
I sold a cordless phone, explicitly without batteries.
-> Customer files a return: “Batteries missing.”
When I pointed out that this had been stated in the listing, the phone was suddenly allegedly broken (which of course it wasn’t in the end).
I have to accept it and can’t deduct anything.
I’m selling a wireless charging pad that, according to the manufacturer, requires a power adapter with at least 25W and PD.
-> Customer opens a return: “Item defective, only shows yellow light. It needs a special cable that isn’t available in stores and is actually usually included.”
(Which is complete nonsense: such a special cable doesn’t even exist, it doesn’t physically fit in the original packaging, and it isn’t included by any retailer or by the manufacturer itself. You just need a regular USB-C cable with a 25W power adapter.)
I have to accept it and can’t deduct anything.
Do you experience stuff like this too? And how do you handle it? I’m an honest person and I always stand up when someone truly has a problem, but this steady increase in the opposite really hurts after a while
