Experience report: Return chaos with eBay & DHL – complete helplessness as a seller | Sell

der.general · 2025-12-20T17:19:37.047000Z

I want to share my experience here because only in this case did it become clear to me how vulnerable you actually are as a seller on eBay when something goes wrong and the system works against you.I sold a high-priced smartphone through eBay. The sale initially went normally. Later, the buyer reported a return, which I agreed to. From that moment on, chaos began.The buyer sent me a tracking number. According to eBay, the shipment was “delivered.” In fact, no package ever arrived at my place. No package in the mailbox, no package in the house, no package with neighbors. My property is monitored by a 24-hour video camera, and at the alleged time of delivery, no courier driver was here with me.I then did my own research with DHL. One crucial point for me was this:If you want to request a detailed shipment report on the DHL website, you have to enter the recipient’s postal code along with the tracking number. For me, it shows “invalid postal code.”This clearly means that this tracking number is not assigned to my address or my town. A shipment that was sent to me would have to work with my postal code. It doesn’t.In addition, I contacted DHL directly. The answer was clear:I am neither the sender nor the recipient of this shipment. Due to postal secrecy, DHL is not allowed to give me any details. I am also not authorized to submit an inquiry. Only the sender of the package, i.e. the buyer, is allowed to do that.So I’m completely powerless.I can’t check anything, clarify anything, or submit anything.My DHL account also states that no delivery to neighbors is allowed. Nevertheless, it still just shows “delivered.” But DHL cannot tell me where, to whom, or how it was delivered. There is no signature, no photo, no specific drop-off location.In order to take action myself, I would have needed a transfer declaration from the buyer. That would have allowed me to submit an inquiry myself. I asked the buyer for this several times. He does not respond.Since eBay refunded the buyer’s money, he has not contacted me at all. No reply, no cooperation, nothing. For him, the case is closed.I myself have received over ten rejections from eBay. The reason is always the same:“The shipment was marked as delivered.”Nothing is taken into account:• that the postal code for the tracking number is invalid• that DHL confirms I am not the recipient• that I am legally not allowed to submit an inquiry• that the buyer no longer respondsIn the end, the situation is absurd:The buyer got his money back,I have no phone,and I am still effectively supposed to refund the money.I bear the entire loss, without any possibility of defense.What shocks me most about this:In this system, apparently any tracking number is enough as long as it is marked as “delivered” somewhere. Whether it actually went to the seller is not checked.For me, this case shows a structural problem:The seller is the only party without rights:• no access to DHL• no right to an inquiry• no obligation on the buyer to cooperate• a platform that relies solely on a statusMy conclusion:The so-called seller protection only exists on paper in cases like this. Anyone selling high-priced items privately is taking a real risk of losing both the item and the money at the same time, without having done anything wrong.I’m sharing this here so others know what they may be taking on in the worst case.

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Experience report: Return chaos with eBay & DHL – complete helplessness as a seller | Sell | eBay Germany