Problems with an Ebay Purchase

mightyspacepope

I won a Sega Genesis on ebay. It was pictured as the second version, with two controllers, and all the wires. The description read: "It's all there and everything works."

Cut to the arrival of the package. What I have inside is one controller and the third version of the console. There were no power or A/V cables.

Cue me sending him a message asking him politely what was going on. He told me that UPS either mispacked it or lost a package, which still doesn't explain the difference in model, which I pointed out. He tells me to contact him by last Thursday if it hasn't come in yet.

Of course, nothing shows up. I contact him again and he offers to refund the listed price. I tell him that's not going to fly, he needs to refund the shipping charge as well, in addition to what it's going to cost me to send it back to him.

He replies that refunding me for the listed price + shipping is okay, but he's not going to pay for me to send it back. I looked at ebay policy and it says:

If you received the item, but it doesn't match the seller's description, the seller may:

*

Offer you a partial refund
*

Ask that you return the item for a full refund
*

Ask that you return the item in exchange for a replacement item, if you agree

If you're offered a partial refund, you can accept it, request a different amount, or suggest another solution, like returning the item for a full refund. You can also ask eBay Customer Support to review the case. Keep in mind that eBay's decision on a case is final.

We'll ask you to confirm that you've received the refund or sent the item back. To show that you've sent an item back to the seller, you'll need to ship the item with tracking information and then enter the tracking number in the Resolution Center.

If you're given a refund, you'll usually receive it through the same payment method that you used to pay for the item. If you bought an item with a payment method other than PayPal, we'll ask you to confirm receipt of the refund.

A full refund is one that covers the cost of the item and original shipping. If you've received an item and want a full refund, you'll usually need to send the item back to the seller. Buyers are responsible for paying return shipping unless the buyer and seller have reached a different agreement. In unusual circumstances, eBay may pay return shipping.

Quite honestly, I think this is BS. What I received is nowhere even close to what it was supposed to be. For more experienced ebayers, do you think I should accept his terms or should I take it up with ebay?

Deusfaux

unfortunately the status quo is that the buyer takes it up the bum on return shipping charges when the seller has lied or misrepresented their product (or any other dishonest selling).


but then I never accepted that and put up a great big fight each time the situation presented itself.

hope you paid with a credit card and have the power of a chargeback at hand. if not, might just have to accept your loss (of return shipping), as you have no real means of forcing them to refund more than they're offering.

also get in the habit of asking very specific and detailed questions prior to bidding.

putting up a picture of one thing and selling another goes back to the early days of ebay scams/ laziness

mooshoepork

Yes, you will have to pay the cost unless he agrees to refund you. I just had this happen.

The only time you get out of it is if you've bought something that is illegal (like counterfeit USB sticks)

In that case, it's illegal to post them, so you tell ebay that, you get a full refund and they tell you to destroy them.

Sheep

That's just how eBay/PayPal work. You can fight them, but take it from someone who has, you'll lose and probably have no recourse afterwards.

Take what you can get. Price + Shipping seems fine. Not like you have to really nicely pack it up. Just get one of those 5$ prepaid USPS boxes.

onceling

You have to ship it back with confirmation / online tracking. Otherwise the seller can say never received it back and PayPal will side with them.

sirchrissypoo

You will have to pay to have it shipped back to him unless he agrees to pay it for you.

I had a similar experience buying a Dreamcast on eBay. Didn't work when I got it, got a full refund, but I had to pay to have it shipped back.

Sorry, but you will have to front the shipping bill.