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Well I am not sure where to start but this isn’t your average Ebay case and it has upset me so I feel like ranting about it. In this case I was the seller selling a young rainbow dragon that I had sent to a friend in the U.S. to do a small repair on. I have another of the same dragon here so once she fixed it I decided to leave it with her and list it on ebay to sell to try and raise some money to help my mom and I pay the bills. In the listing I said it would be double boxed but did not mention what kind of box it would be shipped in as I did not think it mattered. Well the buyer messaged me asking if it came with the original box and I assumed she was asking if it would be double boxed with a young dragon or small box so I said it would come with its own smaller box to be double boxed and that was the end of the conversation. She bought it and I told my friend to ship it. I was trying to remember what box I shipped it to her in because it was several months ago that she got it but I always try and ship my pieces with their original or fitted boxes or whatever box they were shipped to me in so I assumed my friend had the right box to send it in. Well because so much time had passed, she could not find a young dragon box to ship it in so sent it in another small box making sure it was double boxed well assuming there would be no issue.
Well the buyer received it and was angry and sent me a message saying it was not sent in the original box so she wanted to return it for a refund. I asked her what the box looked like that it was sent it because I explained to her that some of my young and fledgling dragons were actually shipped to me in smaller brown boxes from Windstone, not always the white one. So it was a small brown box but because it was not a white one like she wanted, she told me she did not want the dragon anymore. I asked why the box was so important as I get pieces in in different or random boxes all the time and she said she displayed her dragons with the boxes which she did not inform me of before she bought my dragon. She also did not say she expected a white box to begin with. I looked through my boxes and told her I could send her a white young dragon box if she really wanted it although it just wouldn’t say the name of the dragon on it. She refused the box and demanded a refund. I explained that in my auctions I stated I could not accept refunds as my mom is on disability and I am unemployed at the moment and we already used the money for bills and had nothing left in my account to refund the purchase with. I did say though that I had talked with another friend just the day before mentioning they were looking for the same dragon so I said if I could sell it to him instead, I could refund her the money and have her ship it to him as he is also in the U.S.
Well she ignored my message and opened a not as described case after that saying that the dragon was not as described because it didn’t come with the original box. Well I responded that once again there was nothing in my auction stating it would come with the original box and she never clarified to me what she expected before she paid and before it was shipped. Luckily though my other friend decided he wanted the dragon so sent me a payment for it so that I would have enough to refund it and it would go to him instead. So I said out of good will I was willing to refund her if she shipped it to the return address I gave her and as soon as it arrived I would refund the money. I thought she would be happy with that but she wasn’t. She then stated she should not have to pay the return shipping and would wait until next week to ship it so that ebay would send her a return shipping label. I had not heard of them doing this before but told her that the longer she waited, the more complicated this would get because now I have a friend waiting for her to ship it to him and if he gets mad and wants a refund if she doesn’t not ship it, I will have to refund him and will not be able to refund her. She said she would ship it next Tues, when she gets the label and that was the end of it I thought.
Well then I notice on my feedback on ebay she left me a negative feedback saying the item was not as described as it didn’t come with the original box and that I was nasty about the return. I went out of my way to help her and come up with a solution when in my opinion the item was exactly as described and I was not even required to offer a return. She had the nerve to ruin my perfect feedback with a negative comment even before she has shipped it back or before I have had the chance to refund it. So I did a little research and discovered that she had just won another auction with the same dragon right after she asked me for a refund and the other dragon just happens to be new in the box so I realized right away she must have seen that auction after getting mine in and decided she wanted a new one instead so mine was clearly a case of buyer’s remorse. I also discovered she had left several other negative feedbacks for others on ebay in the last couple of months also saying things like the items weren’t as described and one seller responded that the condition of his that she had a problem with was exactly as described in the auction. So now I am feeling like she is just trying to be malicious to me and other sellers and that she has no case against me and should not have been able to leave me negative feedback. I don’t think it is fair. I told her I was not the one who shipped the dragon and I apologized for the miscommunication about the box and even offered to send her a box and she refused so I really don’t think her problem is even about the box. If there was no mention of what box it came in in the listing how can she even have a not as described case against me? Is there anything I can do now? I feel stuck because I want her to ship the dragon back to my friend as he wants it but at the same time I really feel sick about refunding someone that just left me negative feedback and called me nasty and I want the feedback removed before I refund it if anyone knows if that is possible?
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You could follow through with the dispute if you are willing to go that route. Chances are good that if the buyer is only complaining about the box color, ebay is not going to refund them and go after you for the money.
You can also dispute the negative feedback – in some cases I have been contacted by ebay with a request by the seller to change the feedback. However, as the buyer you do have the choice in that case to not change the negative feedback. I’ve never been forced to change feedback, but I’ve never been involved in a case where it was clear I was a buyer asking for more than their due.
The issue with your friend now having paid for the same item only complicates matters. I think if I were you, I would contact him and let him know what is going on. Give him the option to pull out of the deal, or wait around and see if this other buyer gets her wits about her finally. Having that money tied up in an item that you don’t have and don’t yet know the fate of though.. that’s tough.
The whole thing seems pretty convoluted and I’m sorry you’re getting hammered by someone who seems like they are just out to “get” people, which is pretty low of them.
At the end of the day, I believe that ebay will side with you if you can prove that the item was received as described in the ad. If you had nothing in there about the box, it should not be held against you. Sadly, ebay very often sides with buyers when there is a discrepancy that isn’t entirely clear, so there’s always the chance that you’ll just be out of luck – I really hope it’s not the case for you though. Good luck, Kim!!
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Please visit My Webpage to see my art and PYO's that I've done in the past!Thanks Hannah. It just doesn’t make sense to me because if I were to order a dragon from Windstone for example and then complain they shipped it in a brown box instead of the white one and that I want a refund, I think everyone would laugh. I have a couple small brown boxes here that say Violet Flame Fledgling and Copper Patina Young Dragon and I didn’t care that they weren’t the same as my other white boxes. It’s like she has box racism or something. I have never heard of people displaying their boxes either. I think the real issue was probably that the dragon had been repaired and she decided she wanted the new dragon listed just after mine but of course she couldn’t claim mine to be not as described that way because it clearly said in the listing it had been repaired so she didn’t mention that. I am going to let my other friend know that he may have to wait a couple days for her to ship it but I am also shipping him a dragon from Canada which takes longer to get there so if the other one is held up a bit they may end up arriving at the same time. The only reason I offered it to my friend to buy is because I had no money left in paypal to refund her and I assumed she would ship it right back right away if she wanted her refund right away. I guess she got mad when I reminded her the auction said I didn’t accept returns so she had to find a way around that saying it wasn’t as described so I would refund it. Man, what a nightmare to deal with. I did ask her to remove the feedback before I refund it or maybe I can ask ebay about it and see what they suggest. Sorry for all the drama about it but I thought it was good enough to share. I am still baffled that someone would value a box more than the dragon itself. I mean it was double boxed securely and arrived in one piece with no problems so isn’t that the only reason someone would worry about a box it was shipped in?
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I have no real advice, having never sold anything on Ebay, but I thought I would chime in just to show some solidarity and say that this really does suck. 🙁 I hope that you manage to get this resolved in your favor (and I think I’d try following Hannah’s suggestions; they seem pretty sound).
You know, when things like this happen, you can call ebay and have the feedback she left removed pending an ebay investigation. If you point out she won the same item only moment after and it was buyers remorse that fueled her actions more so then any actual dissatisfation, they will remove the negative from your account.
As far as the rest of the debockle, what’s done and done. Be thankful it’s over with, but I would call ebay for sure and get that removed. Retalitory feedback is not allowed and you tried to work with her despite your no refund policy.
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Dreamscape, Orion, Poison Dart, Fireberry, Spangler + Tigerberry DragonsI think you should keep the case open and push her back.If you did not mention it comes with the original Windstone factory box in your ad,then I believe you are in the right and ebay will see that.Her point was “not as described”right?.. and she says it is because of the box not the item itself,then your ad will speak for itself and eBay’s decision should be easy.Hang in there and as DF mentioned,call ebay.Getting on the phone goes a long way.Hope it works out,try not to worry so and good luck Kim.
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Male Hearth....one day🤞Dream on.Sounds like it was ‘Buyers Remorse’ and that she is trying to weasel out of a contract sale.
Another thing you could do is if you still have your emails back and forth from her, and if you can ‘print’ or ‘save’ them as PDF files or jpgs, you should include them in your communications with eBay. They would help to confirm your side of the story that you were trying to work with her and she was being unreasonable. Also, a copy of your auction page, which clearly does not mention a specific ‘box’ the dragon was being shipped in, may be added ammunition.The correspondence emails could also be included as part of your email string, if you go that route with your eBay communications – just cut/paste them in.
Good Luck and I hope these suggestions also help.
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*** Come visit me on deviantArt at http://ela-hara.deviantart.comI don’t have any helpful input, other than people like that really make me mad…!
BUT I will add that I have heard positive things about calling eBay. Electronically you can get lost in the shuffle, but talking to a real person can work wonders!
I hate to say it, but I think that even in a buyer’s remorse type case eBay will side with the buyer. Since she’s obviously played the game before, you might want to report her to eBay. If you go to your Sold Items page, click on the drop-down menu on the right of the auction. Report a Buyer is usually one of the last items on the list, and you just follow the prompts from there.
Is it OK to ask what the buyer’s eBay ID was?
I don’t think it’s ok to post the eBay ID here. You might be able to get that information privately, but I don’t think Windstone wants to host information publicly that could be harmful to anyone, justified or not.
I do agree that eBay is apt to support the buyer over the seller, but in this case, if the request for an “original” box was made after the buyer became the winning bidder, it’s unfair to claim that the item was not as described. That being said, I would recommend in the future simply telling a buyer that the item will be packed appropriately, but an “original” box cannot be guaranteed.
I can e-mail the ID if anyone wants to check it out. It looks like she buys a lot of items off ebay so she is definitely thinking she knows what she can and can’t get away with on there. It just surprises me though that someone with so much feedback who realizes how important it is would be so quick to leave a negative feedback for someone like me with only a hundred or so as opposed to a thousand or so that she has. She isn’t a seller though as all her feedback is from buying items so maybe she doesn’t understand what it’s like to be a seller. If I had sent her the dragon I would have sent it in an original white box but I said on the auction it was being shipped from my friend in the U.S. and the buyer should have told me what box she expected before doing a buy it now as I didn’t even have time to ask my friend what box she had for it before it was paid for. Well she said she was waiting til Tues to get a shipping label from ebay but as of now she has not messaged again so at this point I don’t know if she got it or is shipping the dragon back or not. I think I will call ebay tomorrow and ask them if they know if she is sending it or what the deal is.
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If the buyer escalates it to an eBay claim, and eBay finds in the buyer’s favor (which I think they usually do), eBay will put a temporary hold on the funds in your PayPal account and request that the buyer ship it to you. The buyer has to provide a tracking number. If the tracking does not show the item as delivered within a month from the auction end, eBay will close the case and release the funds in your PayPal account.
To my knowledge, eBay does not provide shipping labels for buyers to return items. The buyer has to ship and provide the tracking number to eBay.
Sometimes it is better to let it escalate to a claim because if you issue a refund right away and the buyer never ships (or sends you a fake tracking number), you’re out of luck. But I know your situation is different since you have another buyer already.
I hope it all works out for you Kim!
Oh! And I hate that you can’t leave negative feedback for buyers any more. I think it’s ridiculous that buyers can leave negatives for sellers, but you can’t give a buyer a negative when they really deserve one.
Yeah that bugs me too on the feedback as I think buyers can be just as difficult in some cases like this. In the case, I already responded that I agreed to refund it once it had been shipped back and there was a tracking number. It instructed me to refund it within 3 days of receiving the item back (my friend receiving it in this case). The weird thing is though that is hasn’t been escalated but they did put a freeze on that amount of funds in my account which the other buyer sent. I may look into escalating it tomorrow if she doesn’t message back but we will see what ebay thinks. I saw that you could ask for the the buyer to revise or remove the feedback if you have worked out your issue so I may request that still before refunding so I have some leeway.
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I believe a seller can put a follow up comment on the Buyer’s feedback – at least I believe they used to be able to. After this is done, you might want to do that.
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