Ebay sale

[Doug Stormforce]

OK, Im after your opinions.

I sold a second hand GPS on ebay to a guy in Belgium.

We tested the set on a 12V supply before we advertised it and after he had paid boxed it up with the antenna, bracket etc and posted it of. He has now come back to me saying it does not work. He said that he has tested the lead and it is ok, but the set will not power up. He sais it not an extaernal fuse problem.

We sold the set for £123 and the postage was about £14. Neither side has left feedback yet.

I'm now unsure whether to tell him to post it back and refund him or stick to my guns on the basis that it worked before it left here.

I dont want to rip anyone of but equaly don't want to suffer because he has chucked a large voltage through it and damaged it or similar.

What are your thoughts, anyone been in the same situation (on either side).

[PeterM]

I've been in a similar situation as this - after lots of soul searching I just accepted this sometimes happens. I'd get him to post if back ( insured - at his cost) . When and only when it arrives refund him the purchase price ( not any of the postage).

Possibly he has cooked it, possibly it got knocked around too much in transit , possibly he is just being a dunce about setting it up !

When anything like this happens to me I try & just accept it - I find its not worth the grief & hassle of trying to argue the point - but am I right in thinking its not possible to leave bad feedback on ebay anymore ?

Best of luck - let us know how you get on ... and what you choose to do

[JSP]

You can't leave negative feedback on buyers but sellers can still get it.

Myself I'd stick to your guns. If you know it worked before sending then as soon as Mr postman took it it became the buyers responsibility.

[Tim M]

If it worked before you sent it and it doesn't work now I'd claim on delivery insurance (assuming you had it). If not I guess its just bad luck. I've been on both sides before. I sold a little 2.4m RIB once to a bloke who arranged for a courier to collect it on a pallet. When it got to the other end the tube was damaged. I know it left me without the damage. The bloke had arranged his own courier so he took it up with them. I guess if I had arranged the courier it would have been down to me to sort it.

Likewise I bought a hub from someone once. It turned up not working. Sent the guy a message and he gave me a full refund - must have been damaged in the post.

[willk]

If you ever intend to sell on eBay again, then I'd suggest you bite the bullet and take it back, let him pay the postage etc. He'll neg you silly if you don't and frankly, I don't think he's worth the hassle. The joys of Sales, eh? I see a lot of this at work and considering what we pay for publicity - a bit of bad PR doesn't make financial sense.

or

You could give gArfiE a call... , Your Belgian, is he In Bruges?

[Bern Hanreck]

"Myself I'd stick to your guns. If you know it worked before sending then as soon as Mr postman took it it became the buyers responsibility. "- JSP

EBay's own guidance to Business Users has this info.......

4) Do I have to replace or refund an item that gets lost or damaged in the post?

When a business sells an item to a consumer, the default position is that any loss or damage to the item that occurs in transit is the responsibility of the business. This means that you are likely to be required to replace items lost or damaged in the post.

Most eBay business sellers choose to replace lost and damaged items as a matter of course, using insured postage services where cost effective. However, if you'd like to know the precise legal position on loss and damage in transit as it relates to your business, we recommend you seek advice from a lawyer, Consumer Direct or similar professional.

see...
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/business.html

For all I know Doug may have sold the item privately .

[doggypaddle]

The chances of the unit just failing are fairly slim, you hit the nail on the head with the comments about dunce, wrong voltage reverse polarity etc.
I would say the only 100% fair way is to refund him the postage costs, and get him to send the unit back to you for testing.
If you find it works get him to either pay the return postage, or refund him and re sell it, or if its failed open it up and see why. incorrect polarity or overvoltage damage is usually fairly obvious, ie burst electrylytic caps, burnt out tracks, burnt out resistors etc. Usually a well made piece of kit will have a few zenner diodes and resistors as sacrificial lambs at the input so fixing is really straight forward, maybe a 10p resistor and 10 minutes to solder it in.
If i found this to be the problem i think i would repair it and send it back to hom FOC and have the satisfaction of letting him know that i knew he was trying it on.
either way i wouldnt send any money other than postage until i got the unit back, maybe its fine and he is trying to get the penny and the bun?

[Doug Stormforce]

Thanks for all your thoughts. As said above its not worth the hassle.

I have told him to return the goods for repair. If not feasable to repair then I will refund.

I have made it clear that it worked when it left here and that if I find it has been damaged by him I will not refund.

I'm making a pretty big comprimise on the goods so his postage back to me is down to him.

I think that is the best route, a kind of variation on doggypaddle's idea.

[JSP]

Originally Posted by Bern Hanreck

"Myself I'd stick to your guns. If you know it worked before sending then as soon as Mr postman took it it became the buyers responsibility. "- JSP

EBay's own guidance to Business Users has this info.......

4) Do I have to replace or refund an item that gets lost or damaged in the post?

When a business sells an item to a consumer, the default position is that any loss or damage to the item that occurs in transit is the responsibility of the business. This means that you are likely to be required to replace items lost or damaged in the post.

Most eBay business sellers choose to replace lost and damaged items as a matter of course, using insured postage services where cost effective. However, if you'd like to know the precise legal position on loss and damage in transit as it relates to your business, we recommend you seek advice from a lawyer, Consumer Direct or similar professional.

see...
http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/business.html

For all I know Doug may have sold the item privately .

I'm taking it Doug did sell it privately and he doesn't run a Ebay based shop. So IMO the above doesn't count.
I feel for the buyer, I really do as it's happened to me. But if you buy with out checking the item first then you have to take that chance.

[Doug Stormforce]

It was private

[codprawn]

They are totally ruining Ebay. What they seem to have forgotten is that most "innocent" buyers also happen to be sellers. Also they hold onto your money for 21 days unless you get good feedback - many don't bother so they have you money to play with for 3 weeks.

The worst thing is that sellers can't leave bad feedback for buyers. I never used to have trouble but recently I have had about 10 buyers who clicked on buy it now but never paid me. Oh we made a mistake they all say - absolute crap. After a bit of hassle you can get your fees refunded but I wonder how many other people they do it to. Under the original system I could have left them negative feedback and other people wouldn't deal with them.

If you paid for postal insurance then just claim on that.

He may have broken it in all innocence. My mate just blew up his mio pda - it was a great bit of kit - cost £250. When I borrowed his car it fried my USB charger - something drastically wrong with the 12v socket - maybe wrong polarity?

[Tim M]

Originally Posted by codprawn

They are totally ruining Ebay. What they seem to have forgotten is that most "innocent" buyers also happen to be sellers. Also they hold onto your money for 21 days unless you get good feedback - many don't bother so they have you money to play with for 3 weeks.

How do you mean? If someone pays me by Paypal I can transfer the money and its in my bank account 5 days later (although I still think 5 days is too long)

The worst thing is that sellers can't leave bad feedback for buyers. I never used to have trouble but recently I have had about 10 buyers who clicked on buy it now but never paid me. Oh we made a mistake they all say - absolute crap. After a bit of hassle you can get your fees refunded but I wonder how many other people they do it to. Under the original system I could have left them negative feedback and other people wouldn't deal with them.

Totally agree - it's happened to me a lot more since they changed the system. I've had it all, "my kid bid on it for me" etc. The best was a foreign chap (from Kent) who bought a van from me "I can't come the weather is too bad". Its a pain for vehicles and boats and the listing fee is £7!

[PeterR]

Originally Posted by codprawn

They are totally ruining Ebay. What they seem to have forgotten is that most "innocent" buyers also happen to be sellers. Also they hold onto your money for 21 days unless you get good feedback - many don't bother so they have you money to play with for 3 weeks.

The worst thing is that sellers can't leave bad feedback for buyers. I never used to have trouble but recently I have had about 10 buyers who clicked on buy it now but never paid me. Oh we made a mistake they all say - absolute crap. After a bit of hassle you can get your fees refunded but I wonder how many other people they do it to. Under the original system I could have left them negative feedback and other people wouldn't deal with them.

If you paid for postal insurance then just claim on that.

He may have broken it in all innocence. My mate just blew up his mio pda - it was a great bit of kit - cost £250. When I borrowed his car it fried my USB charger - something drastically wrong with the 12v socket - maybe wrong polarity?

The only way as a seller to leave bad feedback is how you word your comments.instead of say good feller.Say hes two faced lier,Get my drift

[codprawn]

Originally Posted by Tim M

How do you mean? If someone pays me by Paypal I can transfer the money and its in my bank account 5 days later (although I still think 5 days is too long)

Totally agree - it's happened to me a lot more since they changed the system. I've had it all, "my kid bid on it for me" etc. The best was a foreign chap (from Kent) who bought a van from me "I can't come the weather is too bad". Its a pain for vehicles and boats and the listing fee is £7!

It is happen a lot now - and seemingly at random - I can sell a marine gearbox to Estonia for £500 and get paid immediately - then sell something for £25 and it's pending.

Recently I looked at my PayPal account and I had £125 cleared and £450 pending. IF they leave feedback the money will clear straight away but if not it takes 21 days.

I have 100% positive feedback and have had my account for over 4 years.

[BruceB]

I have been buying and selling on ebay for years with little hassle and very very few issues either way till recently.
I have now been forced to use paypal and it sucks. I sold a new cylinder head today for £300 and had to refund the money as I couldn't take it out of paypal. I need to set up a direct debit to paypal to get it and there is no way on earth I am setting this up to a company you can't contact plus why should I, they already have the bank account details!
I have around +800 feedback and have had enough, the latest changes mean I think it is time to stop using it and look for an alternative, even if its back to Exchange and Mart.

The only real hassle I have ever had was selling something secondhand for a couple of hundred quid which the guy knackered the third time he used it (he actually told me this in his compliant) and wanted a full refund including postage. After telling him to get lost and being threatened a bit he went away, eventually! I mean imagine breaking something, admitting it and then expecting all your money back including postage costs!

[Nos4r2]

Originally Posted by PeterR

The only way as a seller to leave bad feedback is how you word your comments.instead of say good feller.Say hes two faced lier,Get my drift

Ebay will remove feedback like that on request of the recipient.

[fred bolton]

Put yourself in his position if you had received goods that didn't work you would be hopping mad and probably not pay anything, from his point of view you could be a blagger (I'm sure you are not) Therefore get him to return it and refund him in full for the amount involved £120/£140 the neg feed back isn't worth it then you can at least find out if he is lying and if so leave him neg feedback you will probably waste more time on this T***er than re selling it

[bazza]

Originally Posted by fred bolton

if so leave him neg feedback

You cannot leave buyers negative feedback anymore.

[fred bolton]

Originally Posted by bazza

You cannot leave buyers negative feedback anymore.

Hmmmmmmmmm that's a pity

[codprawn]

Yes it is because all of a sudden I get people buying stuff off me - then not bothering to pay - which stops other people buying until I relist!!! It never used to happen - now the customers can do as they please!!!