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Buyer returns damaged goods
 

hi folks
I have been reading this forum since a long time but didn't have to post my own question until now. it seems here you can find an answer to almost any ebay / paypal question. great forum!

anyway, my situation is this.I have sold 3x electronic items worth almost $500 to the same buyer. and shipped via Fedex to another Asian country. I am also from Asia BTW.

these were extremely delicate devices and user needs an specific power supply to power them. I only sold the devices and not the power supply. because power supplies are really heavy and it is cheaper to buy them in buyers country or make their own rather than shipping them. so I clearly mentioned this in the listing.

after receiving the items, buyer sent few messages stating they dont work. and I helped him as best as I could over ebay messages. so after two days buyer sent a message saying they need a refund as he couldn't get them to work.

at this point as my only option, I agree. and asked him to not open any case just send them to me and I will refund their payment. what the buyer did was he went ahead and opened a case in paypal. saying they received the items already damaged. so I agree to the refund upon return.

today I got these. I just checked and non of these work. after inspecting I noticed some chips in the circuit are blown. means he somehow managed to blow them by not having the correct voltage. kind of angry and sad. because these sales don't have much profit. and I am out of over $400.

paypal is holding my funds. and the tracking buyer provided doesn't require or provides a signature confirmation. nor any delivery confirmation I think. it just shows as it arrived in my country. he used the cheapest shipping option available.

any advice would help. I am going to start 2018 with a huge lose. thanks guys.

Re: Buyer returns damaged goods
 

This is one of those risks that you get when doing business.

I want to prepare you that the chances are low you'll win this claim. But you can call paypal and eBay and see if they can help in some way.

Re: Buyer returns damaged goods
 

how long do I have before paypal look at the tracking and pay the buyer back ? can buyer escalate the case ?

Re: Buyer returns damaged goods
 

Unfortunately here isn't much you can do about it.
Its one of those ebay loopholes that always favors the buyer.
Sorry for the financial loss but dont dwell on it. Move on and try to make up for it in the future.

Re: Buyer returns damaged goods
 

It would have been cheaper to provide the power supplies.

It would have been cheapest to sell something that wasn't this finicky.

I'm so sorry this happened to you, but you've been given a lot of valuable lessons here, whether or not you learn them is up to you.

Better luck next year.

Re: Buyer returns damaged goods
 

If the tracking does not say that its delivered, u can just tell paypal that you never received the return. and they will decide in you favor.

Re: Buyer returns damaged goods
 

that's what I thought. but if I didn't do anything, what would happen? how long until paypal steps in ?

Re: Buyer returns damaged goods
 

I think it's likely if you don't step in and complain they'll assume the matter is resolved and never do anything at all for you.

Please update us on how this works out for you.