Thoughts from other clothing sellers

[acreech41311]

Just wondering if anyone has had ebay force a return on clothing items that don't fit?

I have a buyer who bought an athletic skort size small, yesterday I get a message from her that says "Sorry I am going to need to return this, all my other skorts are size small tall and this one is just too short for me"

My listings and my return policy both state that I don't accept returns for items that don't fit and if you need measurements please ask beforehand.

Before I could respond to her first message she opens a return request and says basically the same thing, "this fits well but it's too short for me I want to return for a full refund"

So I responded through the ebay request, "I'm sorry but per the listing and my return policy I do not accept returns for items that don't fit, only if you receive the wrong item or it is not as described"

She responds back with - "This is bad business, if you don't accept my return I am going to get ebay involved and I am going to slam your ratings!"

Needless to say I'm not refunding her willingly, the only way she is going to get it is if ebay forces it. Just curious if an item not fitting is something that ebay will force? Also since she clearly threatened my ratings in the ebay request if she does leave negative feedback what do you suppose my odds of getting it removed as retaliatory feedback are?

[oompaloompa]

are you a business seller? or personal

[acreech41311]

I guess my account would be considered personal as I don't have a ebay store

[luverlyjuberly]

Was it a BIN? I'm sure you have to accept a return for a BIN.
I'm a business and i have to accept returns and thee buyer gets a full refund including originial P+P.
Don't refund her cost for returning it to you.
I get a fair few returns despite giving plenty of measurements. A lot of people assume because (say) they are a size 10 in River island jeans they think they are a size 10 in all brands of jeans.

[RosieTosie]

That's right business sellers don't have any choice, have to accept returns. Oh and just because you don't have an eBay store does not necessarily mean that your not a business seller op, you can still be either business or private, that is not what affects which type of seller you are.

[oompaloompa]

a business seller account does not mean you need have an ebay store though....

[acreech41311]

I checked and on account type it says individual

[solefoodbk]

Yes I do.

I'm going to keep this short and sweet

Don't sell clothes on eBay and not accept returns if they don't fit

[Gladiator]

Only way around is if the clothing is custom made, which are items I sell sometimes.

[newjerseymax]

The rule is the item must be returned in original condition including tags and packaging. If she removed the tag technically she could lose, hoooooooowever buyer is KING so they could decide against you anyways...

You could get ahead on this and call ebay and say your are being "BULLIED" by a buyer via private email and she also left nasty messages on ebay. If you call them first they often take your side...

[MM78]

And Don't Sell Clothes.

[vogeltron]

Originally Posted by Gladiator

Only way around is if the clothing is custom made, which are items I sell sometimes.

I will say women's clothing is a completely different beast. I deal mostly with men's clothing. Like you I have clear instructions about my items. I also include in big bold red letters hand measurements taken for each pc and basically say depending on the age items can fit different form year to year style to style. Please compare measurements to something you own. Sale of the item is considered final.

I have maybe one or two people who try to lie about the measurements because they didn't read every year. But when you have them there is big bold letters then there is nothing they can say. It sucks and it is time consuming to measure every item but it has saved me so many returns and headaches the last 5 years.

If you are a small seller with an individual account there is no excuse. I get messages all the time will this fit me ex: I am 5'10 and 190 pounds. I simply tell them look at the measurements provided in the listing and compare them to something you own.

And yes sometimes I do get strong armed into accepting a return because a buyer claims it fits differently. It is rare and I would rather cut my losses than risk my account a negative or something like that.

[muzzie]

Buyer always wins any disputes. So that was a mistake of you to escalate it. To fix it, refund buyer via direct PP payment with some extra payment "to buy an icecream", ask him to close the case with the reason "return opened accidentally". ALL other options will kick your status, which is the most expensive thing in your account. Sounds like illogical, but buyer is always right, EVEN if he is not.

[wakitiwa]

Report her asap, no customer should ever make a threat of giving you bad resp

[last3379]

Refund 100%
If not you will wish you did

[Haidukken]

Refund, move on, forget about it and then 3 weeks later the same thing happens again. Rinse and repeat, welcome to eBay.

[solefoodbk]

Everyone please keep in mind if your listing is NOT accepting returns a buyer CANNOT return a item if it doesn't fit correctly. They do NOT win every case, that sentiment is silly.

Now if a buyer messages you saying it doesn't fit thats all you need. All you need is the buyer to admit that and you just say "buyers remorse" and your good to go. You MUST call in if they open a case. I sell clothes and I can assure you I've had enough returns that I know what I'm talking about.

Now like I said before, you deserve EVERY negative if you don't accept the return. I personally feel if you want to sell clothes you accept returns, bottom line. Its just common decency. I think we sometimes forget we sell to honest hard working people and if its used, they're just trying to get by. Why be a a$$ and not accept the return? Clothing is different than any category because it is really something that is hard to judge when buying over the internet.

Measurements alone aren't always everything. I agree with you vogeltron, I do the exact same thing you do. But I know from actually trying on shirts that are a certain measurement and it still fits big for whatever reason sometimes. Clothes are extremely subjective and its IMPOSSIBLE to sell without having returns at some point.

Again....

If you have a listing where you did NOT accept returns and a buyer messages you saying its to small or doesn't fit, tough luck IF you want to be that type of person and not accept the return. Its possible one rep might say the buyer is "right" and if that happens call back and get another rep. I guarantee you that eBay does not allow a buyer to win a case if it "doesn't fit", that's considered buyers remorse.

This is only for eBay, not paypal or chargebacks.

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by muzzie

Sounds like illogical, but buyer is always right, EVEN if he is not.

I win every case that I have a reason to fight for.

I dont mean this in any a bad way but I suggest you work on your communication skills or figuring out how to explain yourself better because I promise you the buyer doesn't win every case. If you think the buyer wins every case, thats why they win every case.

I win cases and get negatives and neutrals removed all the time.

[luverlyjuberly]

Originally Posted by vogeltron

I will say women's clothing is a completely different beast. I deal mostly with men's clothing. Like you I have clear instructions about my items. I also include in big bold red letters hand measurements taken for each pc and basically say depending on the age items can fit different form year to year style to style. Please compare measurements to something you own. Sale of the item is considered final.

I do thee same as you.
But i do have a question. Does your description include the size stated on the label?
I put the label size - say Waist 32 and leg 32 - in my description but then I quote actual hand measured size which may differ for example it could be be waist 30 or 34!
Is this correct way to or do you think it confuses buyers?

[solefoodbk]

Originally Posted by luverlyjuberly

I do thee same as you.
But i do have a question. Does your description include the size stated on the label?
I put the label size - say Waist 32 and leg 32 - in my description but then I quote actual hand measured size which may differ for example it could be be waist 30 or 34!
Is this correct way to or do you think it confuses buyers?

Jeans/pants almost always run different.

Just put in the listing "the sizes are "true" based off measurements, not what the size label indicates"

[Hercules]

What I do is return their money first then I give them my safe return address opposed to my EB/stealth address.
Kill them with kindness with 'thanks so much for buying from us'!!!
We want as a valued return customer!!!
They think you are so very nice/honest that they turn to jello.

[stevebills]

sell one size fits all with no returns