I sold a pair of men's shoes. There was a picture and I described them using the same color the manufacturer used. Now the buyer (who I think just has buyer's remorse) is claiming the shoes aren't brown, they're burgundy (DH snickered, they're clearly NOT burgundy). I usually don't take returns, but it's true I don't state any return policy. When the guy wrote me, I said in the interest of making him happy -- because the shoes went pretty high -- I would refund his purchase price if he'd return the shoes at his expense. Now he wants me to refund the purchase price plus half his original shipping cost. I don't want to do that, but he bought two items from me and it's risking two negs if I refuse, not just one (I have a 100% rating.) Should I suck it up and refund the shipping? It's an extra 10.00 . . .

It probably won't matter, but I'm going to block this guy the minute I finish dealing with him. He's got a 100% rating as well, but with ebay's new system, I'm the one that's screwed, not him, since I can't do anything to him.

Thanks.

It is up to you. Can you live with the negs? If so, stick to your guns if you are sure he is wrong. You can offer to refund the full amount if the shoes returned to you are in fact not brown as stated in the auction.

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A deal is not always a deal - Some just make you pay in the end.

Trust me, the shoes are brown, he's full of you-know-what when he claims they're burgundy! That's a good idea, though, to make that offer.

Here's what I plan to send him today:

What do you think? In the back of my head is the idea that if you buy from Lands' End or something and don't like the item, you get a refund of your purchase price, but not your shipping fees! Obviously, this guy can slam me and I'm helpless because of the new feedback policies.

Thanks for the advice!

My experience with mail order companies is that they do tend to refund the shipping (both ways) if there was a problem with representation - the color of the item was different than pictured, etc. This one is tougher, though, because unlike in a print catalog, you can't control how someone else's monitor projects the image.

Your letter sounds good. The only other thing you might do prior to sending it is contacting the manufacturer of the shoe, and if you know the specific style, ask what colors it came in. You might find that they only made that shoe in black and brown, in which case you can forward correspondence with them to your unhappy buyer as evidence that what he is asserting can't possibly be true.

Good luck!

I would start putting a general return policy in all of my listings in case something like this happens again. I haven't personally sold anything on ebay for a long time (since 1999 or so), but when I did, I had a standard, but detailed, set of text that I would put at the bottom of each auction explaining payment, shipping, and refunds. It was very helpful. The shipping section clearly said that I didn't take anything but paypal, and one woman wanted to send me a money order. She was out of luck, but only because I had that claim in the listing.


Yes, that is true for most stores, and it should be true for you too, especially since you are not a store, but a person...

That is a very good idea, and definitely something worth looking into. Even if his monitor showed brown shoes, and then he thinks he received burgundy ones, they can't possibly be burgundy if burgundy shoes were never made....

Good luck, and let us know what happened.

Now the little jerk is claiming he couldn't believe how cheap the shoes were when he got them. HELLO??? They were from Lands' End and anyone that knows anything about Lands' End knows their stuff is not cheap. Ugh, I hate this. I wish I'd just told him I don't do returns and left it.

Thanks for the advice.

I have "all sales final" in my listings. I will refund if I make some kind of error, but not for buyers remorse.

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My email:

debwillia@gmail.com

Believe me, I've learned my lesson on this one! It's going to be all sales final from now on. This guy is just making me nuts.

If you don't list a return policy, you don't have one. Anything you do is then out of the kindness of your heart. In this case, my heart would not be so kind. Give him his partial refund and be prepared for a neg. You can respond and indicate that the buyer just didn't like the item.

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A deal is not always a deal - Some just make you pay in the end.

I thought that now with ebay, a seller has to aceept returns if the person paid via paypal. SNAD disputes generally are always favored to the buyer and the result it paypal telling the buyer to ship the shoes back to the seller and they are refunded their full amount paid, including hte original shipping

I also read somewhere on ebay, that starting soon EVER seller will have to accept returns, just like a store! "All Sales Final" will not be allowed and will be a violation of policy if listed in the auctions!

argh! If I was Wal Mart, I'd have no reason to use ebay! But even Wal Mart limits their returns

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Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be!

I would offer to meet then half way on the shipping, esp. because you dont have a return policy listed. You will avoid the negative feed back issue and otherwise you might lose out with paypal and be stuck losing all and getting neg. feedback(just my suggestion). Hope all works out.