Quote:
Originally Posted by Exhibitman
I differ with most on the partial refund issue. If it is a buyer's remorse issue, that's one thing, but sometimes there is a good basis for the request. I can recall at least two occasions where I received a card that was improperly packed and ended up slightly damaged--a crease or a ding [and always when the seller has charged me for shipping]. The conundrum arises when there is a rare item for which I have been waiting and for which I paid top dollar. I'm not going to send it back for minor damage that kills the technical grade but I am definitely going to reach out to the seller and make it known that he messed up and I am disappointed. If that makes me a "refund fisher" so be it, but my view is that if a seller messes up and he and the buyer can reach a reasonable accommodation that leaves both sides satisfied, it is better than having a disappointed buyer, especially when ebay so closely ties performance rankings to discounts and other benefits, or an unwound transaction that disappoints the buyer. If it makes you feel better as a seller to know that you will never be victimized by a 'refund fisher' than it does to issue a partial refund for a genuine issue you caused, that's entirely your decision. Me, I'd rather reach an accommodation that all parties can accept and not waste my time relisting, reselling and reshipping an item. Also, the vast majority of people I've dealt with are honest and of good intent, and I prefer to assume that to be the case when I enter into a deal. Plus, my goal is to have a satisfied customer who will order from me again, not someone who had a bad experience and won't look at my next listings. If all that takes is a discount when I am at fault, I'm doing it.
One other point is that for a buyer it is often quite costly to send back an item, especially if it is large or heavy, and some of the derided 'fishers' may have been legitimate people who did not want to incur the cost. I had to return a large item that arrived in a Beckett slab that had been damaged in transit and it cost me 25% of the item price to send it back.
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I should make it clear that I will refund if I feel it is my fault...I have sometimes refunded the full price and let the buyer keep the item. I take lots of photos, or scans in the case of baseball cards, and pack extremely well. The refund fishers are almost always easy to spot by checking the feedback they give to others.
And if someone is just blatantly dishonest I don't care for their future business. I had a lady buy a Nebraska pinback button from me which she said was in horrible condition, water damaged, et cetera. I have tons of experience with pinbacks, there was no water damage, and it was in excellent shape. Did she want to return it for a refund? No, she wanted half her money back. On a whim I checked the feedback she gives to others, it was almost all negative positives and neutrals.
Overall though my experience as a seller is a good one...I sell a ton of items on ebay and it's way less than 1% of buyers that give me a headache. I also believe that the pendulum is swinging back towards protecting the sellers a bit better than they had been.