Ebay Buyer wants refund- should I give it?

larryallen73

I see lots of insightful answers to questions so thought I would ask one on a recent Ebay auction where I sold an item. I should start by saying I am not a dealer. I am just a small collector who sells some duplicate PSA cards. I sold a '68 Bench, PSA 5 for $58 on Ebay a couple weeks ago. The buyer now wants a refund as he says it's lucky to be a 5. Would you give the refund? If so would you make him pay the Ebay fees/postage/etc...? In the ad I provided a photo of both front and back with supersize option and I gave my opinion that I thought it would be a psa 7. This is truely my opinion and obviously my opinion doesn't matter because PSA said it was a 5. I am not a dealer and not a very large collector so am wrong a lot but I thought the Bench looked nice. Anyway here is a link to my ad http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/ebayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=4123530864Text
If I screwed up the link, it's Ebay item 4123530864
Am curious what you all would do? Refund? Politely decline? Otherwise? Thanks in advance for your help.

rw2win

I would stay away from saying the card should have been graded higher and any other opinions. It wasn't and it isn't. That being said, the buyer knew what he was buying, scans included. I would not refund.

pandrews

no way.. dont refund him..

Knlsportsandmore

On the rare occasion I sell graded cards I do not offer refunds unless there is a major problem with the card that I misrepresented. Condition is hard to misrepresent on a card that is graded by PSA or BGS for the most part. Now BCCG is another story looking at a BCCG 10 right now with a solid white corner where it should be blue

WinPitcher

Your ebay page states it sold for 67.00 not 58.00,

on further examination of your ebay page i see the guy put in a snipe and feel that he is having buyers remorse. NO REFUNDS!!

coachh

I would not offer a refund. You had good scans and it was his decision to bid on it. Tell him sorry.

MorrellMan

First off, a deal is a deal. Looks like the buyer knew exactly he was buying and the ball is in your court. You're under no obligation to undo the deal. Those eBay sellers who offer refunds usually state "no refunds" on graded cards. That being said, I agree that you shouldn't upsell an encapsulated card - it is what it is what it is. Saying it should have been something else denigrates the veracity of the grading service and, thus, the only selling point you have in your description.

That also being said, selling on eBay (IMHO) should not be a take-the-money-and-run operation. I know it is, I accept that and take responsibility for my own buying impulses, but we are still all humans and need to try to interact in a "human" fashion. Consider this sale: was your buyer's attitude reasonable in his refund request or did he slander your name? Check his feedback; does he seem to have a history of reneging? What do YOU want from eBay? Are you trying to build a respectable following? If so, you really have to do something to resolve this issue.

Note that I am in no way suggesting you simply refund his money and get the card back, but if you do, I would suggest refunding only the sale price of the card, minus your costs and make this very clear to your buyer before he returns the card.

All I am saying is talk to the guy. Work it out. Don't cave in, just work it out or walk away.

packCollector

no way, on a psa 5 , you are buying a mid grade card. It can be midgrade for many reasons, I really have never heard of anyone debating that a 5 from the 60's was overgraded. sounds like buyers remorse.

I would however avoid stating it looks like a 7. even though you said that he knew he was buying a 5 , not a 7.

fsjeter

This buyer is just out of luck in my opinion. I would not give a refund because you did not misrepresent the card in any way. Maybe he/she thought they would be able to send it to SGC or BVG for a crossover grade. In the end, it was advertised as a PSA 5 and he bid on it knowing that. I hope you haven't left feedback for the user yet as he/she may give you a negative feedback. Best of luck to you!

nearmint

My policy is to take returns, on graded cards and ungraded ones, no questions asked. The grading companies make mistakes now and then--same as I do--and I don't want the customer to keep something he isn't happy with. I think the policy helps sales, because if a customer knows he can return something, he is more likely to buy it. In several years I have had only three returns that I can remember. Two of those were graded cards, and they were both returned by the same person, a good customer.

If I thought someone were abusing my policy, say looking for 9's in 8 holders, I would finish whatever business I had with him and stop dealing with him. If it were an ebay customer, I would take the card back, refund his money, and add him to my blocked bidders list. For me it's better to write off a little lost time or money just to avoid the bellyache.

Mike

Allen

No refund for him, if he wants a refund tell him to take it up with PSA. I hate when buyers do that type of thing. If you don't give them exactly what they want the will neg. feedback you and that is not fair. ebay really need to do something about the way the feedback system works, one guy bid and never paid, I sent him 3 reminders and he leaves me a negative saying I never emailed him, within a week he has 10 negatives and is booted but my feedback is ruined because of it.

MorrellMan

Allen - not ruined; ya got a purple heart!

packCollector

I would like to add that I agree with nearmint and usually issue refunds no questions asked if I had too. i have never had a case where someone asked for a refund. if I think someone is just playing games then i will think hard about it. the thing about this case is if someone says "it's lucky to have gotten a 5" on a 60's card he is obviously confused having buyers remorse. it's a tough call but I would think real hard before giving a refund on this type of transaction. he doesn't deserve it but you won't lose anyway since you will receive the card back and sell it again for roughly the same amount. you need to ask if the aggrevation is worth it?

nearmint

packCollector hit it, I think: the guy is most likely wrong in one way or another here, and you have to decide whether it's worth the aggravation to argue with him. Personally, if someone's being unreasonable over something small, I just give him his way and try never to deal with him again.

I find that there's a difference between what's fair and what's good business--or what's good for my health. If I have to change my policies because of one bad customer, all the other customers suffer, and so does my business. If I get upset over every little injustice, my stomach churns and my attitude toward the whole world gets defensive. Better to let the jerks be jerks and simply avoid them.

Mike

Stone193

Bench card:
Larry
First, this is your second post - Welcome
You have received some great input from some very experienced ebay sellers. I don't sell on ebay. But, I have my own business since 1999. 1. I don't see where you have an 'all sales final' on graded cards. 2. As stated, you 'condemned' your own product by openly questioning PSA in the description. Thus, you left yourself vulnerable to a hit. As many have astutely expressed, you can go either way and be justified. I have found, in my dealing with people, that a policy of 'I will Bend but not Break' works for me. So, if, in your opinion, refunding will make you 'bend', then return, if you feel taken advantage of ('break') don't refund it. I truly believe, a Fair return policy, even if you lose a few, will build a good customer base. And speak volumns to your reputation.
Mike



<< <i>I find that there's a difference between what's fair and what's good business--or what's good for my health. If I have to change my policies because of one bad customer, all the other customers suffer, and so does my business. If I get upset over every little injustice, my stomach churns and my attitude toward the whole world gets defensive. Better to let the jerks be jerks and simply avoid them. >>


Mike
That was VERY WELL PUT!
Mike

larryallen73

I really appreciate all the answers! Very insightful as I expected! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!

Spigrimace

He surely wouldn't win in small claims court. Caveat emptor.

ydsotter

If it were me, I would refund simply because you sort of oversold the card... stating that it had "7" potential... and I would also refund the shipping.
but that's just me...
however,
I do not believe that you are obligated-

acowa

It all depends on how important the $60 is to you. If the buyer is willing to pay to ship the card insured back to you, I would refund his money less all shipping costs. I would also request EBAY to refund my FV fees and alert them to this buyer behavior. I believe that you could relist and get within 10% plus or minus what your auction ended at.

If you decide to take a hardline stance, be prepared to get negged over it. Here's a link to a great site that sorts EBAY feedback down to negative and neutral that you can use It appears that this buyer has been hard to please in the past.

Good luck. You've certainly done nothing wrong and you can justify whichever route that you choose.


Regards,



Alan

ctsoxfan

I definitely would not provide a refund on a graded card, especially if you provided a scan, and it was clearly stated in the auction - PSA 5. However, stating that "this should be a 7" was not wise on your part, as you gave the guy an out. He can use that as his complaint, and even though it is just your opinion, you might have raised his expectations. If you care about the customer service aspect, and are worried about the neg you might get from him, then a refund might be necessary (just block him from future auctions, and that card should resell no problem for you).

bballjunkie

I do not think that it had anything to do with the fact that "5" is an unlucky number. If you look in his feedback and the transactions that occured after he won your auction, you will see that he was able to purchase a PSA 7 NQ of the exact card you sold him for $97. He is trying to go back on your transaction just because he got a better deal after the fact. In my opinion, NO REFUND!