This buyer must take me for an idiot.

[VG_Maniac]

So this guy buys a lot of 4 issues of the Nintendo Fun Club newsletter from me on Ebay. After he gets them, he emails me and tells me he is upset at the condition of one of them because there are a couple of rips on the cover with some clear tape over them (which I thought was clearly visible in the picture I had of them in the auction). I tell him that I have another copy of that same issue that's in better condition, and offer to send it to him. He declines and says he wants a full refund for all 4 magazines. I tell him to send the magazines back to me, and I will give him the refund as soon as I get them back. He replies and tells me that he will not send them back until AFTER I give the refund! So, I end up escalating the PayPal dispute that HE started to a claim...to make sure that PayPal forces him to ship the magazines back and provide a tracking number if he expects a full refund. As far as I'm concerned, he wants his money back and he wants to keep the magazines at the same time. You'd have to be a complete idiot to give someone a full refund before you got the item back. I'm currently waiting to hear what his response is to the escalated claim.

I'm sure he'll get mad that I'm making him ship the magazine back first, so he'll probably retaliate with negative feedback...adding to my "negative feedback I don't really deserve" count.

[Baloo]

What a fool, he can't just send out the magazines first? Sounds like a scammer to me. But of course, eBay always caters to the buyer.

[megasdkirby]

Yeah, the guy is a fucking scammer.

Would love to know his user ID so everyone can block him from their listings!

[The 1 2 P]

What did he file the claim under? Item not as described?

[ryborg]

stuff

Yeah, tough situation. You did nothing wrong and you're going to get bit in the ass for it, either by giving out a needless refund and/or receiving an unwarranted neg. Asking for a refund BEFORE sending the item back is so patently stupid, even ebay/Paypal themselves agrees with it.

At least he's not asking for a full refund AND the item. Those buyers are my favorite.

[slapdash]

I've actually asked a seller for a refund before I shipped the item back. In my case, it was because the item was NOT as described. My thinking was, I was honest -- I bid, I paid, I waited -- but the seller was not, so it was up to HIM to prove that he wasn't a sham by making it right before I came through. In this case, it definitely seems like a dishonest buyer, but there are cases where asking for the refund FIRST isn't unreasonable, in my opinion.

[VG_Maniac]

I've actually asked a seller for a refund before I shipped the item back. In my case, it was because the item was NOT as described. My thinking was, I was honest -- I bid, I paid, I waited -- but the seller was not, so it was up to HIM to prove that he wasn't a sham by making it right before I came through. In this case, it definitely seems like a dishonest buyer, but there are cases where asking for the refund FIRST isn't unreasonable, in my opinion.

The problem is, if you get a refund first...than you have the power to keep the item and not send it back. So there's the risk to the seller that the buyer will get both the refund and the item...leaving the seller with nothing. That's why a seller would have to be crazy to give a refund out before he got the item back (unless he just didn't care about getting the item back at all). If you return the item, and provide PayPal with a tracking number...than you are protected just in case the seller tries to pull something, and the seller is protected too.