Buyer claiming item defective - eBay

[Tacitus]

Hi everyone

At the start of November I sold a second hand camera on eBay, in full working order to the best of my knowledge.

The buyer has made a return request claiming the camera wasn't used until Christmas (given as a gift) and that it doesn't work.

I would prefer not to refund or accept the return as I don't believe I sent a broken item (he could have damaged it in the last month and a half), and he really ought to have checked it when he received it. Will eBay always side with the buyer or am I fine to reject the return request after a certain period of time?

Any advice appreciated!

Thanks all

Chris

 

[Tacitus]

Thanks everyone for your input

Getting some conflicting views though - is the 30 day period applicable even if they claim the item is broken?

I had set it as no returns accepted. Apparently that doesn't mean much though...

 

[Tacitus]

True, though are those statements above because you also didn't check it before sending it?

I think you're covered though, obvs there are some limits here and you can't just have some unlimited liability whereby at any point in time a chargeback can be made, ebay does set this to 30 days under the money back guarantee for "not as described" items (which includes broken items).

I guess the main question then is how sure are you really that it was working/what is the buyer complaining about specifically? If it was a Christmas present then that's quite a plausible reason for them not finding out until now and if they did want to scam you then surely they'd have done so in the 30 day period. I wouldn't personally want to have sent someone a faulty camera and you accepting the return just puts you in the same position you were before.

It's a camera I used to use without any issues, but not for a while now. I charged it up and checked it still had basic functionality, but I didn't do a thorough test of it.

I don't want to be selling broken goods, but at the same time, the passage of time makes me a bit suspicious and I don't want to be the one taking the hit if he's damaged it.

 

[Tacitus]

I wouldn't either I agreed with the OP that the buyer should have checked, I'm just of the opinion that (in general) sellers ought to check too. Seems in this case he has done some basic checks before selling so I'd err toward rejecting the return.



So what's his actual claim then? Like is he claiming something specific is faulty that you hadn't checked? Or has he just given a vague "doesn't work" claim?

Surely if he's claiming that basic functionality doesn't work and you know you checked that before sending then there isn't much uncertainty here, you *know* that when you press the button to take a picture on that thing the shutter functions etc..

However, if he was more specific and was like "camera will take pictures but the flash is broken" or "... autofocus doesn't focus I can only use it in manual" and you hadn't checked that then maybe he is being genuine.

He does have a couple of specific issues to do with the date not saving when turning it off/on and autofocus issues when zoomed (though could equally be a lens issue).

How much feedback did the buyer have? I’ve just sold a camera today coincidentally and now I’m worried!

He has around 1,300 so not exactly using a throw away account.

 

[Tacitus]

I don't suppose you checked the auto focus during your testing?

I'm not even going to ask about the date\time saving when turned off as I don't think its something anyone would test

I did check the autofocus, but only at the lense's widest setting. I didn't think to check it zoomed. No idea about the date/time. I didn't notice it not being set when I had a quick muck about with it pre-sale, but can't say for sure.

I want to be reasonable but a fair bit of time has passed. He was also a difficult buyer in the first place, asked a load of questions after buying it, then wanted to cancel the order when I didn't reply for a whole 3 hours...

 

[Tacitus]

There is only so much you can do.

the 30 days have passed and you will never know what has happened between him getting it and him reporting the issues.

If you buy anything off ebay you would test it as soon as its arrived so sort out any issues (If any) even more so if its a Christmas present as he has claimed it was as you would not want to give it over broken.

Has he said what he wants to do? return it? full refund, partial refund etc or has he opened a case regarding it?

He wants to return.

Was it PayPal used? eBay use eBay payments now. Sure the buyer could go to their bank but eBay should still cover you.

30 days is long enough for the buyer to know if the item received was received faulty.

I'm not sure I can see how he paid, can I?

 

[Tacitus]

Thanks all. I've declined the return and hope that's the end of that.

On the tax point - I'm a chartered tax advisor.

If you're buying stuff to re-sell at a profit and are doing with any degree of regularity you're trading and should be assessed to income tax on your net profit. You're not subject to tax on the odd thing you sell here and there, especially if just getting rid of old stuff you bought for personal use.

Depending on what you're selling, and for how much, you might instead have a capital gain, but it doesn't apply to any 'machinery' ie watches, and only applies if the proceeds exceed £6k. Cars are specifically exempt from CGT.

 

[Tacitus]

Keep us up to date plz

I got a message from the buyer expressing his disappointment, but otherwise nothing has come of it.