Rob & Melissa Stephenson from Flea Market Flipper talk about what to do if you get a large return request on eBay.
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Reseller Hangout Podcast – What To Do If You Get A $1300 Return Request On eBay?
Rob: What's up, guys? On today's episode, what would you do if you got a $1,300 return request off of eBay?
Melissa: It happened to us, and we're gonna dive into what we did to handle it.
Rob: All right guys, so today we are talking about a $1,300 sale that we did on eBay and then got a return request after we sold that item.
Melissa: Yeah. And the, the big higher dollar, higher value items, that's one thing that people are really scared to do because of what do you do in the case of getting a return request? So we're gonna unpack, break it down, what we did and how we handled it.
Rob: So, so the best first thing we're gonna start with, number one is make sure you are under promising and over-delivering on your items.
Now what does that mean? It means that you're showing any imperfections in the pictures you're listing in the description, any imperfections with the item, you're giving the buyer proper expectations of that item. If it is a used item, you're telling them this is a used item, please expect normal wear for the item that it is.
That is really the first step is under promising and over-delivering on the items that you're selling.
Melissa: That's kind of a more of a prevention, like helping you prevent the returns before they even happen because back in the day you used to do that differently and you always sell stuff or you'd want, you wanna market your stuff and you want it to sell, so you're like, oh it's amazing. It's in mint condition. It's, we don't ever use those words. We don't ever use new. We barely, what do we like? Mostly just good.
Rob: Good is really the only thing we do.
Melissa: Don't say yeah, perfect or anything. Stay away from those words because somebody will not think it's in as good a condition as you think it's in.
Rob: Your idea of good, great, mint are definitely gonna be different than your buyer's opinion of that word or a definition of that word. So be careful when you're using those words. I would recommend you do not use them. Like Melissa said, really the only thing we describe is if it's in good working condition.
It was tested and it is in good working condition. That's all that we state on it. But I definitely, even if I can't find scrapes, scratches, or scuffs, I almost put that in almost any of my listings that I do that it's a used item because I want people to have that proper expectation when they get the item.
Melissa: Another thing going into before you even like get a return request. It's a really good idea. We talked about this on just the, I think the last episode that keep the, that money in reserve just in case it happens. It's good to keep that little cushion of money there in case you do get a return request, cuz it might end up being that you have to process a shipping claim or something and you'll get the money back.
But you just need that little padding, that wiggle room. So we talked about that a little more on the other podcast the other day. So we don't need to dive more into that, but that just helps you starting out. So what happens when you open the case, eBay, you open the app and it says, case is open and it's a return.
Rob: And it's a hold on your funds.
What are you gonna do?
Melissa: So you got that $1,300. That was last year.
Rob: That's it. So this was a $1,300 sale that it was an escalator cleaner. Duplex is the name of it. Super expensive machines. This one we sold for $1,300 retail, I think, if I'm not mistaken, between $3,500 and $4,500. Really a nice machine.
But we got this one. Once we shipped it out, the buyer reached out and said, hey, there's a broken piece inside this unit. Right away that threw red flags to me. The biggest thing you wanna do is don't panic. When somebody does something like this, when somebody says they need a return request or they wanna return the item, that's where you have to go into detective mode.
You have to figure out what is this story with this item? Why is somebody trying to return it? And let me see what I can figure out to make sure that I do not have to take a return. So you wanna be very polite and start asking questions to the buyer when this happens.
Melissa: And when you have time to respond to them.
So, As soon as they write you, you don't have to respond to them right away. And it is good to have good communication. We're not saying don't have that, you know, quick communication, but you have a little bit of time to respond so you don't want to panic. That's the biggest thing is most people get flustered and panic and then they might try to go and give the money back right away.
And you definitely don't wanna do that. You wanna figure out what is going on. Because in our instance, most of our things end up being shipping claims and not actual return request cuz we've set up the expectation to the buyer, and they ended up getting damaged in shipping if we do get a return request is what they usually end up being. So.
Rob: And in this case, the guy got it and I asked him right away, Okay, what's going on? And he told me, hey, there's some damage components on the inside of the unit. And that's where I said, okay, please send me pictures, let me know what's going on. And he started sending me pictures of the unit pulled all apart.
Now the crazy thing about this is there, this is a little bit different because this is considered a high value item sold on eBay, goes to a different department. Had this been an item that I think was under a thousand dollars, had it been something cheaper than that, immediately I could have got eBay to close out the case because he pulled the item apart and the pictures that he sent me, he had the thing all in pieces.
And when you buy an item on eBay, you cannot take that item apart. If there's something wrong with it, if it's not working properly for whatever reason, you open a claim and you return it without pulling anything apart. When you start pulling stuff apart, you don't know the buyer or the seller doesn't know if you're putting in bad pieces, if you taking pictures of a different unit.
That's exactly what I told him immediately that I'm so sorry, but it looks like you have pieces off of the unit. You've pulled it apart, you're checking the unit out. I can't issue a return because of that. If you had not done anything, the item didn't work like you thought it did. And you, you wanted a return.
I could have issued a return on this, but since you pulled it apart, I'm unable to issue the refund on that because you have, and eBay calls it, they're altering the item now, since this was over a thousand dollars, $1,300 to their high value department, it goes to a different department and it doesn't work that way with a higher value department.
So they wouldn't close the case out for me immediately.
Melissa: They had to let it open for a certain amount of days or something.
Rob: 30 days, Yeah.
Melissa: They could leave it open.
Rob: Exactly. So they couldn't close out immediate. Like I said, if it was under a thousand dollars, I've had them close that case immediately because of the item has been altered.
It's not the same item that you sent.
Melissa: And you thought it he was a dealer too.
Rob: Yes. That pulled that He had other machines.
Exactly. He was robbing parts, fixing stuff, and doing stuff. I'm almost positive that's what it was because he pulled the whole thing apart and was doing stuff to the unit. So yeah. Right away I told him that I couldn't do the return, and he was very upset about that.
And I also told him, listen, if this was something that had been damaged in shipping, because it was dropped, it was thrown around, it was packaged properly, and I could, in good faith or good conscience open a shipping claim. And I could have got all the money back through shipping because I always pay for shipping on items and I package them.
Melissa: I'm sorry for shipping insurance.
Rob: Yeah, shipping insurance on an item. And I would've been able to get it to go through because it was packaged properly and I know that, but in good conscience I can't do that. Knowing that you took this apart and I don't know the real reason of why you're saying that it is damaged or there was a bad part in it.
That started a whole mess of stuff because the guy was very upset about it. And like I said, I didn't know if he was being honest. I didn't know what exactly was going on, if it was damaged in shipping or if it wasn't, so that actually, like I said, started us down the process of, okay, what's gonna happen from here out?
Melissa: So he ended up, going. He got upset when he went to his credit card after that, well, cause eBay wouldn't, didn't close it out. He could have closed it and he didn't.
Rob: So eBay did close it out in my favor because I got a couple reps who would close it out. This is all new because of eBay's managed payments.
Melissa: And then they would open it back up.
Rob: And then they opened it back up and as soon as he got the email that it got closed out, he got so upset from eBay. He stepped out of eBay and went to his credit card and opened a claim with his credit card.
Melissa: A fraudulent claim.
Rob: Exactly.
Melissa: So except for because it was over $750 he signed for the item. Exactly. So since he signed for the item, it went out in our favor.
Rob: And well, eBay has the proof of him communicating with me before he bought the item, communicating with me after he bought the item and he signed for the physical item. So, and right away, eBay said, as soon as he stepped out of eBay, which he didn't know.
Because of, I got somebody to close the case because of the old way that eBay would've done it. And I've had this done on like a $2,600 item before. Before managed payments took over. They would close the case out.
Melissa: They're still figuring stuff out with payments.
Rob: They would still close the case out if an item was altered, and I've had that close before on a higher value one.
But this one, since managed payments took over, they have different departments. They do stuff a lot, a lot differently now. So eBay said, as soon as, well, they closed it in my favor, and then I called back to find out when my funds were gonna get released and the high value department reopened it and the guy didn't know that they reopened the thing because they were gonna let it time lapse out.
As soon as he saw the email stating that we closed it in the buyers or the seller's favor, he went to his credit card and opened a case with a credit card.
Melissa: That drives me nuts when people try to lie and do fraudulent charges.
Rob: Exactly.
Melissa: So like that, that's not okay. No, don't, Yeah, that's not okay. That's lying.
Rob: It is lying. So when he did that, eBay automatically closed down the case because as soon as you go outside of eBay to your credit card, eBay closes down the case immediately. And eBay said they would back me because all I needed was the proof that the item was delivered to him because he was claiming that it was a fraudulent charge and he didn't get the item to his credit card.
As soon as I, all I had to show was I shipped the item. It got delivered to his address, and he signed for it. He signed for it. That was all eBay needed for me, and I got it in my favor. They put the funds back into my account, it wasn't immediately I had to call and get a supervisor. They don't ever wanna do anything immediately, but I had to call and get, hold on, like two supervisors who finally released it into my favor. I am back into my account and got it all taken care of. So, all this being said is these situations are totally different almost every time we go through them. There are different circumstances that you don't know what's gonna happen, so you have to walk these individually cases to each one.
You don't wanna rush in, like Melissa said. Yeah, I think they give you three days initially from a case that's opened for a return request. I think they give you three days to respond back. So, immediately catch your composure. Don't, you know, don't give them a refund.
Melissa: And you were really nice to the guy, like you're messaging back and forth until he started getting, you know, rude. I mean, you still were nice though. You just messaged nice you know, you're just cordial and you're trying to figure out, you're trying to solve the problem. You want the buyer to be happy. That's the biggest thing is you want the buyer to be happy. But when they start doing stuff, like pulling your item apart.
Yeah. Like you can't really, there's not much.
Rob: You don't know. You don't know the truth
Melissa: eBay doesn't know either.
Rob: No.
Melissa: Like, so they're trying to be the middle man, the mediator. Of both sides. They want a good transaction for the buyer. They want a good transaction for the seller. So, so they're kind of in the middle, so they're just trying to figure out what's going on.
So that is a $1,300, you know, is it worth the hassle? I would say so. It's worth the calling back and worth the, you know, for a $20 or $50 item. Probably not, but it, it would also release the funds a lot faster, so, yeah. Because it was the higher value item. But yeah, that was the, we had two large, larger return requests last year, and we ended up winning both of them.
Rob: We did.
Melissa: The second one was
Rob: both, like I said, different circumstances, completely different. So we can, you don't know exactly what happened. So, on the one that we're talking about, the escalator cleaner, the biggest thing was when he originally reached out, and this is what I would urge you guys to do when they originally reach out.
Be that detective and respond back to them very polite. Very nice. Do not snap on 'em. Do not jump on 'em. Just be a detective and reach out and say, I'm so sorry you're dealing with this unfortunate event. Let me figure out how I can help you best. Would you please explain more what's going on?
Would you please send me any pictures to prove you know what, what you're saying the damage is, and then let them respond back to you and you can figure out exactly where to proceed from there. That's the first thing that you do on every single return request that you get. The rest of it, it goes on.
What happens.
Melissa: What they say.
Rob: Each. Each, exactly. Each situation's gonna be different.
Melissa: And we didn't want to get on here to scare you guys from that. We wanna show you that you can figure it out and it may happen to you, and that's okay. You can figure it out. Yeah because they, it, it's a business. You know, returns happen and stuff happens.
Get damaged in shipping it might happen. The other one was the tortilla clean, or maker. Maker.
Rob: It was a flat grill for making tortillas. And yeah, we had that one sold it for $1,100, so it, it hit over that thousand dollars mark. So it did go to the high value department. The gentleman who got that told me that it didn't work.
Melissa: And you in charge, you had yeah.
Rob: The problem with that was the day that I shipped it because I put my stuff in storage. It sits in storage for sometimes before I ship it, I actually take a video that's watermarked on my video. Stamped the time and the date that I do it. I took a video of it actually wired up working properly with the temperature going up.
So there was absolutely nothing wrong with the item when I shipped out. Now when he wrote back and said, the item doesn't work, I wanna return, immediately I knew that the item worked and it was either going to be that the shipping company broke it, they did something. So I told him, please send me pictures, let me know what's going on with it.
He wrote back, I think it was like a week later. Yeah. And said, I got it fixed. It costs me $1,400 to fix. So I want a $700 return. Now, granted, remember I sold it for $1,100. He wanted $700 back because he said he spent $1,400 on top of the $1,100 that he spent from me to get it fixed. So immediately I said unfortunately, and this goes back to somebody taking it apart, doing something to it, fixing it without my approval, which you never approved somebody to do anything to it. I issued him the refund originally, and I didn't hear back from him for a week, but I told him, if it's not working, it is a shipping, and I was gonna have the shipping company pick it up.
I said it, it absolutely was working. I have proof that it was working the day I shipped it, so it was a shipping damage and I will get my money back from the shipper. Well he, like I said, didn't respond back for seven days.
Melissa: Didn't you get sent him the label or something?
Rob: I did, yeah. I created the label and had not he didn't hear your back from him for seven days and he said he fixed it. He wanted the item and he wanted to keep the item, and he wanted a $700 return. And immediately I said, yeah, unfortunately you altered the item. You did something to it. You had somebody fix it, you ordered parts.
Whatever you did, he wrote it in a, a response and he had it fixed, which I don't know the truth about it. You never know what's going on.
Melissa: You thought he blew it up? You thought he plugged it into wrong.
Rob: I did wrong, Yeah. Or something. Yeah. And that's what I, I, that was my, my thought process. But I didn't, I couldn't prove anything.
So as soon as he wrote back that he had it fixed, all I had to do is call eBay and say, listen, he's already altered the item. I do not wanna take the item back no matter what. Now I wanna close out the case and have you guys close it in my favor. He's trying to strong arm me and trying to get me to,
Melissa: it falls under their extortion policy like he was trying to make you give him a partial refund
And he, the way he worded it was very. Yeah, exactly. I can't remember what he said, but I don't know if he threatened negative feedback or what it was, but he was threatened, like he was, Yeah. Not very nice.
Rob: Just the whole way that he did it was the wrong way to do it. So immediately I got a supervisor on the phone with eBay and they closed the account out, put the fund back in my account.
Melissa: Cause you also had given him the label to return it. Exactly. And you did all the right steps in the whole process. Exactly. And then so they're like, yeah, it's not, they'll close it out. So, , so those were the two.
Rob: Over a thousand dollars. Yeah. That we had, we only had three return requests last year. One of 'em, we was our fault.
The, it was a scale, a baby scale that, this is just a quick story. It was a baby scale. We sold it like $150. It would not switch from kilograms to pounds. And the buyer was upset about it. I saw it in the picture when I sold it. That it had pounds inside the lcd. So I figured it could be programmed or switched.
Then it couldn't, and then they couldn't do it. So I took the, the return back because it was my fault. And then I resold it as a kilogram scale and it resold for the same amount of money. So it wasn't a big deal. Still made our money on that. Not a huge ordeal. But these two that were large, very large, sales, we did not have to give return because of the whole process we just played out for you.
Melissa: Yeah. So the biggest takeaway, I would say is don't panic. You can figure it out. You know, you know, if it is damaged in shipping, then you go through the whole process of, doing a shipping claim. So you just put in the paperwork. Yep. And then you get your money back. The buyer gets their money. I still wouldn't give, we wouldn't give the money back right away.
Rob: Not until you get the item back.
Melissa: When you get the item back, don't issue the refund yet. Until, until you get the item back. Yeah. And then you can issue the refund and then you'll get your money from the shipping company. So we have had to do those before. I don't even know if we had, any of those last year or not.
But they do, you know, it happens every once in a while. Yeah. So, but those were our, our ones for last year. I don't know if we had any this year so far.
Rob: No. I don't think we've had any return yet. I don't think we have. So the big thing guys, if you are under promising and overdelivering on your items, the only reason you will have a return request is gonna be shipping damage, shipping claim that.
It really will go and you will get your money back. The buyer will get their money back because it was damaged in shipping.
Melissa: But you do have to package it properly, absolutely. To get your money back. So.
Rob: So you're paying for shipping, you're making sure that it is packaged properly to the, the carrier's guidelines. And then, yeah, like I said, it's just a little bit more red tape, but you don't have to worry about it. You're still getting your money back, The buyer's getting their money back and typically you're getting the item back, that you can resell as parts or do anything else with it, because the carrier usually doesn't wanna mess with.
Once you get it back from the whole process. So you can still even make more money on top of it, but there is a little bit of red tape, that you have to yeah, you have to go through to fulfill that whole, that whole, that whole shipping claim that you have to, you have to fill out.
Melissa: Yeah. So don't be scared of getting returns. If they do happen, it's okay. You can figure it out. You got this.
Rob: You guys rock. Go check out the next video.