Selling on eBay

[flip_flop]

I recently bought a brand new without tags item of clothing from a private eBay seller, but when it was received it came up small and therefore I re-listed it.

The item sold, but I have just received a message from the buyer advising that he also re-listed the item because it came up small, but he has had to give a full refund to his buyer because the item is fake.

Any idea what we do here?

I'm happy to give a refund, subject to the return of the item and some sort of proof the item is fake. The impression I get from his email is that he has provided a refund without the return of the item.

I was frustrated that the item came up small, which Mrs Flop and I put down to the vagaries of sizing generally with clothes, because it was so nice - also, we have quite a few bits of this particular brand, and it certainly didn't look fake.

Do we contact eBay and take a 'steer' from them, or should I simply refund the money without any proof it is fake and without the return of the item?

Thanks

[ojread2]

So your buyer re listed and sold it on?
What do you do? nothing UNLESS, your buyer has re-listed it, sold it and had it returned for a refund in less than the 45 days from his payment date to you.

If the above is correct, then he could open a dispute with eBay. They will not ask him to prove it is fake, but they may ask you to prove it is not

If this were me, I would not accept a return if it was outside the 45 day time period let your buyer sort it out with his buyer.

Never, ever refund without the return of the item, ever
And no, you need not do anything with regard to contacting eBay. At the moment this item has nothing to do with you

[flip_flop]

Thanks for the information.

It was within 45 days.

So am I right in thinking that we would need to prove it isn't fake (which we can't) but if the item is not returned, we don't have to refund?

[ojread2]

Yes, you will need to prove it's not fake

BUT if he opens his dispute in PP (and I personally would make him open a dispute) then he will need to prove it's authenticity

Yes, he must return the item for a full refund

Sometimes, but not often, eBay will offer no fault refunds for the buyer which means they won't have to return the item, but that is pretty unusual

[ojread2]

Sorry, "Yes, you will need to prove it's not fake" is not true, usually.

I should have said, 'If you can prove it's not fake, by way of a receipt or other form of authenticity' enter this information into the dispute

[flip_flop]

Thanks for the information.

[smurfchops]

How can you be sure he did re sell it, he might have kept it and want to get his money back ... look on his feedback and see if his buyer has given him any feedback. That way you can tell if he did actually sell it.

[wildwood]

It sounds a bit fishy to me. Never refunds until you have the item back.

[ojread2]

It is irrelevant whether or not he did resell it really
If it's within the 45 day time scale eBay/Paypal give you on top of your consumer rights, then he will just open a dispute to get a refund after returning the item

[dotty.]

i wanted to put a nike top on ebay the other week and loads of warnings came up about fake brands and the legal implications and you had to put the garment number in to be able to sell it and cos it was written so tiny on the label and i couldn't read it i didn't bother. did this not happen with this branded item for you?

[EDDIE51]

The buyer MUST return it for a refund , he / she has admitted that they recieved it and resold it. Possibly your buyer just gave a refund without getting it back , but that is not your problem. Even eBay will tell the buyer that the item has to be returned for a refund. Do not refund untill it is returned. The 'fake' bit does not come into it the buyer could just say it was too small.