Something critically important that all sellers should know, but most do not: If a buyer pays with PayPal, you MUST accept the item back in return, no questions asked. It does not matter how many times you state in your auction that you do not accept returns, or all sales final, or items as-is or whatever. If the buyers uses PayPal and decides they want to return the item, you have no choice in the matter. They will file a claim and PayPal will instruct them to return the item, getting tracking as proof. As soon as PayPal sees (via the tracking number) that you have received the item, they remove the payment amount from your account. They do not ask you if the item was returned in its original condition, or even if the same item was returned at all. You have no recourse. This just happened to a very good friend of mine. She sold a tiny Barbie spoon and the buyer wrote to say that the item had rust. My friend had lots of pictures of the spoon on the auction and there clearly was no rust or corrosion of any kind. But the buyer got to return the item, no questions asked, and got a full refund. My friend is now stuck with a damaged item and there is nothing she can do about it except file a police report. PayPal will ALWAYS find in favor of the buyer in these cases. And here is the worst part: Because my friend did not have a balance in her PayPal account, PayPal WENT INTO HER PERSONAL CHECKING ACCOUNT AT HER BANK AND TOOK BACK THE MONEY!!! This is slightly terrifying to me. When I called PayPal to ask how in the world I could protect myself, as a seller, from this happening to me, I was told that I could appeal and file a police report.
So sellers beware. You can state NO RETURNS, ALL SALES FINAL, ALL SALES AS-IS, or whatever you want to say in your ebay listing. None of it matters if the buyer uses PayPal. If they file a claim, they will win. Period. End of story.
So sellers beware. You can state NO RETURNS, ALL SALES FINAL, ALL SALES AS-IS, or whatever you want to say in your ebay listing. None of it matters if the buyer uses PayPal. If they file a claim, they will win. Period. End of story.
Guide created: 05/05/08 (updated 11/12/09)


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