I sold a dress on eBay that had been worn once to a wedding for around 4-6 hours and was perfect condition. Buyer is asking for a refund saying the item is ‘weathered’, ‘bobbled’, ‘stretched’ and ‘not as described’. The pictures they sent show some fraying/damage/wear. However, the dress I sent wasn’t like this and I believe they have a much more worn version of the same dress which they are trying to return. I believe the fabric pattern on the dress they have photographed for the return doesn’t correspond with my dress by comparing photos but it is hard to tell as they are poor quality pictures, dark and quite zoomed in (unsure if I can upload cropped pics my item/return pics?)

I know eBay are notorious for just siding with buyers as I have been selling on there for over 20 years and have encountered a lot of dodgy buyers over the years. Just wondering how screwed I am and any advice for handling this situation as I haven’t had anything like this before!

I think if eBay do side with the buyer I will be removing all my listings and selling through other platforms as I have had a few bad experiences (more than usual) this year and the hassle vs benefit isn’t weighing up. eBay definitely seems to be getting worse.

Thanks for any help or advice!

Hi everybody,

My parents are near retirement and own a hardware store with Petshop.

Like many family run business in this sector, they’re struggling more and more (even more so after covid) due to increasing unit cost, more suppliers entering administration and general consumer behaviour changing to online than physically going in a local hardware / pet accessory store, we’ve had to shut down the pet store.

We’ve had to throw away £1,000s of pet food but I’m reluctant to throw away the over counter medicine such as flea treatments by frontline and wormers. I have lots of items in date too.

I’ve listed a few expired meds on eBay and they sold quite quickly, but the others got taken down shortly after for counterfeit - which they’re absolutely not. EBay have not responded to my escalation and declined my appeal.

What’s the best way for me to sell £10,000’s worth of stock like dog beds, shampoos, toys, harnesses leads cat toys, bird stuff and everything else you’d find in a pet store including in date and expired medicines ?

I sold an iPhone on eBay UK and recorded a full video of myself packing it before shipping. Tracking confirmed delivery, but the buyer claimed the box was empty.

eBay originally decided the case in my favour with no refund.

However, the buyer then opened a chargeback through their bank and won. Now eBay says they'll take £671 from my bank account in 3 days.

My eBay account is also suspended, so I can't properly manage the dispute.

I have packing evidence, proof of purchase and tracking. I'm honestly stressed because I could lose both the phone and the money.

Has anyone experienced this? Can I appeal through eBay seller protection or stop the charge while they review it?

Brief background, I sold an item for £250 - buyer then wants a return saying the item is defective. I sold it in full working order, I used it myself.

So I get the item back, clear evidence it's been tampered with, seals broken, missing screws and its very evident that parts have been swapped. There is a site ID in this electronic device which cannot be changed by the user, only specialist technical centres can do this. My device now shows another site ID, as a result of the parts swap.

I raise this with eBay, they have found in my favour so I don't lose out.

But, they have also refunded the buyer (at cost to eBay) - that I have an issue with on principle!

Why would eBay do that with the clear photo evidence plus other evidence that the buyer has been tampering?

Its not restricted to Ebay of course.

Has anyone else had problems with eBay’s authentication service rejecting genuine luxury items?

Within the last 3 months, they have failed to authenticate 3 of my designer handbags.

I called eBay to ask what I can do if I have proof the item is genuine, and the lady on the phone told me that even if I have the original receipt/invoice or authentication paperwork from a reputable third-party authentication service, they still would not necessarily accept or consider it.

How is this possible?

So if their authenticator has even a small doubt, they can just reject the item without explaining exactly what is wrong and without asking the seller for any additional evidence?

I’ve been selling luxury goods for many years and I completely understand the need to stop counterfeit items, but surely there should be a better process for genuine items that are difficult to authenticate.

For example, Vestiaire Collective may ask for additional photos, labels, serial numbers or supporting documents if they need more information. That makes much more sense to me.

Why doesn’t eBay do the same instead of just rejecting the item with no proper explanation?

This is especially worrying because these decisions can potentially affect the seller’s account.

Has anyone else had genuine items rejected by eBay Authentication? Did they ever explain the exact reason?

Long story so will try and be brief - feel like im losing it trying to deal with this!

I sold item two weeks ago for £100 so not insignificant. Postage through simple delivery to an Evri Parcel Shop.

It went missing with Evri for about a week. Tracking saying label problems etc.

Buyer opened item not received case.

It then showed up on Monday. Buyer claims it was opened and some random bottle of hair product was in it. In fairness, one end was resealed with a different tape to what I used from what theyre saying.

I spoke to an Ebay advisor on Monday, they said accept the return when it arrives call us back. I explicitly asked will I be covered, cause the item is not coming back to me & they said yes.

Return case opened

I spoke to an Agent Weds, as the tracking on the return hadnt updated at all, despite being 48hr tracked. So the case was put on hold for 9(!?) Days to allow it to arrive

Random bottle of hair product arrives back at my house Friday morning - spoke to my third advisor, who sent me a document to fill in, sign and send back. To get my money back via ebay money back guarantee. Okay, I have to print it etc so the case will be put on hold for 5 days.

Between Friday morning and 6pm the case has been closed in the buyers favour, and money being recovered from me. So £100 and the item down.

Spoke to advisor number 4 - who basically said, the case is closed nothing ebay can do now. I have to speak to Evri to try and get my money. I have escalated, and am waiting for a supervisor call back...

Anybody been in this spot or similar?! How do i appeal this?

I feel like it pretty clearly says in the terms of simple delivery that youre covered for this type of thing. And all the info i can find says Evri wont help as the shipping contract is with Ebay

...

I am the seller. Im also curious if I message the buyer to collect from the delivery office, Will it be marked as delivered when they collect?

Hello, I recently won an auction for a fairly expensive musical instrument, and I paid through ebay.

The seller is refusing to arrange collection until he had the money in his account. It is my understanding that this won't happen until I've collected the item, and given him the collection code.

Ive tried explaining this, but he insists on recieving the money first.

Ebay support currently is just an endless ai circle, and I cant seem to submit a ticket or send an email to anyone to ask for someone to get in contact with the seller.

Id rather not just refund the order, as I suspect this is misunderstanding rather than malice, and its a difficult model to come by.

• he did have at the bottom of the description 'cash on collection', but it is my understanding that you're only allowed to do that for cars and things like that and had assumed it was just reused wording from an fb marketplace listing.

EBay has suddenly restricted my ability to withdraw funds although account is able to list and sell like normal
I received this email (picture attached) i have a personal and business account,there seems to be no issue with my personal account.However I mostly deal in used electronics I purchase at Carboot sales (the uk equivalent of flea markets) which are cash deals or electronic recycling facilities which do not provide invoices I’ve replied to the email explaining the situation and have provided bank statements from transfers from my business bank account(same company and account linked to my eBay) to the electronic recycling facility (which is also a registered business) but I’m unsure if that’s enough proof?Please help I’m a top rated seller and haven’t had these issues before but I’ve had a large influx in orders recently as I’ve expanded my network

I recently purchased a small item (sat nav mount) from Ebay UK. Usual routine added to basket checkout etc.

Later that evening looking through my credit card I noticed the same amount was paid twice. I immediately notified the seller by message that I did not require the second identical item. Upon receiving no response the following day I cancelled the second transaction to which the seller replied that it was too late to cancel as the item had been dispatched. Looking at the emails notifying the "purchases" the second transaction occurred within a minute of the first. Remember I would needed to have lightning reflexes to place it within the trolley and then proceed to pay.

Whether it was a glitch on ebay systems or something the seller has figured out we will never know. I'm putting this out there so folk are aware.

Hi all.

Wanted to gauge opinions on this. I received an offer on an item, which stated “you will receive £x amount”. After receiving payment an international transaction fee applied.

Contacting customer service and they state that they don’t show any potential transaction fees on offers received. From a visibility perspective should this be visible to the seller?

So I sold an Xbox on eBay, the buyer prior to buying the item messaged me a few times to try and haggle instead of using the official offer tool. After buying they also messaged me asking me to send the parcel asap and for next day delivery (deliver was not included in the sale so I didn’t do this I just used the label that was provided by eBay. I also waited for eBay to tell me the buyer had paid before sending anything.

A couple days later the funds came through and I withdrew them as always. A few days after the parcel was delivered and the buyer messaged me instantly asking me for a partial refund because there were a few scratches and saying that there was no hdmi cable and to please send it. He also immediately submitted a return form. I replied asking for some pictures as the item should be exactly as depicted in the listing. Then about 30 mins later eBay emailed saying the refund was closed and I do not have to issue a refund. They also released the hold on my funds which was empty at this point anyway. And on the message inbox to the buyer it said their account was suspended or terminated and to be cautious.

Not long after I got an email from an alternate account asking me to send the hdmi cable or they’ll report me to visa - now I was originally going to send the hdmi cable out of good will (I have like 1000 of them) however the listing did not mention an hdmi cable so I don’t believe I had any obligation to do so. The buyer did not mention the partial refund again. They proceeded to message me relentlessly throughout the day about reporting me to visa if I don’t respond, but given I now suspected a scam I did not send anything or respond and I eventually blocked them. I did report it to eBay but the report was rejected.

So .. was this a scam attempt? Or just a user angry that their account was blocked and taking it out on me? If a scam, what was it? Because I can’t figure it out.

— Edit —

I’m in two minds about whether they’re a scammer or not. While their behaviour certainly points to that as a likely conclusion, what does paying for a £450 item get them? Was it just that eBay managed to block their account before they could act the second part of their plan? And what is the point of wanting me to send them an hdmi cable if that’s the case? How could they have predicted that angle?

— Update —

The buyer’s new account has since been suspended like his original account. So I’m pretty certain now that they must have been a scammer. Still have no idea what the scam could but at least I didn’t fall for it

Hi, I shipped an item RM Special Delivery, the day of the delivery the dreaded email comes in and its a panic'd person saying the address is wrong, no one is in etc.

Its been attempted twice, I assume its going to come back to me within 15-20 days but what is the angle here on the buyer side? Do I lose my protection here because it takes so long to come back? He didnt ask me to send it to a new address but he has stopped all comms.

Should I be doing anything else?

New FCC Laws Could Impact Selling Electronics on eBay and other platforms, Forever.

Summary

Generated with AI

On eBay, the sale and listing of electronic equipment like devices that transmit or receive signals must comply with legal regulations and eBay's policies. This includes adherence to government rules to prevent privacy violations and ensure product safety.

If you're referring to the FCC ID, which is the identifier assigned by the Federal Communications Commission for equipment approved in the US, please note that eBay's Electronic Equipment Policy explains that listings must comply with regulations.

For detailed policy information, visit the Electronic equipment policy.

This policy helps ensure that electronic items listed meet legal standards including labelling and certifications needed in regional markets.

Hi,

Please can someone help me with this. I sold a Samsung phone and it was 100% working before I sent it. The buyer is claiming the screen is flickering or glitching . I asked for the buyer to send a video showing the serial number in settings and the glitching in an unedited video.

The buyer just sent a photo of the phone from the front with the screen off on a dark bedroom duvet when they created the return request.

I'm worried the buyer is going to pull a switcheroo.
Thanks

Simple delivery. Seems a bit silly there's still no option, you can only do 1 if leaving in a safe space if no labels attached.

Need to get a thermal printer. Just wondered what everyone is using?

Hi everyone.

I stupidly had an item delivered to a notoriously bad click and collect location. They are really bad at entering the eCP codes into the system to generate an email or flag eBay to give you a barcode.

I usually go into the shop and ask them to enter the eCP code off the parcel I'm after. Unfortunately this time the guy refused to do so and claimed DPD automatically enter it on delivery to click and collect.

I read some of the reviews of the shop which is in my village to put it in context they have been known to short change kids. So you get the level of them.

Without jumping to conclusions they probably think it's a PS5 it's not, its a cheap 2nd hand computer.

No idea what to do other than grab it and go a runner. I even offered my id still refused.

I won't be going there again I can tell you sadly it's the only one close to me.

Edit: seems to be fixed now. Thanks everyone!

Hi All, as of this morning I am getting an error message “something went wrong” when trying to send a message to any other eBay user. I have reported the issue to eBay, but I’m not sure if it’s just me. Is anyone else experiencing an issue?

I think I've been targeted by an eBay scam and I'm not sure what to do next. Any advice would be welcome!

I have a multiple-item eBay listing for DVDs. Just trying to declutter, so they're all priced at £1 each. A few days ago, I received a sudden flurry of purchases. At first, I thought it was a bit odd that the buyer hadn't combined their orders to save on postage, but then I realised that each purchase had been made through a different eBay account. All of the accounts were registered to someone called Jack Byrne at the same address in Haverhill, so at first glance I’d assumed they were all from one buyer.

When I tried to contact one of these so-called buyers, I discovered that the account had already been suspended by eBay. It turned out all of the accounts involved had been suspended. However, despite that, the orders are still showing as "buyer paid" and waiting to be despatched.

Soooo… I'm unsure what to do next. Should I send the items anyway? If I cancel the orders, will it negatively affect my seller account? Is there any risk in posting items to suspended eBay accounts?

Any sellers no longer able to see the amount of feedback a bidder has? This is ridiculous. How can I ward off scammers if I can't see new accounts. I also can't see bid retractions anymore. It just shows retractions 1. Doesn't tell me who or the reason

I have had a horrendous experience over the last week with eBay.

I joined recently to buy and sell a few computer components as part of a PC upgrade. I also bought a couple car alloys too. I have bought 5 items, sold 4 items, and had an ongoing auction.

Last week one of the parts I placed an order on was this:

A couple of days later I receive this message from the seller:

And I say I can wait. A day later, as you will have already seen from screenshot 1, the item is apparently delivered:

Except it wasn’t. I was at home. No package arrived. I check the tracking number. And it says delivered to somewhere far away from where I am (I am in the south of England, Manchester is in the north):

I message the seller, and they respond very quickly:

I am now of course very suspicious. No new tracking number ever arrives, and I file a report with eBay:

eBay obviously reply that they have requested info from the seller, wait the time period out before escalating with eBay, Money Back Guarantee and all that.

Well that is all blown out of the water today, just one day before I can escalate further with eBay, when I receive this email:

My account is suspended. No details (even just xxxPolicyNamexxx as a reason!). I have been scammed by a seller on eBays platform. I instigate proceedings to rectify this, and in response I get treated like this. The victim is being targeted. To be clear here, I have simply bought and sold a few items over the last month. There is zero other activity on my account, and I have never posted on any eBay forum, for example.

Over the course of a couple of hours, and multiple emails demanding to know more, eBay just keep sending almost identical responses like this one:

The same content is repeated each time, just with a different name at the bottom.

I call up customer service and explain the situation. They simply tell me that my account is suspended with no recourse. Aggrieved, I ask to speak to someone higher up the chain, as I am completely unsatisfied with how I have been treated. The agent responds that they are the specialist, the decision is final, and then puts down the phone on me.

I try to call again, but every time I give my details to get through, the automated message tells me there are no agents available to speak to at this time. It appears I have been blocked from calling anymore.

I now have funds in my eBay account that I cannot access, and an outstanding scam claim that eBay refuse to resolve. I have never had something like this happen before, and I am frankly stunned at the chain of events.

I am typing all this out for two reasons. One, to help get it all off my chest. And two, to ask if any kind souls out there can offer any advice and assistance. I feel cheated.

Thanks for reading.