UK Buyer opens an Ebay UK Dispute - now stuck for the item plus shipping costs in US

[JohnB]

Little history I have been selling on ebay for 12 years. Mostly part time.
I list about 400 automotive related items.

A buyer in the UK opened a snad case for an item. He opened it on Ebay UK not Ebay. I had to communicate on Ebay UK. I quickly agreed to accept the item for a full refund. This was not OK with him since he would be out the taxes he paid in the UK. He actually wanted a full refund and not have to send the item back.

After 10 days of communicating with him Ebay UK stepped in closed the case, refunded his money and paid the shipping cost to return the item.

Ebay UK now is sending me an invoice for the money owed. This is my first snad in over 3K in transactions.

I have not paid the invoice yet. The invoice is in British pounds not US dollars.
How long can I keep from paying this invoice? 30 days maybe.

Does Ebay UK really have authority to suspend my US Ebay account if I do not pay it?

I tried to not have Ebay get involved. The buyer wanted something I could not do. Now I feel like the "Bad Seller" that Ebay makes us all feel.

Why is the seller alwaya the bad guy on Ebay?

[Modee]

Was the item returned to you? You did not make that clear.

In most buyer disputes if your account is in top standing, you prove you have shipped, and the dollar amount is not high, Ebay covers the cost of the dispute even after refunding the money to the buyer. In other words, they reimburse the buyer but absorb the cost.

[JohnB]

Yes I received the part last Friday. They closed the case and refunded the buyer a week before the part arrived.

The Ebay US resolution team was very surprised Ebay UK closed and refunds before an item has tracking showing delivery. Ebay US can not get involved with resolution cases when filed on an international Ebay site.

I plan on paying Ebay UK in the next few days. December is always a slow time for car parts on Ebay.

Ebay should make it clear to US sellers that rules that are in place in the USA are not the same on international sites. No more international for me.

[lemerovigian]

John,

international buyers try to pull the old bait and switch and use taxes + shipping cost as a levy to make the seller close the case or not want to accept the item. However business with the UK can be quite profitable just establish yourself with the different mediums.........,

[Modee]

EBay buyer protection policy for non-receipt
First Class Mail international shipments - cannot insure, and cannot always confirm delivery - Free EBAY, PayPal, Business and Law Forums - Ebay Suspension, PayPal Limited

[JohnB]

The story continues. I pay ebay which with exchange rates costs me more than I originally received. I was so worried about Ebay messing with my selling account. So I send in almost $300 to ebay on the 10th. Today the 15th at 9 PM west coast time I received email from Ebay UK stating that the tracking the buyer provided was not good enough. Now you know I received the part back.
Ebay UK says I no longer need to pay the bill they sent me. Now since the item was purchased almost 75 days ago it no longer shows on any part of it on ebay.
Two scenarios
....The buyer just got a bill from Ebay UK.
....Ebay has my money and should I try to get it back? Can I get it back?
The time I have waisted on this is not even close to the $300 I paid out.

I think I'll just let this go I am only out about $100 since I returned the part to my distributer. This entire resolution process is so wishy washy. No straight answers from anyone at Ebay. Next time I will drag my feet as long as possible and wait everything out. Let ebay fall on themselves. Seems to be the right road to take.

Still done with International.

[JohnB]

First Class Mail international shipments - cannot insure, and cannot always confirm delivery - Free EBAY, PayPal, Business and Law Forums - Ebay Suspension, PayPal Limited

That is very helpfull. Thank you. My shipment was priority to and fro. Have no idea why Ebay claims they can not track it as delivered. I could.

Seems like ebay has 1000 people all doing the same thing at the same time with all different outcomes.

When the case closed in the buyers favor the first time. Ebay US said someone in Italy stepped in and closed the case who had not been active in the process. They were dumfounded.

[Modee]

Well at least, from what I can discern from your story, it turned out acceptably to you. You have learned a lot from this process I am sure. One thing you learned is that one hand of Ebay often doesn't know what the other is doing.