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eBay doesn't refund the fees after promising to: attention sellers!
Hi everyone, I want to share a bad experience I had with eBay, in the hope that other sellers won’t find themselves in the same situation and will at least be very careful before trusting this platform.
Recently, I sold an item that the customer decided to return because it was ordered by mistake. Following eBay’s rules scrupulously, I accepted the return, fully refunding the customer except for the shipping costs that the customer himself wanted me to keep. I used the “Send refund” procedure as предусмотрed by the platform, trusting that eBay would reimburse me the final value fees as clearly stated in their policies.
Initially, eBay accepted my request for a fee refund, but later, without providing a clear explanation, it refused to return the amount. I was thus left to bear the costs of the fees on a sale that was in fact not completed, in total contradiction with their own rules: moreover, since it was a valuable item, the fees amounted to over 200 euros, a very significant amount.
Despite numerous communications with customer service, I was unable to get a satisfactory response. I ask myself: what trust can a seller have in a platform that does not respect its own rules?
I therefore decided to file a formal complaint with the Competition and Market Authority (AGCM) to report this practice, which I consider unfair and harmful to sellers. I believe eBay should be more transparent and respect the conditions it sets itself.
I invite all sellers to be careful and share any similar experiences, because this behavior could affect many of us. If you too have found yourselves in similar situations, speak up! Only by joining our voices can we demand greater fairness.
sika700
Mentore1 year agoGood evening,
your description of what happened isn’t very clear... maybe that’s where your mistake is: "I accepted the return, reimbursing the customer in full with the exception of the shipping costs that the customer himself wanted me to keep."
The part in red isn’t clear, you should explain it properly... also because if you refunded through the return procedure you couldn’t have withheld any amount and therefore refunded in full...
Kind regards.
mafaldi
OP1 year agoExactly.
The reason for the dispute is precisely this: by withholding the shipping costs, according to eBay I am not entitled to any refund of the fees, not even in part. This is the first case of this kind in my many years of activity on the platform, with thousands of items sold. On this occasion, I withheld the shipping costs at the explicit request of the customer, who did not want to burden me because of an error on their part.
Despite this particular circumstance, I only discovered after the refund that the fees withheld by eBay would not be returned. A clear and transparent notice on the refund approval page would have been enough, specifying: "In the case of partial refunds, the fees will not be returned." This lack of communication prevented me from making an informed decision.
Even eBay support itself - which at first approved and then denied the refund of my fees - suggested that, before proceeding with any refund, I should have asked for further clarification. However, this retroactive and not very transparent approach makes it difficult, if not impossible, for me to operate with peace of mind.
I consider it unacceptable that it is not immediately clear what the applicable rules are and the actual amount of what we have to pay. Unfortunately, the handling of this matter seems aimed exclusively at eBay's advantage, with no regard for a seller like me, who has in fact operated for decades at the highest levels of reliability.
As a result, from now on I will be forced to cease all promotion of my listings and to refuse any request for reimbursement except those required by law, in an attempt to protect myself from further financial losses.
eBay can frame the 214 Euro it extorted from me; as far as I’m concerned, it won’t see any more. The devil’s flour always ends up as bran.