Return request: how to proceed
Good morning everyone, for many years I have been buying items on eBay and only once did I have to solve a problem with a purchased item that wasn’t working. I decided to sell an item for the first time, at the request of my 8-year-old son who has a duplicate of a collectible Pokemon card, in perfect condition, recently unwrapped and never used, kept in a plastic sleeve in a special album. We take the photos, put up the listing, and it is won by a user after a bidding war with another user. We had set standard shipping at 6 euros, but instead we ship with Raccomandata 1 for 12.90 euros, to avoid mistakes and to try to make the buyer as happy as possible, we buy a frame with glass, put the card in an original soft Pokemon sleeve and then in the frame and then in a protective parcel and ship it. The package arrives intact, the buyer sends us a return request saying that the card is not in MINT condition, but PLAYED, meaning used, and sends photos of the back (all the cards are the same) with white signs of wear that were not present on the card we shipped. I am bitter, especially for my son, because it was supposed to be a positive and educational experience, and I think it is wrong both to accept the return, because we shipped the item matching the photos and the description, losing time and also spending money so it would be unfair to be out of pocket, and to simply reject the return request, because I don’t want a negative feedback, it would still be a negative outcome. A deal is such when two parties are satisfied. Clearly this cannot happen if there is exploitation on one side (the other loses out and that is not fair). Thank you for any suggestions you may have, based on your experiences.