UNREAL SITUATION EXPERIENCED AND NO REAL ANSWER | Questions and answers among users

interxsempre2010 · 2025-11-21T15:12:00.067000Z

I’m a long-time eBay user with over 550 positive feedback ratings. I’m mainly a buyer, but for some time I had also put up for sale some personal items from my private collections. What happened left me stunned, and I decided to write here to share the experience and ask for support. FACTS------------On October 28, 2025 an eBay user bought directly from my eBay profile an Inter 1995-96 shirt (listing 127438134277).The shirt was new, with all tags, never worn. I packed it carefully, adding two layers of cardboard as well, I used the Ebay Shipping service and I also paid the additional insurance for my protection and the buyer’s.A few days after receiving it, the buyer opened a claim procedure requesting a refund and the return of the item, stating that the shirt had arrived "damaged", because "all the numbers would be bent and crushed" due to the fact that "the item was not in a box (as it should have been since it was paid 10 euros.) but in a simple envelope that compromised the integrity of the shirt, having crushed and folded the name and number" and then claiming that "since I paid 10 euros for shipping, you had to make a package and they wouldn’t get crushed, not an envelope".Regarding these statements I specify that: 1) The shirt shipped was perfect (as described in the listing), new, from my collection where it had been carefully preserved. 2) I prepared the shipment with the utmost care, placing the carefully folded shirt in a sealed plastic sleeve, adding rigid cardboard both above and below (I also have photos taken during the packing process - which I always do to protect myself before shipping any item - and which disprove what the buyer claimed), and finally putting everything in a large plastic bag sealed with packing tape.3) I sent it by post using the label provided to me by eBay, also paying an extra fee to send it as insured, for a faster and more accurate service. All clothing items have to be folded for shipping. Claiming that any folds could have "damaged" or "compromised the integrity" of a new garment is false and unacceptable. 4) I am a private user, and in the item listing it was clearly stated that I would not accept returns.After explaining to the buyer that I could not accept returns since I am just a private user, he continued the dispute with eBay and after a few days I saw the sale proceeds taken away by eBay (including shipping costs). I filed a complaint with eBay specifying that what the buyer had claimed was completely false and that moreover I had not even received my item back. I received a response that clarified nothing and did not explain the reasons for such a decision, only explaining that the buyer had judged the item not to match the listing and that basically they sided with him (WITHOUT EXPLAINING WHY). In essence, they say these are eBay’s rules, while I am still waiting to know in what way the item did not match the listing, given that the buyer never told me that, complaining only about imaginary "damage" to the shirt (the folds!!). A person of normal intelligence can even understand that an item can be said not to match the listing only if different items are sent from the ones offered. For example, if in the listing I put an Inter shirt and then send a Milan shirt, or if I put Armani shoes and then send unbranded shoes. CONCLUSION------------All of the above makes it clear that this is a SERIOUS INJUSTICE against the seller (me), with the buyer using eBay mechanisms designed to favor buyers. Indeed, even if one assumes that the buyer is not satisfied with a purchase (made from a shop or professional seller, not from a simple private individual like me....), he must still return the goods as provided by articles 52 and 53 of the Consumer Code, without any time limit being imposed for closing the dispute. Article 56 of the Consumer Code also states that, unless the seller has offered to collect the goods himself, he may withhold the refund until he has received the goods or until the consumer has demonstrated that he has sent the goods back. Now, since eBay was the intermediary handling payments between seller and buyer, it is obvious that under the Consumer Code it should have waited for the item to be returned to the seller before issuing the refund, without imposing any time limit that penalizes exclusively the honest and correct seller who finds himself in a paradoxical situation (MONEY TAKEN AWAY AND ITEM NOT RETURNED).I told the story to family and friends and everyone was shocked, obviously losing trust in eBay. I am asking for suggestions on what to do in order to be able to send these considerations (without character limits) and the photos of the item packaging (which I prudently kept) to eBay and maybe be able to reason with a real person from eBay support, rather than receiving only prewritten responses from bots or from people who may not even read the messages in full.

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