Issues selling parts on ebay

[memetootoo]

Recently I sold parts from my old build on ebay. Most the tranactions were fine, but I received two refund requests that I don't agree with. Details below

• Sold 4 4gigs sticks of ram. The buyer says that he received 4 2gigs of ram and wants a partial refund. I find this hard to believe because I've been using the ram for years, and double checked by purchase order.
• Sold kraken x61 user wants a refund because item was DOA and that most of the parts are missing, which I know for sure is untrue. I find this hard to believe because it was working perfectly when I removed from my computer and the item was professionally packaged.

It's possible that the Kraken was damaged in transit, but for sure all the parts are there. But the ram I know for sure, are 4 4gig sticks. It appears that I have to pay for the buyer to return the item, but I imagine there's nothing stopping the buyer form sending me back the smaller sized ram that he/she may have had on hand, or return the Kraken and kept parts so that I can't sell it again.

I think I will prb be loosing money either way, but wondering if there's anything I can do in the future to limit issues like this? eBay appears to have a lot of support for users getting scammed, but not much protection for buyers.

[chazus]

Ask for pictures first, and also ask their setup. Incompatible setup might be confused with 'DOA'.

I also take pictures of the actual packaged container before I ship it, just to indicate 'this is exactly what should be received'

The complaints aren't real clear, though... Is the guy saying he got 1 of the 4, 4gb sticks?

[memetootoo]

Ask for pictures first, and also ask their setup. Incompatible setup might be confused with 'DOA'.

I also take pictures of the actual packaged container before I ship it, just to indicate 'this is exactly what should be received'

The complaints aren't real clear, though... Is the guy saying he got 1 of the 4, 4gb sticks?

Thanks for your help. I'll ask for pictures.

Whoops, edited in my original post - the buyer says that the 4 sticks of ram that he got are 2gig sticks, instead of 4gig sticks. i.e. instead of getting 16gigs of ram total, he's saying that he only go 8gigs of ram.

[chazus]

Yeah, I'd definitely ask for pictures (especially if you posted pictures of them on the original sale)

[moremana]

ebay should be shut down.

I had the same problem a few years back. Ebay always sides with the buyer. I sold a R9-280 and the guy claimed he got a 270, he wanted $70 refund I said no. I had pictures, but ebay still sided with the buyer.

You can not win selling on ebay.

[TxAg]

These are variants of the "brick in a box" scam. Buyer says they did not infact receive the product they ordered but instead received a brick in a box. You are now in a he said, she said situation and eBay, and thus PayPal, side with the buyer almost all of the time.

The only solution I have found that makes me feel secure enough to keep selling on eBay is to not seal the box until I get to the UPS Store and take a picture with the UPS employee and the goods being sold before they get packed up. It took going to a few different FedEx Office and UPS stores before I found one that would do this for me. It's not much more protection but it makes me feel like I have more of a chance to beat this scam. I haven't had to test it since I have started taking pictures of the UPS employees yet thankfully.

[memetootoo]

Thanks guys, seems like such a crap shoot. Are there any alternatives to ebay with more seller protection to sell electronics/pc hardware?

Has anyone been successful in getting ebay to at least make the buyer pay for the return shipping?

[PhantasmagoriaX]

Thanks guys, seems like such a crap shoot. Are there any alternatives to ebay with more seller protection to sell electronics/pc hardware?

Has anyone been successful in getting ebay to at least make the buyer pay for the return shipping?

you could probably sell on amazon.

[Iamanerd]

As someone who works in IT and runs a side business doing MSP work, I also buy and sell a lot. I tend to buy broken macs etc of people for cheap, test the parts and sell them out, I also liquidate old workstations/laptops for some of my clients as they pay me to remove their old stuff. Selling on Ebay is tricky and honestly I expect issues to arise from time to time, your best bet it to take pictures of the package with the contents in it. Also I always check the person I'm selling to for their reputation, since when selling items you can set what reputation you want buyers to have in order to purchase.

I have only had a handful of issues, a couple where my fault due to some Macbook Pro's having the wrong part numbers etc so I credit back some money. But your best bet is to to set a rep limitation along with checking out the buyer beforehand. Also make sure to take a lot of pictures of said item when listing it and write a good description. Currently I sell mainly workstations (Optiplexs/Elites etc.) and laptops (Latitudes/Elitebooks/Probook/Thinkpads), I don't sell macs anymore because I have 3 main connections that all doing board level repair on macs and I directly sell to them since it cuts out Ebay fees along with not needing to deal with random buyers.

[moremana]

I always check the person I'm selling to for their reputation, since when selling items you can set what reputation you want buyers to have in order to purchase.

Sellers can not leave negative feedback anymore on buyers. Havent been able to for more than 2 years.

[Ryuken]

I'd tread lightly there's 101 people out there trying to rip you off.

[Sorshen]

Thanks guys, seems like such a crap shoot. Are there any alternatives to ebay with more seller protection to sell electronics/pc hardware?

Has anyone been successful in getting ebay to at least make the buyer pay for the return shipping?

Local area forum or ads site (like craigslist). I prefer selling stuff face to face to prevent any future problems.