This is a warning to all eBay sellers: be aware of the risks involved when selling your items. eBay provides buyers with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which makes sense for electronic goods that may fail after some time. However, it seems unreasonable that if a buyer claims an item arrived damaged three weeks after purchase, they aren't expected to report any damage immediately upon arrival. Ideally, any damage should be communicated right away, either to eBay or directly to the seller. Allowing buyers a full 30 days to report problems, including damage, feels excessive, and allows for buyers to come up with any excuse to receive a refund. They might decide the item isn’t for them, and deliberately damage the item. I recently sold a speaker, and three weeks after the item had been delivered, the buyer claimed it was damaged when they received it. With nearly 15 years of experience selling on eBay, I've never faced a problem like this until now. There seems to be no protection for sellers. Thankfully, after multiple phone calls with eBay. I managed to avoid issuing a refund to the buyer from my own funds. However, the customer service representatives gave me varied and conflicting information, and only one representative, Anxhela, assisted me, and I didn’t have to make another phone call. The rest provided misleading information and didn't follow through on their promises. If I hadn’t proactively contacted eBay with updates, I would have ended up losing my money, and potentially receiving negative feedback. Vinted and other selling platforms give the buyer 48 hours to report any problems, such as damage or item is not as described. After that the seller receives the funds and the sale is complete. The 30 day money back guarantee should not apply to items that supposedly arrive damaged. The item doesn’t become damaged in 3 weeks unless the customer breaks it.
