The Energon Pub

I am writing this post to help other users and collectors who might want to use eBay for selling.

As you know, eBay gives sellers the option of providing a returns policy. Sellers have the option of not accepting returns.
However:

1) eBay buyers can initiate a return unilaterally
2) eBay buyers can initiate a return just by claiming "item not as described"
3) the item description and the picture (s) provided by the seller DO NOT HOLD VALUE against a declaration of "item not as described"
4) eBay itself will NOT verify the claims of the buyer
5) therefore, as long as a buyer claims "item not as described", a return can be initiated unilaterally, independently from your item description, your picture, or any evidence you might have
6) any evidence of proof from the seller will only be considered in a separate process, "report a buyer". There is not guarantee that eBay will use that information or that something will actually happen - the process is completely opaque.
7) if the returned item is damaged, guess what - eBay will NOT hold responsible the buyer, will not verify the conditions of the item, or do anything else: it's up to the seller to reach out to the authorities to process the damage incurred OUTSIDE eBay. No protection whatsoever.

I had a buyer openly lie about the motivation for the return - the description said "gun is missing" and the motivation for the return was "the item was not as described, gun is missing!". eBay's customer support ACKNOWLEDGED that the buyer had admitted not having read the description (in writing!) but still no action will be taken - the buyer will get a return anyway.



I hope this can help other sellers. I welcome the community's feedback on how to protect ourselves from abusive buyers. I do not wish anybody else to be taken advantage of this way.

Just don't sell on Ebay. I quit a long time ago and am better off for it.