Ebay Partial Refund Option

I ordered some sheets from a seller that was advertised in photos and description as sealed, but they arrived unsealed. I contacted seller who told return item and if they arrive back in good condition. seller will give refund. I messaged seller back indicating I don't really want to send these sheets back but would accept a partial refund of a nominal amount (under $10) as this would offset return shipping. Didn't hear back from seller and went to ebay to open a return for item not as described and filled out the "form" and then I receive link to print out a return label, but I clearly indicate on the form I filled out I would like a partial refund and to keep the stamps vs returning them for a full refund. Not sure if this "form" is even read by the seller. Should I close the return since I not interested in returning the item, since I like the sheets, but wish they were sealed as advertised vs unsealed as received?

Should I leave negative feedback indicating I received unsealed sheets vs sealed sheets?

If I leave negative feedback, could the seller retaliate against me by having a friend purchased one of my items and then return something else?

Apparently, ebay is set up for "full refund" or nothing. Another example perhaps of poor website design which I run into all the time -- or maybe it's intentional to discourage refund requests. Who knows?

Since you're keeping the sheets, I'd just cancel the refund request, send the seller a short note indicating that and leave it that way. In any review you leave, give them less than top marks -- maybe deduct one or two stars -- with another short note indicating that "sealed" turned out to be "unsealed" and leave it at that. Problem solved.

I never criticize a seller if I think there's any possibility they merely made a normal human error. Maybe they were sealed and then came unsealed? Maybe they were told they were sealed, but neglected to check? Since you have what you wanted, I'd just leave it that way.

On ebay USA, the Seller can initiate a partial refund. So, technically, it is not full refund or nothing. Before that happens, ideally, there will be productive communication between the buyer and the seller. If THAT doesn't happen, and I'm the buyer, I'm going to initiate an item not as described return, which automatically requires the seller to initiate a return label, on the seller's dime. At that point, the seller must decide if they are just going to do a full refund, or pay for the return shipping for the return. It is not usually cost-effective for the seller to pay for the return shipping and issue a full refund. The seller is then going to get a negative feedback from me. It is in the seller's best interest to communicate.

In no case is the buyer in the driver's seat regarding partial refunds. It is the seller's option to agree to a partial refund, or refund the entire amount. Either of these results will close out the item not as described case. If the seller chooses to not respond or communicate the decision for a full refund will be made for him/her.

This is my understanding of how things work, based on my experience.

John

johnsim: Seems like this seller doesn't really want to communicate with me at this point and I don't know why financially they would prefer if I return the sheets since it would cost them return shipping once I mail the sheets back? The ebay "form" basically asked why I am returning (item does not match description) and then on the next screen was the return shipping label. Have no idea if my paragraph verbiage for my reasoning and requesting a partial refund went to the seller, so I copied and pasted it into the "contact seller" section next to item on summary page.

I did not like seller's first response of sorry for the inconvenience return them and if they arrive back in good condition, I will refund. Seems like seller then is the arbiter of good. I am afraid to leave negative feedback for fear of retaliation on one of my items for sale.

Sealed in what and unsealed how? That would help explain why the not as described even matters. Frankly, the only concern I can see about sealed versus unsealed would be the $12 face C3a reprints.

As you have been told, ebay will force the full refund and return it free to you.

Partial refunds are worked out with the seller and buyer and then issued by the seller. I have never had an issue with a partial refund request with a seller. BUT, I never ask for it in my first email. I first advise of an issue and see what they suggest. Usually that leads to no answer but an inquiry to what I want or suggest. I then suggest a partial refund with some factual reasoning to support the amount. My suggestion has never been turned down and often the refund amount slight adjusted upwards.

And yes, his friends can do that to you on your items. And he can also just block you from buying anything from him again.

I tend to keep a soft tone in my email exchanges with sellers and to work things out as it it was a friendly face to face discussion.

Lastly any sheets sealed as you call it are like sealed by the Philatelic Agency which in the case of the USA, you are advised not to keep the items sealed in the shipping/retail packaging. Which then cycles back to my first question, "Sealed in what and unsealed how?"

PPG: Sealed/shrinkwrapped by the post office. Yes, I know that packaging is not suitable for philatelic archiving, but sealed sheets provide more protection, more authenticity and more re-sale value than an unsealed sheet. I also posted today in the US Modern section of this website inquiring why the inconsistency of sealed vs unsealed sheets when ordering from the USPS website.

I have also submitted requests for a partial refund on previous infrequent order mishaps and sellers always oblige and are appreciative of that suggestion/resolution. Not sure why this seller is so stuck on a full refund or nothing and seller paying for their return. Seller gets great reviews overall except for today when one buyer left a negative and commented seller was rude in messages and never sent item.

Update: I contacted ebay customer service last week and this week regarding the return/partial refund. The representative last week mentioned that if the seller did not respond to my partial refund request after I believe 3 business days to come back and ask ebay to step-in and issue a partial refund. After no response by seller, I followed up after 3 business days and a different ebay representative informed me that both seller and buyer have to agree to a partial refund and that ebay can't preemptively issue a partial refund on seller's behalf. So I learned that if a seller offers a full refund upon return or nothing, that is their right. I accept the fact that my only options are refund on return (seller added if received in good condition) or nothing.

Do you think it would be productive or unproductive to leave seller negative feedback by factually stating "Item advertised as sealed sheets, received unsealed sheets. Seller unwilling to issue partial refund for a fair nominal $ difference amount between the value of sealed vs unsealed sheets."?

What is the likelihood of a seller retaliating with one of my items?

As both a buyer and a seller, I personally feel it is unfair to penalize a seller for not offering you a partial refund option. That is not required of sellers. The seller offered you a return for full refund, and that is all they are required to do.

Now, IMO it is fair for you to leave neutral or negative feedback based upon what you received was not what was listed... but I don't think it's fair to reference not granting the partial refund in those comments. Also what you consider to be "fair and nominal" could be vastly different from what the seller considers those terms to mean, and readers of your feedback comments won't have the details of the transaction in order to evaluate. Of course every buyer always considers what they offer for a partial refund to be "fair and nominal" even if it's 50% of the original transaction amount.

One thing to keep in mind is that there are buyers that use the complaint & partial refund approach as a way to get discounts after the fact even when there's nothing at all wrong with the merchandise, and many sellers have gotten wise and don't want to deal with that B.S., so IMO there is nothing wrong with a seller not willing to offer partial refunds.

As a seller I think you are making a mistake asking for a partial refund. If a buyer contacts me with a problem I always offer a partial refund and actually let them name their own refund. I've done this several times and the buyers were always fair. However, if a buyer I didn't know asked for a partial refund first I would probably think he was trying to get a backdoor discount and I would tell them to just return the item. It really is up to the seller to offer partial refunds.

I think it is extremely unlikely the buyer would retaliate if you left a negative but I also think it is unfair if you do. Depending how you worded your request for a partial refund it quite possible the seller could have your negative feedback removed.

Leaving negative feedback may impact you in another way. Today a buyer asked me to make an exception for him because he had too many unpaid items strikes to bid on my items. I usually don't make exceptions but I looked at his "feedback left for others" and he had left 27 feedbacks of which 3 were negative. I don't want this chronically unhappy guy as a customer so I refused his request and added him to my blocked bidder list.

Just sayin

I agree with "not your choice" in regard to the partial refund. If you really don't like the transaction, you have the right to return it and move on. It sounds like you are dealing with single-digit dollars for the refund, though, so might it not be less stress to just keep them and move on?

In the past you've been worried about the fulfillment center sending unsealed sheets in case you'd get stamps with oily fingerprints. If these items look good, wouldn't you just keep them? I would.

Regarding negative feedback, in my opinion, it is reserved for truly bad actors.

Cjd well said.

Cjd: I am dealing with single digit refund amount which is unusual as to why the seller is unwilling to comply. For privacy reasons, using close but not exact numbers, I ordered 3 sheets that were advertised and photographed as sealed in USPS packaging, but received them unsealed. Let's say each sheet was $10, so $30 total. Seller replied to send them back and if seller receives them in good condition, seller will issue full refund. I wrote back to seller indicating that I like these sheets a lot, and they are in mint condition, but that I would have paid less as evidenced by other current and sold listings if they were sealed vs unsealed. I wrote to seller that perhaps a good resolution would be that since you would be paying return shipping, how about issuing me a TOTAL partial refund of between $5.00 to $7.00? That would probably equal the cost of return shipping on your end and on my end it would be an amount I would have paid less for each sheet ($1.66 to $2.33 less for each sheet). Crickets from the seller on that proposal. Why? I will never know. Not really concerned about the $5 to $7 total I overpaid. I am just interested now in learning what the economic motivation might be on seller's end for paying to have the sheets back vs issuing a partial refund?

If I went along with the return, would seller ultimately decide if sheets were received in good condition and then refund full or partial amount based on condition returned in, or would ebay's system once it's delivered to seller issue the full refund automatically?

Another point I neglected to mention in my OP was I had previously purchased sheets from this seller a few weeks before with no problems. Whenever a seller lists multiples of stamp sheets, I message them and ask if they could photograph all of them because you never know if there could be flaws, etc.. Most seller's have no problem doing so. This seller responded in all caps with THEY ARE ALL EXACTLY THE SAME. I am not a psychologist, but usually when someone responds in all caps, it has a negative implication. Since I really wanted these sheets, I purchased multiples and all arrived sealed as advertised. Fast forward a few weeks to the transaction in the OP, I told seller that I am a previous satisfied customer in my partial refund request, but apparently that was not persuasive. Seller also responded to send sheets back in all caps too.

I'm wondering if I should be wary of sellers that list multiples of stamp sheets and have hundreds of sheets for sale because maybe that have so much inventory that they loose track, accuracy or the condition of what they are selling and just list things in multiples for convenience.

And the whole USPS fulfillment center sealed vs unsealed thing is still a mystery. The only pattern I have been able to come up with is if I place a very large order they come sealed. So far the unsealed sheets from the USPS have been fine thankfully. Their refund/return process on the back of the order receipt isn't very user friendly.

It's likely that the seller considers that you're trying to secure a discount, along the lines that Ken mentioned. As such, he's probably acting on principle in asking you to return the goods, even if it costs him a few dollars. Once he's got the goods and given the refund, he'll block you.

Why do people think a partial refund is like trying to "secure a discount" when it seems like a win-win situation for all parties involved? If someone has proof the items received were not in the condition advertised,how is that trying to "secure a discount". If the seller were to sell those sheets again, it would cost additional ebay fees plus the return shipping.

As others have said, it's for the seller to offer a part-refund if s/he wishes to do so. Given that the sheets are, as I understand it, undamaged, his/her assumption may well be that you're fishing for a discount. Economics will therefore take second place to principle.

Another thing to keep in mind is that you may also be dealing with a case of "it's freaking postage, who the hell cares?"

High-volume postage sellers don't have time, nor likely the inclination, to photograph or scan each and every individual sheet of stamps. That's a lot of labor for virtually zero gain, when you break it down.

Nor do I necessarily blame them...