I recently bought a pen on eBay for around $15. The pen was described as having no major scratches, cracks, or problems, just wear from normal use. I paid with PayPal, using my credit card. I received the pen, and it had a large crack from the nib to the clutch ring (? the point where the barrel unscrews from the tip), as well as having several cracks/holes in the feed. I looked at the auction photographs again, and it appears that he only used angles that hide the problems with the pen.

I sent the seller a message through eBay, requesting a refund. He ignored it for a week, and I finally filed a dispute with PayPal. He responded almost instantly, saying that I am lying about the earlier message, because he always responds to customer feedback in a timely fashion, which is "evident from [his] high feedback." (He does have high feedback.) He said he doesn't remember any cracks, but he will offer a refund if I ship the pen back.

~20% of the money I already gave him was shipping and insurance, which I assume he won't refund. If I go for a refund, I need to pay for shipping and tracking to send it back to him, and then I am gambling that he won't just keep my money. I feel like the problem with this transaction is 100% the seller's fault, but my only choices are (a) lose $10 and let him resell the pen to the next sucker, or (b) lose $20 and keep a busted pen.

Losing $20 is not a huge financial burden to me or anything, I just don't like this feeling of being deceived. What should I do?

Keep going with the paypal claim. You will get the money you paid for shipping refunded - the entire transaction should be reversed. I say "should" bc I cannot find it in the paypal user agreement, but it worked for me recently.

Mail the pen back with no insurance, delivery confirmation only. This will only cost a few dollars.

If he refunds your money via Paypal, it will indeed go back to your credit card.

If the pen was defective and/or not as described in the auction, the seller should bear the cost of shipping to return it to him, and he should refund the original shipping/insurance charges as well. That's the way I handle returns of defective merchandise, and I think it's the way it's done by reputable merchants everywhere.

Yes, you are taking a chance, since you've never dealt with this merchant before, but if the feedback is high and he is reputable, he should not think twice about acting honorably. If the feedback is a sham, or if he's not honorable (which you may believe based on his non-response/response to your inquiry and his seemingly less-than-forthright photographs), you may be out a few bucks.

James

Can Someone enlighten me on this

I paid US$100/- to seller (Seller have a Paypal coverage US$200/-)
I seek Paypal for a refund (Bad products from seller)
I only got back about US$75 from Paypal.

Don't I deserves a min full as in US$100/- that I paid out?

It depends. Was this an ebay purchase? If so, then yes, you should be covered up to the basic coverage amount of $200.

If this was not an ebay purchase, then it depends on how much money the seller had in the account when paypal raided it for your refund. Which raises the question of what you are referring to when you mention the $200 coverage.

This is what bothers me. I can't find a clear explanation on PayPals website of what I am actually guaranteed in the case of a malicious seller, but I can find a lot of horror stories from people who've gotten nothing.

I got nothing once, but it was a non-ebay transaction.

Was the transaction in question covered by paypal's buyer protection (50 feedbacks, 98% positive, certain countries, etc)?

If so, you should get it all back. If not through paypal, then the next step is a chargeback with your credit card company.

This was an eBay transaction, the guy had over 1000 feedback with 99%+ positive, and he is in the US. I think he only had three negative feedback, which makes me wonder why I am in this situation to begin with.

My most recent ebay transaction:

Excellent feedback.
Item had a small problem, but large enough the the thing was useless to me.
Seller apologized profusely, offered refund, and disappeared.
I opened paypal dispute.
Seller re-emerges after a few weeks - family was in hospital.
Refund issued by seller.

The thing is, you have to keep the dispute going because if you wait too long you lose the window. Do not drop it until the money is in your account.

I agree that it's odd that someone with great feedback turns out to be a flake. But it happens!

Yes, we shouldn't forget that Life sometimes 'gets in the way' of even the most reliable people.
As a result they may appear to disappear into cyberspace, often to reappear later, with profuse apologies...it has happened to me, from both sides!

I learnt from a recent paypal dispute with a seller that Paypal prevents the possibility to get or give money through their services until the dispute is open. This is a powerful tool for the buyer.

As for the 75/100 refound mentioned above, I think this is a tipical "claim handler" action when the responsability it's not fully clear or when something valuable remains in the hands of the buyer even though it's not compliant with the expected/promised item.

Regards,

Called Paypal and tell me that they will take up all the money from seller acount as much as to pay me (full)
But due to no fund/balance of this little, That is what I am give parts refund only? Paypal said they will try again askinfg the seller to Pay me????? the balance.