Selling on eBay: My First Shady Buyer
I've started selling my unused items on eBay to try to remove some of the clutter from around my house. My ecommerce experience is extremely limited, so I'm learning as I go. I've sold five things in the last 90 days.
That may not seem like much, but it feels good to send these things I don't use on to someone who will use them, and to pocket a little extra cash. This week I encountered a situation that caught me off guard.
The sale
I sold a very nice Breville Juice Fountain Elite 800JEXL that I bought way back in 2011. I used it regularly for the first year, then less and less as drinking all that juice lost its appeal. I realized that I didn't use it at all in 2025, and it was taking up quite a bit of space in my kitchen cabinet, so it was at the top of my list of things to sell. It always worked flawlessly. Always made great juice (I especially liked it during summers when I could buy lots of fresh produce from the farmer's market near me). I paid $299 USD plus shipping in 2011. A new one today can be purchased on Amazon for $287 USD with free shipping, if you're a Prime member.
I made one last batch of juice, washed it, tested it, and listed it on eBay for $110 USD. Within a couple of days, I had an offer for $99, which I accepted. I carefully packaged and shipped this very nice juicer (which has worked flawlessly for me since 2011), wrapping each component in bubble wrap, and padding any empty space in the box with air bags.
We have a problem
Then I received this message from the buyer:
Hi there good morning, just wanted asked if the juicer was tested, I tried to turn it on and it wasn't giving me power even after trying multiple outlets in the kitchen. After diagnosing and calling customer service to confirm early this morning it's the Power Relay part number # SP0010743, I wanted to see if you could do a partial refund of $39.96 for the part itself? Thanks
There are a few possibilities: the buyer legitimately has a problem with the juicer, there's a problem with the electrical in his house, or he's trying to scam me.
Usually, I give people the benefit of the doubt until something changes my mind. If it was damaged in shipping, I want to help the buyer out! I could have given a partial refund, but there were too many unknowns. How was the problem diagnosed? A diagnosis of a bad relay usually requires opening a device up and testing with a multimeter. Was that done? If not, customer service might be guessing, and throwing parts at the problem. What if the diagnosis is wrong? What if the buyer damages something else while trying to repair it? Will the buyer initiate a return anyway to get a full refund, leaving me out the cost of shipping (both directions), and stuck with having to fix multiple problems myself? If the juicer was legitimately broken during shipping, the safest course of action for me and the buyer is to initiate a return through eBay. The buyer will be made whole for all the expenses of the transaction, and I'll get to see first-hand what is happening with it.
If there is a problem with the electrical in his house, then no amount of work on the juicer is going to fix that. He could fix the juicer, plug it in, and possibly damage it again. If there's a problem with his electrical, returning it to me through an eBay return is still the best course of action for both of us.
The other possibility is that the buyer is trying to pull a scam. Maybe it works fine, but by saying there is an electrical problem, he can get a partial refund of about 40% of the original sale price. Adding that he already knows the problem, what the part number is, how much it costs, as well as giving it legitimacy by saying it was diagnosed by customer service, would make me more inclined to do it because it seems like an easy way to make the problem go away. Once he has the partial refund, he could come back with other problems, asking for even more partial refunds. The safest course of action for me if this is a scam is still to initiate a return through eBay.
So I replied:
Thanks for letting me know. That's definitely not how it was functioning when I tested it before shipping, so I'm concerned something may have happened in transit or during handling.
Please open a return request through eBay, and I'll provide a prepaid return label so the item can be sent back to me. Once I receive it and verify the condition, I'll issue a full refund. Thanks.
I fully expected to see a return pop up in eBay, but instead he replied:
Thanks for taking the time to reply, I already order the part which arrives Friday. Not seeking a full refund or to return just a partial refund if possible that's all. Thanks
Worst case scenario half of the price of the part.
I still have the same concerns, but now I'm starting to get a little uneasy. He already ordered the part?! I didn't have any say in that decision, so I don't feel like that should influence my response. And he's lowering the refund amount he's requesting by half, which could be a tactic to make a partial refund even more appealing. $20 and the whole problem goes away... right???
I decided against it, even though $20 was tempting:
Thanks for the update. I understand you've already ordered the part, but since the item is being reported as not working as described, I'm not able to do partial refunds outside of the eBay return process.
If you still want to proceed, please open a return request through eBay and I'll provide a prepaid label so I can inspect it and resolve it properly.
The buyer ultimately decided to keep it to avoid the hassle of returning the juicer. He mentioned that he wishes he knew returning it was an option, since the listing indicated no returns accepted. It's the reason he states he ordered the part. This is a legitimate complaint. Unfortunately, if you mark on the listing that you accept returns, that means returns for any reason. If the buyer simply changes their mind after getting an item, they could return it. I'm not open to those kinds of returns, but if something legitimately breaks in transit, I want to do the right thing and help.
And that was that (so I thought).
We have another problem
ALMOST A FULL TEN HOURS LATER, I received photos of a damaged filter screen and this message:
Exactly the reason I asked for a partial refund, it's crushed. Now I have to order another one and they run $45 and up
Now my spidey senses are tingling. This has nothing to do with the original electrical issue, so the logic doesn't make sense. If I had issued a partial refund on the electrical issue, he would probably be asking for more refund for this. And I don't quite understand the timeline. If I ordered a juicer, I'd take out all the pieces to inspect them, put the juicer together, and try it out. Especially if I had already found a problem with another part. Finding this damage nearly ten hours after finding the initial electrical problem doesn't make much sense to me.
Now I'm thinking about all the scams that could be pulled with this approach. For example, find a damaged item for cheap or free, order a matching good one on eBay, then ask for partial refunds for damaged parts. Resell the good one, and pocket the difference. God forbid you do any kind of refund outside of eBay's official channels, because then they could initiate a return through eBay, send you the damaged one, and get a full refund in addition to whatever money you sent them outside of eBay.
Or if you own something with a broken part, you could order a good one on eBay, claim it arrived damaged, and return your broken part for a full refund. That's a free repair part!
I'm definitely not doing a partial refund on this!
That damage wasn't present when I packed the item. If the item arrived damaged, the proper way to handle that is through an eBay return.
At this point I've offered a return three separate times, but he hasn't initiated one. I haven't heard from him in two days. I'm leaning more toward this being a scam than legitimate issues, but if they are legitimate issues, he could return the juicer with the shipping paid at my expense, get a full refund for the original price plus the shipping he paid (again, at my expense), and then return the other part he bought. He would be out nothing other than some time. Returning it would certainly be the route I would choose if I were in this position as a buyer.
What have I learned?
There are some actions you might want to take with each listing.
- Always conduct business through eBay's official channels.
- Instead of saying something vague that could be a problem in a dispute (e.g. "Great Condition"), just be explicit about testing. E.g. "fully tested on [date] and confirmed working prior to shipment". Use something more indisputable like "Used, fully functional", "Cosmetic wear consistent with normal use", or "See photos for exact condition."
- Add something to listings to direct buyers toward the return process: "If there are any issues upon arrival, please contact me first through eBay so we can resolve it through the official return process."
- Record any unique identifying feature of an item (e.g. scratch), or add a small mark (e.g. dot from an indelible pen) in an obscure location so that you can verify the returned item is the original, and not a substitute.
- Add "All issues are handled through eBay returns. I do not offer partial refunds or reimbursements for self-repair parts."
- Use tested video/photo proof for higher-risk items. A short video showing it working before packing.
- Separate your own marketing description from the manufacturer's specs. E.g. "Condition notes (seller):..." and "Manufacturer description:...". Reduces expectation mismatch, and any dispute about manufacturer claims cannot be attributed to you.
- Set expectations about shipping damage implicitly. "Item is tested before shipping and carefully packaged, but transit damage is always a possibility beyond seller control."
- Record the testing and packaging of high-risk items, so you have proof during a dispute about it working and being packaged well.
Not every transaction is going to go smoothly, but with some of these suggestions your risk exposure should be lowered.
Moving forward
This won't discourage me from selling on eBay, but it will make me more careful about how I word my listings. The buyer has 30 days to initiate a return, so it could still happen. I'll update this post if there are any other developments worth mentioning.
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