It's all about the buyer...

Over the years ebay has evolved in such a way that they favor the buyer over the seller, and with good reason.  Without buyers, ebay just wouldn't work.  It's in their best interest to keep buyers happy.  Now that's not to say that they are never on the side of the seller, but more often than not they favor the buyer.  So what does this mean for you the seller?  Is there anything you can do to mitigate the chances of you having issues?  Certainly!

In this day and age, consumers are more demanding than ever.  With e-commerce, we no longer have that face to face interaction.  We resort to text messages and emails.  One cannot easily translate their tone and intentions through text.  This is where you have the power to control more than you think.  More than ever, great customer service becomes an important factor.  Just remember, it's business.

When I started selling, I took a lot of buyer messages out of context, and probably responded in an angry manner.  This item was awesome!  Why would anyone want to return it?  Why are they acting like I made a mistake on purpose?  It's one of the reasons I took so long to get serious about selling.  It wasn't until I really sat back and thought about the buyer that things really cleared up for me.  They don't know me, and they cannot see me face to face to know if my messages are sincere or not.  They bought a product and trusted the information I listed about the item was accurate.  After all, they were not able to touch it and look at it in person.

As a seller you will always get returns.  You will inevitably get a nasty buyer, but it is up to you to remain professional and not get sucked into a messaging war.  The more professional you are, the more likely it is that ebay will side with you should there be an issue that gets escalated.  Should you run into an issue that makes you feel uneasy, don't be afraid to call ebay and ask their advice.  You are paying them and they are more than willing to step in and guide you to a satisfactory resolution to your issue.

There are times when killing them with kindness works in your favor, even when you are yelling at your screen from the other side!  There are also times when you simply do not need to respond any further.  State your position clearly, and in a professional manner and leave it at that.  I once had a buyer that bought something with free shipping.  The item did not fit, and they wanted to return it.  No problem, I told them to ship it back and I would refund them as soon as I received the item.  They wanted me to pay return shipping because they felt it was labeled wrong.  I stated that I could not control how the manufacturer labeled their product.  They responded again in the same manner, and I could tell it was about to get out of control.  I simply sent a message stating our return policy and left it at that.  I never heard anything further and they did not return the product.  I never indicated I was irritated, and kept the messages polite and to the point.  That's the best you can do.

Just remember to think like a buyer.  Be polite and professional at all times.  And when in doubt, don't hesitate to get ebay involved in the issue.  If they outcome does not land in your favor, shrug it off and move on.  Yes it sucks to lose some of these battles, but in the grand scheme of things, it is just a tiny drop in the bucket.