- Partial refunds or exchanges. Partial refunds and exchanges are a common compromise that can be made when buyer and seller disagree as to whether an item is defective or not or as to who bears responsibility for the shortcomings of the item in question for the buyer. Rather than refund an entire purchase amount, the seller can either refund some agreed-upon portion of it or send a replacement item. Even PayPal makes partial refunds possible; when you issue a refund using the refund link as a PayPal seller, you are asked to specify the amount to be refunded.
- Advance exchange. If you are a trusting seller or believe that you are dealing with a trustworthy buyer, you can offer advance exchange replacement, which is often satisfying for buyers that are pressed for time. In advance exchange, you send a new item (sometimes with a small additional deposit fee paid by the buyer) and when the buyer receives and is satisfied by it, they return the original, unsatisfactory original (and, if a deposit was made, you refund it once the original has been received from them). If you are a buyer offered advance exchange, be sure not to drag your feet in returning the old item—to do so is to commit fraud on your part!
- Credit, repair, or value adds. If a refund is out of the question and a full exchange isn’t possible, these other means for resolving differences often come into play. Buyer and seller may agree to return the item for credit, to attempt at the seller’s expense or at shared expense to facilitate a repair, or the seller may offer to send additional items of value—accessories, for example—to increase the buyer’s satisfaction.
When All Else Fails
If you’re a buyer who feels as though you’re being dealt with unfairly, when all else fails with regard to your seller, you can either file a dispute with eBay or with your credit card issuer. Either party will take further steps to investigate the matter, get the seller’s side of the story, and ultimately issue a “ruling” favoring either buyer or seller, after which funds will either be returned or they won’t.Beware, however, that this is a kind of “nuclear option” in a dispute. Once you go this route, a seller is unlikely to talk to you further except through the party with whom you’ve filed the dispute. Filing a dispute will effectively end “friendly” negotiations, so exhaust all of your other options first.
