WWYD? Refund request from online sale

[disneysteve]

I sold a textbook on Amazon on November 19.
I received a refund request yesterday, January 23, saying "Condition not as expected."

Sounds to me like they bought the book, took the class, and now want to give it back. I think 2 months later is way too late to be asking for a refund.

I'm not sure what repercussions there could be if I refuse the refund. Some sort of negative feedback, I'm sure, but I don't know if Amazon can take any action against my seller account.

[~bs]

if it was me, i'd accept the return and take it as a small loss and try to resell it. 2 months is too long, and maybe it would be outside of amazon's return policy time. However, in today's environment, buyers hold all the power. If you make it difficult for them, they may decide to initiate a credit card chargeback, they'd get the refund, you'd not get your item back. Or they may dispute with amazon, get the return/refund processed, then send you a package without the item or the item severely damaged.

[disneysteve]

I opened a case with Amazon explaining that it's been over 2 months and the buyer has had plenty of time to use the book and likely now just wants his money back which I'm not willing to do.

If I lose, I lose, but I'm not screwing around with garbage like this. I'd rather them take away my seller account. I rarely use it anyway.

[bjl584]

November 19th is a strange time to buy a textbook.
That's halfway through fall semester, but too early to know what book you will need for the spring semester. (unless the buyer is working on a trimester type set up)

But, I'm guessing that they bought the book way early, and then they either couldn't get in that particular class in the spring, or the class changed the textbook.

Not sure what the return policy is with Amazon. But, I would start there.

[disneysteve]

Not sure what the return policy is with Amazon. But, I would start there.

Looks like their return policy on books is 30 days.

That's still pretty long actually. More than enough time for someone to buy a book, read it, and give it back.

[disneysteve]

November 19th is a strange time to buy a textbook.
That's halfway through fall semester, but too early to know what book you will need for the spring semester. (unless the buyer is working on a trimester type set up)

But, I'm guessing that they bought the book way early, and then they either couldn't get in that particular class in the spring, or the class changed the textbook.

Could also be a January term thing. Both my college and my daughter's college run a term during winter break. Or it could have been an online class or just personal interest and research. Who knows?

No matter what, trying to return a book more than 2 months later is awfully suspicious.

[bjl584]

Looks like their return policy on books is 30 days.

That's still pretty long actually. More than enough time for someone to buy a book, read it, and give it back.

Return policies everywhere are fairly lenient.
I used to have a part time job at a Kmart. Every year, the day after the Superbowl, there were tons of TV's returned. People bought big screens, had a Superbowl party, then returned the TV. The return policy was 90 days, so no questions asked even though it was shady.
The same thing happened in the summer. People bought those pop up canopies. They all had their summer picnics and graduation parties, then they returned the canopies, the plastic tables, and the chairs that they bought a month earlier.

[disneysteve]

Return policies everywhere are fairly lenient.
I used to have a part time job at a Kmart. Every year, the day after the Superbowl, there were tons of TV's returned. People bought big screens, had a Superbowl party, then returned the TV. The return policy was 90 days, so no questions asked even though it was shady.
The same thing happened in the summer. People bought those pop up canopies. They all had their summer picnics and graduation parties, then they returned the canopies, the plastic tables, and the chairs that they bought a month earlier.

Yep. My wife used to be a manager at Sports Authority. People would return worn out sneakers, beat up skateboards, and all sorts of things.

[creditcardfree]

I'd try not to take the refund or at least inquiry with seller about the condition received in. Maybe point out that just as you sold a used book, they are also able to resell the book.

The time frame is suspicious.

[MooseBucks]

I agree that the length of time is suspect and I wouldn’t issue a refund.

[~bs]

I opened a case with Amazon explaining that it's been over 2 months and the buyer has had plenty of time to use the book and likely now just wants his money back which I'm not willing to do.

If I lose, I lose, but I'm not screwing around with garbage like this. I'd rather them take away my seller account. I rarely use it anyway.

I think there is a good chance you will win with amazon unless they're devious enough to claim that the book wasn't as described, like they found out the pages were all defaced or something.

BUT like I said, if you win the case, you just have to hope they wont take the next step of claiming a chargeback.

[disneysteve]

I got a response from Amazon. It said that the policy is that buyers should report problems within 14 days and returns should be postmarked within 30 days.

Since it has been more than 30 days, it's up to me how to handle it. They said I could have the buyer return the item at their own expense and upon receipt, refund them up to 80% deducting 20% as a restocking fee.

I'm not sure what I'd do if the buyer returns the item trashed, though. I guess I could make the refund contingent on getting the book back in the same condition I shipped it, but that then comes down to my word against his as to what the original condition was.

[Thrif-t]

Looks like their return policy on books is 30 days.

That's still pretty long actually. More than enough time for someone to buy a book, read it, and give it back.

I gotta tell you we/my kids get their books (buy/rent) on Amazon because of the 30 day return policy. I've found that the closer you get to class, the smaller the supply, the book prices go up. So our strategy is to get the book so that the 30 day return window is the first week of class. That way if the teacher says they don't need the book, we send it back. If we wait till school starts to get a book they need, chances are, they are out of stock and/or back ordered, or the prices are higher than it was earlier. Just the trend I notice.

Saying that, 2 mos is too long to buy ahead, I'd not give the refund.

[disneysteve]

Here is the message I sent the buyer. We'll see what kind of response I get.

I received your refund request and must say I was surprised. The book was in very good condition with only a bit of highlighting as noted in the description. If it was somehow damaged in shipping and arrived in poor condition, you should have contacted me right away, not over two months later. There's not really anything I can do about it at this point.

If he wins a dispute and I'm out the money, so be it.

[Gailete]

I sold a textbook on Amazon on November 19.
I received a refund request yesterday, January 23, saying "Condition not as expected."

Sounds to me like they bought the book, took the class, and now want to give it back. I think 2 months later is way too late to be asking for a refund.

I'm not sure what repercussions there could be if I refuse the refund. Some sort of negative feedback, I'm sure, but I don't know if Amazon can take any action against my seller account.

Steve, Here is the policy from Amazon that would be in effect for your sale.

The Amazon extended holiday return policy requires that orders shipped between November 1 and December 31 be returnable through January 31 of the following year.
This policy includes orders that are shipped by you and orders that are shipped by Amazon.

I'm not saying it is a good policy but it is what it is and scammers are taking full advantage of it, such as the two folks that bought sewing patterns from me and then claimed they didn't know they were getting a pattern, they thought they were getting an actual garment. Your buyer probably as well that needed the book for a short time.

All sellers on Amazon as far as I know have seller metrics, and refusing to do a refund would probably give you a ding and the buyer can still give you a negative feedback and then submit a claim to Amazon and Amazon will reimburse the buyer and take it out of your account, the WHOLE amount that the seller paid. This is the current policy that Amazon supports. Do with it what you like. Too many dings and Amazon can suspend you.