Alan Tessier has been buying and selling items on eBay for two decades, but has never encountered problems like the ones he faced with his most recent sale, which left him more than $ 1,000 poorer.
The Ottawa resident sold his Canon 90D camera in late February and shipped it to the buyer, who bought it through the eBay marketplace. When the camera came on, that person changed his mind and didn’t want any more.
Tessier said he has been involved in 112 transactions on eBay, both as a buyer and as a seller, and felt “safe” using the site. This transaction was a different story.
The person from London, Ontario, who bought the camera shared pictures with Tessier showing that the camera was dirty, not the “pristine” state in which he had sent it.
Ebay ruled that the buyer had a valid claim and issued a refund. Tessier said he agreed for the company to purchase a prepaid return shipping label. He also showed CBC a balance of the March statement from eBay where he was charged $ 21.20 for shipping tags.
Alan Tessier holds the camera he bought after selling his Canon 90D on eBay. (Dan Taekema / CBC)
But the label provided by the company was for the U.S. Postal Service, according to Tessier, which did not help send anything to Ontario.
“It looks like because that didn’t work, they just threw up their arms,” he said.
Tessier says his camera was never returned. He received $ 160 from eBay, but that didn’t come close to the value of the camera. After three months of frustration, he approached CBC.
On June 6, after CBC contacted eBay about the situation, Tessier said he received an email from the company stating that he had been paid $ 985, the remaining amount owed to him.
Ebay spoke to the seller and was able to “resolve the issue amicably,” a spokesman said in an email to CBC that same day.
TARGET | After months of struggle, eBay reimburses the seller after the buyer escapes with the camera
After months of struggle, eBay reimburses the seller after the buyer escapes with the camera
Alan Tessier sold his Canon 90D camera on eBay to a buyer in London, Ontario, who quickly complained about its condition and asked for a refund. EBay gave him one, but never returned the camera, leaving Tessier more than $ 1,000.
“The seller counts”
Tessier said the process took frustrating months of calls and emails. Consumer lawyer Daniel Tsai says this is a warning story for anyone who wants to sell through online platforms.
“It’s a seller’s situation for me, mind you,” said Tsai, a Toronto-based business lawyer. “In this case, the seller has been holding the bag.”
The eBay spokesman said the company takes the complaints seriously and investigates them. People who buy and sell on the site are protected by “policies, transaction control and data systems,” according to its statement.
After reviewing eBay’s policies, Tsai took a different view.
“Contractually speaking, the seller doesn’t have much to do because eBay left it so ambiguous and hasn’t given them any protection under the contract,” he said.
Daniel Tsai is a consumer advocate who teaches business law in Toronto. (Greg Bruce / CBC)
This leaves the seller with few resources, except to go through a “very long, costly and stressful process of small claims court”, while the buyer retains his property and a refund, the lawyer said.
If this happened to a salesman like Tessier who had a “significant” amount of money, “it’s probably happening to other people,” Tsai added.
Beware of scams and “idiots”
Tessier said he kept trying to contact the buyer because, as he said, “It’s $ 1,125. I mean if it were a pair of shoes for $ 30, you’d say live and learn.”
All of your follow-up emails were “undeliverable” again.
Tessier, a trade business analyst, suggests that eBay use an easy-to-find link for return shipping tags. He also wants sellers to “read everything and make sure who is responsible for paying why.”
Tsai echoed Tessier’s sentiment.
“Really eBay should intensify and protect these sellers as much as they are protecting buyers,” he said.
“Sellers need to be much more aware and aware of protecting themselves from possible scams or buyers who are just being idiots.”