Returns on eBay

Is there anyone experienced with eBay returns?

I had a buyer in Canada request a return for a $15 item. The buyer repeatedly ordered from me before and sought to haggle a discount and once I accepted it, she requested to cancel the sale.

This is the only order which she did not cancel and was delivered to her. It was a sealed set of 4 collectible postcards. Without contacting me (despite she was previously messaging me all the time asking for discounts), she opened a return through eBay. She claimed only 3 postcards were inside.

I offered to refund her $4, which she declined. I then offered her to return the postcards in the cheapest untracked envelope, stating that I will pay the postage. She refused.

Eventually, I sent her an international pre-paid return label valued more than the order total, as I suspected the buyer was hoping to keep the merchandise for free, which I would not allow. It’s a collectible item and I can easily still resell it for more, after giving her a big discount.

Now, the buyer has the pre-paid return label in her eBay messages. But she stopped responding and now, the return is still open.

I am worried she will escalate it to eBay into a INAD case and I will lose, because the return label was given in a message, I did not upload it into the return at the time I accepted it.

Does anyone have any experience what would happen? Will eBay check the private messages?

I buy lots from ebay (and sell a little only once in a while) and have had a few returns, I don’t know how experienced I am. I just wonder why you don’t upload the return on eBay now, rather than give it in a message. Also, it looks like this buyer may have a hidden agenda and wish you ill, but what’s her point…to post negative feedback maybe?

Anyway… YES, eBay DOES check private messages, AND takes them into account - in fact, they’re very good at that, totally unlike Amazon. (I often marvel at how they find the time / enough staff to do it…but they do seem to read you, and take intentions into account).