Ebay and cancelling and order to a buyer?

Question

Hi, I bought some brand named shirts on Ebay this morning using paypal & my visa debit card, and was doing some reading here on yahoo and ebay about 'fake' items. I am scared that the item might be fake/pirated or impersonations (whatever you want to call them). The $$ has been deducted from my bank but is at a pending status. The bank told me to wait til I get the items and then if I decide to dispute it afterwards, to do a claim with them. They suggested I contact seller too to see if they will do a refund too before going to bank. I am new to Ebay so would like your imput & how to do this. How can I cancell my purchase. Do i go through ebay or paypal? any 800 #'s out there as I was not able to find one. PS. I got some print out of ways to tell if shirts are fake or not. At home, I have authentic shirts and could use those guidelines to check for shirts but I havent received the shirts yet and wont for a few days yet, I imagine. thanks in advance

Elaine, as per your answer, should I email seller and ask him about the shirts & if they are fake? Would this 'after purchase' email still be something that could back me up, if I choose to dispute after receiving the shirts? What if he replies to the email and admits they are fake (after or before I receive shirts)? what then? thanks

Answer 1

You don't say why you think the items are phoney, so I'm going to assume that you've just gotten "internet-phobia" from some of the stuff you've read. =) You don't have a compelling reason to cancel your trade at this point.

First, just leave the Seller alone. If the Seller is knowingly selling phoneys, the Seller isn't going to tell you "Oh yeah, these are knock-offs! I enjoy breaking the law." Presumably, the Seller is being square, and the items are as described. If the Seller doesn't know any better, then the Seller... well, doesn't know any better, so you still know nothing more than the description says. Either way, there's zero point in asking after-the-fact or implied accusations: caveat emptor -- do your homework before you bid or buy. =)

When your items arrive, enjoy them. If you're expert to determine that these are counterfeits, then you have an issue. You don't need to lay groundwork for a claim as suggested above by contacting the Seller -- the items are as described, or they aren't. If not, you have the basis for a claim, called "Significantly Not As Described" or SNAD for short.

I think you're probably going to get exactly what you purchased, and you can relax. If you were buying a designer handbag (forget it) or a plasma TV for $200... ha! Okay, so let's say for the sake of your question that you get bogus stuff.

(You can start on eBay, which will send you to Paypal.) On Paypal, you will open a dispute for SNAD. The Seller may opt to refund your money on her own after you return the goods. If not, Paypal will tell you to send the item back to Seller (at your expense). Paypal will then return your money.

Either way, you'll be fine! =)

Answer 2

Don't cancel anything till you can determine if the shirts are fake. Most items online are the real thing. You don't want to alienate the seller if they have proper goods they're selling.

In an email to the seller let them know you're only interested in the real items, not fakes or pirated product. That gives you an out if you don't want them--you're buying the real ones only and have stated so in a message that will back you up in any dispute.

If there is a dispute--return the shirts and ask for a refund. Tell Paypal about it, so they can initiate whatever they need to do. But by all means wait till you can see the shirts to make any decision on them.