The Right to Receive Your Item.

Maybe the seller never sent the item, or maybe it got lost in
the post. Whatever happened, you paid for the item. If it
doesn’t arrive in the post as described, you have the right to a
replacement or a refund, whether it’s the seller’s fault or not.

The fact that you bought something on eBay doesn’t mean that
you don’t have the exact same rights that you would have if you
bought it in a shop (these rights are pretty much the same all
over the world). Plus, under eBay’s rules, the seller isn’t
allowed to change their mind about selling you the item: once
the auction ends, it becomes a contract – you must buy and they
must sell, or face eBay’s penalties.

The Right for Your Item to Be as Described in the Auction.

Sometimes sellers don’t wrap items properly, and so they get
broken. Occasionally they write descriptions that are misleading
or just plain wrong to begin with, leaving out vital details
that would have caused you to change your mind about buying. If
this happens to you, you again have the right to a replacement
or a refund.

So How Do I Use My Rights?

First, you should take it up with the seller – most will be
responsive, as do not want to have their reputation damaged when
an upset buyer leaves negative feedback for all their future
buyers to see. If that doesn’t work, report them to eBay.

While eBay don’t have many people handling complaints, they do
have a relatively effective set of automatic process to handle
common problems buyers and sellers have with one another.

Finally, if that doesn’t work, then you should seek advice from
consumer groups in your country, and as a last resort from the
police. You should never have to get this far, though: problems
on eBay that can’t be resolved easily are extremely rare.

Don’t Be Too Quick.

Remember not to get too annoyed and be unfair to the seller:
nice sellers have agreed to give me refunds for undelivered
items, only for me to find out a few weeks later that they were
being held for me at the post office! Always try your best to
communicate and think of everything that might have gone wrong:
eBay works best when buyers and sellers sort out their problems
together, instead of reporting each other to the authorities
straight away.

More often that not receiving what they paid for, buyers have
an altogether different problem: they knew what they were paying
for, but didn’t realise that what they were paying for was
overpriced, low quality or a scam. The next email will give you
a list of tips on how to avoid being ripped off on eBay.

About the Author: Kirsten Hawkins is an Ebay and internet
auction enthusiast from Nashville, TN. Visit
http://www.auctionseller411.com/ for more great tips on how to
make the most from Ebay and other online auctions.