Recently I bought a particular raw card on r/pkmntcgtrades using PayPal, and the videos the seller sent me of the card showed in it very good condition. We came to an agreement on price, I paid extra for the PayPal G&S fee and the seller covered shipping. However, upon receiving the card I noticed lots of scratching on the holo and quickly realized the light the seller used in the video didn’t show the scratches. I messaged the seller about this and asked for a full refund, and the seller replied saying that they would be down the amount of the G&S fee if they refunded me in full.
I did some quick research and found out that PayPal pockets the fee, so I figured since I agreed to cover the fees when purchasing, that it would only be fair for me to be the one to lose the money there and so I agreed to a refund of just the amount that we settled for on the card itself. The seller then asked that I send the card back before they issue a refund.
My question is this: is sending the card back first, before receiving the refund, the proper thing to do? I have many more confirmed trades on the subreddit than the seller, and subreddit rules state the member with lower confirmed trades sends their side of the trade first (usually this rule is omitted, and the buyer pays first before the seller ships out the card, regardless of confirmed trade count). Additionally, I have an eBay store with a decent amount of feedback, all positive, which I can reference if I need to produce records of trustworthiness. I understand that the seller likely doesn’t want to get scammed, but I am not comfortable sending the card back before I receive a refund. I know I can open a dispute with PayPal if things get dicey, but I’d prefer to work it out with the seller first. I’ve never had to return a card before though, so I am not sure of the “proper” procedure.
Having done countless trades back in the day on that very same subreddit, I have to agree with this 100%. Its the best option and the cleanest as well. Just inform the seller of what you are doing, most people I used to deal on there were usually very communicative.
Doing it in the way the others have suggested will likely force the seller to refund you in full (and lose the fees) just note this may make them upset. When you open a PayPal return you can’t ask that only 97% be refunded (less the 3% fee).
Thanks for the responses, all! I will open a claim with PayPal. I agree it is likely the smoothest way of going about this. I’ll also send the fees back to the seller in a separate transaction.
So an update on the issue. I created an “item not as described” case through PayPal two days ago after all the advice on this thread (thank you everyone!) and the seller was not too happy. The seller is still refusing to issue a refund and says he cannot because the money was pulled from his account. However, the money has not been returned to me so I assume the money was pulled from him and put in limbo because I created a case? Can anyone offer confirmation/insight into if this is true or not? The case is still marked as “awaiting seller response”, so I know he did not take any action himself. I told him if I do not receive a refund today I will escalate the case to PayPal directly.
Also, am I correct in my understanding that once the refund is issued, PayPal will prompt me to submit a tracking number for the return? I’ve never had to go through this before, so any clarification would honestly help a lot!