# eBay auction--new vs refurbished--can I back out? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2009, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535 "2009-10-20T22:47:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/21 "2009-10-22T02:19:48Z")
If you paid PayPal backed with a credit card and not your bank account you’re on solid ground 'cause you’ll simply do a chargeback. ---
**Author:** ![mlai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e5b9ba/32.png) [@mlai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlai)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/22 "2009-10-22T02:28:47Z")
What an ass. > [@](#): > > Feel free to file a dispute, however my bank account is now closed and my ebay account suspended due to not paying the fees, because like I said, I HAVE NO MONEY, you wouldn’t get a dime back unfortunetly. So I don’t recommend that you do that, but that is your call. Well, I did it anyways and updated the dispute to a claim. I responded, essentially, that unlike him, PayPal has more than enough money to cover my ass. His response: > [@](#): > > well good luck. There arent getting money from me so i could care less. So, essentially, he’s okay with stealing the money from PayPal. Just out of curiosity, if every he’s said about his accounts closing are true, what happens? Does PayPal just foot the bill? Do they send repo men to his house? ---
**Author:** ![drachillix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/48db29/32.png) [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/23 "2009-10-22T03:10:03Z")
> [@mlai](#): > > So, essentially, he’s okay with stealing the money from PayPal. Just out of curiosity, if every he’s said about his accounts closing are true, what happens? Does PayPal just foot the bill? Do they send repo men to his house? Well Paypal is a bank or sorts… I’m sure if there is a bunch of folks with the same problem, you will see nasty letters from their legal folks followed by lawsuit of its enough money. ---
**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/24 "2009-10-22T05:57:36Z")
> [@mlai](#): > > What an ass. > > Well, I did it anyways and updated the dispute to a claim. I responded, essentially, that unlike him, PayPal has more than enough money to cover my ass. His response: > > So, essentially, he’s okay with stealing the money from PayPal. Just out of curiosity, if every he’s said about his accounts closing are true, what happens? Does PayPal just foot the bill? Do they send repo men to his house? From my understanding, PayPal will refund your money and try to collect it from the guy. Since it’s apparently not his PayPal account, I’m not sure what will happen. If it actually is his girlfriend’s account, I’d keep an eye out for the two of them on Judge Judy. Sorry that you got a raw deal, though. Hopefully you’ll have your refund shortly. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/25 "2009-10-22T17:15:48Z")
I had a very similar thing happen to me 2 year ago. I bought an MP3 player on Ebay. The item took forever to ship, but it did eventually arrive. What I got was not what was described. When I contacted the seller, she told me to send it back and she would send the correct item. So I sent it back… and heard nothing for 10 days. I emailed the seller again and she had the gall to tell me that the player got damaged during my shipment back to her and that she was investigating having the post office pay for the item. At this point I told her I didn’t want it and wanted a refund. She initially would not give it to me and claimed I intentionally damaged the item. I told her that I felt I was getting the old “Bait and Switch” tactic from her and that now that she has the item back, she was trying to scam me for the money. I also told her I would take it to Ebay/Paypal for resolution if she didn’t refund my money immediately. So she finally refunded my money. I was completely surprised, but she did refund it. I left her negative feedback, but so did she, of me. Ultimately it did not affect me as an Ebay buyer, but I noticed her Ebay account was deactivated shortly after this incident. I was lucky to get my money back. I hope you do as well. Take this to Ebay/Paypal resolution. Its what they are there for. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![Dragwyr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dragwyr/32/2855_2.png) [@Dragwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragwyr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/26 "2009-10-22T17:17:57Z")
Isn’t buying on Ebay fun? ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/27 "2009-10-22T18:15:26Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > If you paid PayPal backed with a credit card and not your bank account you’re on solid ground 'cause you’ll simply do a chargeback. This deserves repeating. I always pay with a credit card through PayPal if I can. It requires that you keep no money in your PayPal account (and that the recipient can accept credit card payments), but the process for disputing a transaction is incredibly easy and quick. I trust my credit card a lot more than I trust PayPal. ---
**Author:** ![Translucent\_Daydream](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/translucent_daydream/32/16170_2.png) [@Translucent\_Daydream](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Translucent_Daydream)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/28 "2009-10-22T18:29:35Z")
I buy with my AMEX gold charge card with PayPal/eBay/Half.com for this exact reason. I call AMEX and PayPal and notify them both if there is something funky happening and generally AMEX and PayPal work it out, then I get a call from AMEX telling me the money is back. Usually, AMEX will just refund me and then go after the funds through PayPal and work it out that way. I have had to do this twice. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/29 "2009-10-22T19:30:37Z")
> [@Dragwyr](#): > > I had a very similar thing happen to me 2 year ago. I bought an MP3 player on Ebay. The item took forever to ship, but it did eventually arrive. What I got was not what was described. When I contacted the seller, she told me to send it back and she would send the correct item. So I sent it back… and heard nothing for 10 days. I emailed the seller again and she had the gall to tell me that the player got damaged during my shipment back to her and that she was investigating having the post office pay for the item. At this point I told her I didn’t want it and wanted a refund. She initially would not give it to me and claimed I intentionally damaged the item. I told her that I felt I was getting the old “Bait and Switch” tactic from her and that now that she has the item back, she was trying to scam me for the money. I also told her I would take it to Ebay/Paypal for resolution if she didn’t refund my money immediately. > > So she finally refunded my money. I was completely surprised, but she did refund it. I left her negative feedback, but so did she, of me. Ultimately it did not affect me as an Ebay buyer, but I noticed her Ebay account was deactivated shortly after this incident. > > I was lucky to get my money back. I hope you do as well. Take this to Ebay/Paypal resolution. Its what they are there for. Good luck. This sounds very similar to my experience, except she wasn’t as communicative. A month or so after sending it back she said “send it to me. If I find the serial number doesn’t match my records, then I will open a claim.” I neglected to write it down, but luckily ebay had my back. By the way, with [half.com](http://half.com) and probably ebay too, you have **60 days** to leave feedback, even though the website says 90. They didn’t seem interested in changing that when I pointed it out. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2009, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535/30 "2009-10-22T21:24:14Z")
> [@Alex\_Dubinsky](#): > > PayPal puts holds on new sellers. The hold is until positive feedback is left or 21 days pass. I believe they also hold payments for sellers whose detailed seller ratings drop below some level or other (and the threshold for this is not astonishingly low, IIRC) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ebay-auction-new-vs-refurbished-can-i-back-out/514535.md?page=1)