How to seek a refund/redress for a possible fake on eBay?

dudara

I've never been in this position before, but I recently purchased a shirt on eBay (a Paul Smith) which I have reason to believe to be fake. Additionally it doesn't fit, whereas I know genuine Paul Smith shirts do.

I've sent an email to the seller, requesting a refund, outling my reasons for doing so. I've done this as I feel it's only fair to contact the seller first, and secondly I have proof that I made an effort to contact the seller in case this goes to an eBay/Paypal dispute.

If I do not get satisfaction from the seller, do I raise a dispute against the seller, or do I make a complaint of selling what I believe to be fake merchandise?

Thanks in advance for your help.

jor el

The usual way it goes, when reporting a seller for selling fakes, is that eBay or Paypal will ask you to obtain proof that it's fake. This would mean contacting a Paul Smith agent/store and getting them to certify that what you have is not genuine. This might be more hassle than it's worth, and you may not even get what you need.

If you get no response from the seller within a few days, then raise a Paypal dispute. give that a couple of days too, and if no response, escalate to a claim. That normally gets some sort of response, but if it doesn't, you'll get your refund.

The seller might start to give you the runaround, but keep an eye on the dates. You can only raise a Paypal dispute up to 45 days after your payment, beyond this, they'll do nothing. Some unscrupulous sellers try to give you the brush off until after this date, so they don't have to do anything when it's too late for you to complain.

dudara

Thanks.

The seller responded saying that it was not a fake, but that they would offer me a refund. I was happy to accept that and leave the whole thing, but then my reply bounced from their hotmail address. Hmmm?

jor el

Try sending the same reply through eBay's contact field, just to be safe. That would at least show up in their "My eBay" page.