So now Ebay has copied Paypals user agreement with regards to buyer protection.

If an item gets damaged in shipping, the buyer can report to Ebay and get his money back
from the seller (who is forced to pay through his Paypal/Creditcard/Ebay seller account).
That is regardless of the payment method chosen and who's fault the damage was.
The seller must even refund the postage cost.
Then the buyer can contact his local package distributor and claim a refund from the shipping
company from them as well, according to international postal regulations.
In other words, the seller will lose everything and the buyer gets a double refund (plus the damaged item).

I wrote to Ebay, telling them that this is a huge mistake but they just replied that they did this
to make it safer for buyers.

Oh yes, indeed it does...
And bloody dangerous for sellers !

Martin

This simply cannot work. Now a buyer & a seller team up, have something "of value" shipped, get it damaged in shipping (the easy part) and split the refund they get from the shipping company.

Yes, plus a lot of buyers that will simply buy something from a random seller and then "arrange" a damaged item to get a refund.
- Or actually two refunds
- Plus the item (unless Ebay tells the buyer to return it)

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/buyer-protection-faq.html

I understand that buyers need some protection from sellers decribing their items poorly or shipping something completely
different but making sellers responsible for transport damages will not work.

Hey, they even encourage buyers to accept a shipment that is obviously damaged in transport and then contact the seller
and then Ebay.
Quote:
"If you notice that the item is not as it was described in the listing, for example, it looks damaged, accept the item and then contact the seller and allow 3 business days for a reply. The seller may be willing to offer a refund or exchange within 45 days of payment.  If you're not able to work things out with the seller, you can reach eBay for support by opening a SNAD case...".

Martin

I don't think Ebay realizes its customers are the sellers, not the buyers.

There really needs to be an alternative to Ebay. Their rules are just getting worse all the time.

Craig