Me, too, Lucille. Then there's the occasional (rare) "highball" offer on an auction. Much more fun. :-)

Can you delete the auction, and start a new one. It's a pain in the butt to set up an item for sale, but at least you'll get paid what you intended to get.

I listed a couple of things(14K jewelry, I no longer wear. Remember herringbone necklaces? Gold nugget pendants?) this Summer and found the "new trend" was to ask for partial refunds. The buyers said they were making their living melting it down and wanted a higher profit(their scale varied from mine, supposidly). When I declined & offered a FULL refund they closed the request. (I purchased the pieces back when it was $329 -$350 an ounce. I have a LOT of wiggle room)

On sellers selling light fixtures, that I purchase from for my remodels, there was a blurb saying partial refunds are rampant. Guess they were right. :0)

Ebay has always been a strange place....it's good to know about their relisting policy. Thanks for the info!

(Note: I did use the "best offer" pricing and got 3-4 offers on each piece within seconds of listing the pieces. Fastest sales I've ever made, like lightning!)

Can you delete the auction, and start a new one. It's a pain in the butt to set up an item for sale, but at least you'll get paid what you intended to get.

Debby, eBay now adds the Best Offer option to all new listings. You can specify when eBay should automatically refuse an offer, but if you let eBay set that point it can be ridiculously low. For example, I listed an item at $12 with free shipping. Shipping would cost about $3 and change. EBay would have rejected Best Offers at $5.50 or under. That means a $6 offer would have been sent to me, and I'd have to take the time to reject it.

You still have control over how much money you'll get (or don't get) but it's a nuisance.

Nicole, I never heard of partial refunds. How nervy!

I buy from "this" seller frequently! I get incredible deals! Here's the blurb she lists on every auction...she's reworded it since my last purchase. :0) It used to say partial refunds are rampant...yada...yada...

RETURNS - EXCHANGES - ISSUES:

If you don’t need the item or aren't 100% satisfied, please send it back for a full refund... no questions asked. I don't do partial refunds so don't even ask or "fish" (so many people out there doing feedback extortion ruined this). I really always prefer you send the item back for a full refund. I'll take the loss on the shipping charge sending it to you and buyer pays return shipping. If the item is damaged in shipping I will open a claim with UPS.

If you feel the item is not as described, please contact me before opening a case with ebay. I truly want to make every transaction with me a great experience.There will be a neon colored piece of paper in with your item that gives you the return instructions and address... basically, just write your RA# on the box and send it back and I'll refund you within 24 hours.

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I last purchased "3" ceiling fans(all offered in 1 auction) from her. Can you imagine what return shipping I'd pay? Maybe $75? $75 is what I paid for all 3....:0) I don't think she gets many returns...

I think eBay automatically adding OBO to a listing is plain stupid. I don't think, though, that you have to respond. You can just ignore the offers and let them expire. As for partial refunds, I've asked for one when I've purchased a set of something and one or more pieces arrive broken. I don't necessarily want to send the whole set back because I can use the whole pieces.

Most eBay sellers are terrific. I just wish they all knew how to pack fragile items. Most of the problems I've had have been with sellers who put items into a box with insufficient or poorly arranged packing. As for paying return shipping for what is effectively the seller's issue...no way!

I've been an eBay user since the days of money orders for payment! I've had probably 3 bad sellers in that time. The first, sold me a Lego toy that arrived with multiple missing pieces. When I complained, he explained that he worked at Toys R Us and that his manager had written it out of stock and given it to him and he didn't know. Really? A manager wrote out of stock a perfectly good toy at Christmas? I got a refund and returned it to him. The second time was for a VERY expensive jar of face moisturizer. It didn't come and didn't come, I kept contacting seller, she said she would not ship until she had been paid by PayPal (where I had used AmEx) and that they had not yet paid her. Turns out, she didn't have the mdse - she was "hoping to get it soon". Got a full refund from PayPal. Third was a real mess. The seller was selling a very large Irish damask tablecloth, described as being in "flawless, perfect" condition. It's very hard size to find and would fit my VERY wide (56" wide!) DR table. It needed laundering so I asked her if she would ship it directly to a specialty laundry I use in Wisconsin. It's a laundry for very fragile and special heirloom linens. It's owned by Leron, the heirloom linen company, and I've used them for years. They do beautiful hand mending on old, fragile linen, everything is ironed by hand on huge tables with irons with cords that go to the ceiling. It is then rolled with acid free tissue and put on a roller and wrapped and sent to me UPS. Yes, it DOES cost a fortune - about $135 including the over-size shipping due to the size of the roller. She agreed to do this.

A week later, I got an email from the manager of the laundry. They hand check every single inch of every cloth they launder, BEFORE ever laundering it. They found multiple small holes, some about the size of a dime. She said they could easily hand mend them and they would not be terribly noticeable due to location and blending into the chrysanthemum damask pattern. She gave me a price - think it was about $50. I emailed the seller and forwarded the email from the laundry. She immediately accused the laundry of causing this damage. All they did was unpack the cloth and inspect it!. The laundry manager emailed her and explained their process and sent her photos of the damage to the cloth. She continued to claim it was done by them.

I filed a claim with both PayPal and eBay. She won. Apparently, when anything is not shipped DIRECTLY to the buyer, the seller is not considered responsible if it arrives damaged. Heck, I've bought many a present for a grandchild and had it shipped directly to the child's parent - why pay shipping twice! I had no idea, but now I do and will never do it again. They woman was a crook. The laundry felt so badly that they did not charge me for the repairs - felt I'd been robbed. The cloth is quite useable - I would have bought it with the holes (for less money!) and had them mend it, as it's such a difficult size to find.

But I certainly learned something about shipping to a 3rd party.

What a wildly frustrating experience, Anglophilia! Did you end up having the laundry repair the holes? I hope you've at least gotten some enjoyment out of the "flawless, perfect" tablecloth.

I once bought a long, 100% camel's hair coat, described as having no damage. When it arrived I found some evidence that moths had been at work. I was about to work up a head of steam about it, but then I remembered I'd paid only $3. :-)

Nicole, I'm thinking that no matter how she words her ads, Ebay policy is if the item is not as described and a buyer opens a case to that effect and wins, the seller pays return shipping?

I think that is why there are so many partial refunds, because the seller does not want to pay return shipping.

I've never heard of the seller paying the return shipping and they never refund the shipping you paid to get it to you. They give partial refunds in hopes of no negative Feedback.

Yes, Alisande, I did have the laundry repair the small holes and they did a beautiful job and didn't charge me as they felt badly that I had been "had". I use the cloth at Christmas. It is still sitting, folded on a dining room chair waiting for me to mail it back to Wisconsin! I must do that soon! I just stuff it in a big post office envelope when I send it to them - saves me some money.

By the way, if any of you have lovely, very special linens you need laundered or repaired, the name of the place is The Laundry at Linens Limited <https://www.linenlaundry.com>;. Be sure to use this URL as there are others that are not the same. I see their prices have gone up - going to cost a LOT to get that cloth done this year!

I mis-spoke earlier - they were not bought by Leron but by E.Braun, also an heirloom linen store with shops in NYC and Beverly Hills. They carry the most exquisite things!

The boiling in a copper kettle is something I am familiar with. When we lived in St Louis and my first baby was born in 1970, I got my christening gown from my mother and we were horrified to see age rusty colored marks all over it. My mother had hand laundered it and stored it SO carefully. I took it to a now long gone laundry in University City on Delmar - it was called The French Hand Laundry. They had HUGE kettles and were boiling the linens! I'd never seen such a thing before! When I picked up the christening gown, it flawless - no stains and beautifully ironed and stuffed with acid free tissue. They laundered it again when my daughter was born two years later. I did it myself for my 4 grandchildren. It is very carefully stored, but I doubt it will ever be used again - I don't think they'll baptize their babies -- all into "science, not religion". Breaks my heart...

I've never heard of the seller paying the return shipping and they never refund the shipping you paid to get it to you.

I think the seller pays for shipping both ways in a 'not as described' case:

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When an item doesn't match the listing description

If a buyer receives an item that doesn't match the listing description, the buyer needs to request a return from My eBay. The seller should address the buyer's concern and offer a solution, such as accepting a return, offering a replacement or refund.

If the buyer doesn't receive a response or solution, or returns the item but doesn't receive a refund or replacement from the seller, the buyer can ask us to step in and help.

If asked to step in and help, we review the item description, photos of the item, if provided by the buyer or seller, and any other information about the item that the buyer and seller provide. If we can't determine that the item matches the listing description, if the seller has already offered a return, or the seller's stated return window and policy applies, we may ask the buyer to return the item to the seller.

When an item is returned to the seller

• The buyer must return the item in the same condition in which it was received.
• The seller is required to accept the return at the same location specified in the listing.
• The cost of return shipping is the seller's responsibility. For return of items with a total cost of $750 or more, we require signature confirmation.
• The seller pays for any customs charges on the returned item.

Either we generate a return shipping label or the seller can provide a label. We add the cost of an eBay-generated label to the seller's monthly eBay invoice.

When a return shipping label is made available to the buyer and/or the buyer chooses to purchase a separate label, the buyer won't be refunded by eBay for the cost of the label.

After confirming that the item was returned to the seller, we refund the full cost of the item and original shipping via PayPal. We require the seller to reimburse us for the amount. When the buyer arranges shipping or picks up the item, we may not refund the cost of original shipping or pickup.

If the seller chooses to offer the buyer an untracked returns label, the buyer will not be required to provide proof of delivery of the return if eBay is asked to step in and help. The seller will be responsible for the reimbursement amount. Find out more about reimbursement.