Ebay etiquette

[SarahP13]

If any of you are regular ebay users I'd appreciate a bit of advice on feedback etiquette please!

I ordered a pair of Anna/Elsa dolls for my nieces birthday, when I received the dispatch email I realised they wouldn't arrive in time for her birthday. Completely my fault, they did give delivery estimates but I didn't read it properly. Anyway I decided to buy my niece something else and give the dolls to my DD's.

Anyway they have just arrived, the description online says 'brand new, unused, unopened, undamaged item' and that is clearly untrue. The box is completely squashed, slightly torn on a couple of corners and has been very obviously resealed with sellotape. Now, the dolls are fine, not damaged and look like the picture online. My girls aren't going to give a monkeys what the box looks like so I'm happy to keep it and not request a refund (they were less than £10 and came from Hong Kong). However if I had still planned to give them as a gift...well, I wouldn't, it looks awful.

So, my question is; should I contact the seller to express my disappointment and wait for their response or, given I don't want a refund, should I just leave feedback?! I'm not sure what the done thing is!?!

Thanks!

 

[liz1985]

I recieved an item where the packaging was badly damaged but the item was fine. It only cost a couple of pounds with free postage so I ticked positive and then in comments wrote could have been packaged better but item in good condition. If it was something expensive id send a message asking for refund on postage.

 

[SarahP13]

Thanks, it was free postage so don't feel I can ask for a refund on that!

The thing that bothers me is that as it was a gift the packaging was important, I don't expect anything from the seller so guess I'll just leave feedback regarding the packaging and not bother to contact them directly.

 

[sue_88]

I'd just leave feedback if you're not requesting a refund. I'd toy with the idea of leaving neutral.

 

[x__amour]

I'd just leave a comment in the feedback.

 

[emyandpotato]

TBH if this was me and someone was unhappy I'd rather get a message about it and refund them a couple of quid than get negative or neutral feedback, and you only need one or two bad or neutral reviews and you're no longer allowed to sell.

 

[R_x]

I would message them and hope for a partial refund x

 

[lau86]

I don't like leaving negative/ neutral feedback if I haven't messaged them first and allowed them a chance to rectify it. I would always message first

 

[R_x]

I don't like leaving negative/ neutral feedback if I haven't messaged them first and allowed them a chance to rectify it. I would always message first

Most sellers state to message them too, before leaving feedback

 

[KayBea]

message the seller.
it really annoys me when a buyer leaves me negative feedback without messaging me 1st.
ive got a negative because theyve not recieved an item, if they had messaged me i would have sent another or refunded them.. x

 

[Lauraxamy]

As long as the item is fine I wouldn't leave bad feedback. Or like the others have said at least message them first, they may be really helpful and offer you a discount or something.

 

[Noodlebear]

Had it been a delivery issue or something I'd contact the seller but in this instance I would leave neutral feedback and a comment because their description was misleading and they would've known that. If you'd have still been gifting the dolls it wouldn't have been suitable.

 

[SarahP13]

Had it been a delivery issue or something I'd contact the seller but in this instance I would leave neutral feedback and a comment because their description was misleading and they would've known that. If you'd have still been gifting the dolls it wouldn't have been suitable.

This is kind of the point I was making, the box is part of the present, it's disney with pictures etc - just cardboard but it would look very odd to give the dolls without the box. The description actually says 'unopened' which is not just misleading but an outright lie!