Buyer threatening to open dispute over dress. What should I do?

[Lola101]

Hello,

I sold a new with tags dress to a seller for 110$. I sold it in December, and the buyer just messaged me that she only just opened the dress and that it had a hole in the neckline and that it had loose threads. She said she expected it to be in better condition for 110$ and that it wasn't like the other dresses she had purchased. I told her that I  inspected the dress before I shipped it and there were no holes in the dress. I am not sure why she is saying there is a hole in it now or where it came from. I am very concerned that I am going to lose my money and not get the dress back. I am at a complete loss as to what to do. Can anyone tell me how I should proceed? Do I wait on her to open a claim? Ask for pictures and offer a partial refund? Have her mail it back? I have never sold anything before on Paypal and am confused. This was sold on a BST board online. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thank you very much.

[Snow-Cat]

Who is Moderator002 - You don't appear to be a PayPal Employee !!

[Snow-Cat]

Ok - you are the seller - the dress went to the buyer.

How did you sell the dress ??

Did you send an invoice ??

Did you use eBay ??

Did you have the dress on your website ??

Did you provide the buyer your email address ??

As there's really not enough details, everything is basically a guess !!

One guess - if you sent an invoice to the buyer, the buyer paid, you have the money, you shipped and recorded the tracking info and insured the item if applicable and the buyer claims the item is damaged - you have options.   You can do a partial refund, you can do a full refund, you can open a claim with the shipper if you insured the package or you can go through the PayPal Resolution Process if a dispute is opened.  Buyers do have the advantage over Sellers as they have up to 180 days to open a dispute against you requesting a refund - sadly, buyers win more than sellers.   If you followed the steps outlined in the User Agreement for Seller Protection, it's possible to win a claim against you.

If the buyer used the Send Money feature and choose the "Friend and Family" option - you have no proof of a sale and the buyer can claim an unauthorized transaction - as there's no proof of a sale - the so called buyer may end up with both the dress and their money back.

[Lola101]

Thank you- I edited to change seller to buyer. She sent the payment with the details. It says it is seller protected eligible. It was sold on a Buy, sell, trade page on facebook. I shipped it insured through USPS. Will Paypal have her ship the dress back to me before they refund her? I'd rather have a damaged dress than be out the money and the dress. 

[Snow-Cat]

They (PayPal) do ask the buyer to return the item however, they cannot verify that it has actually happened however, the buyer can provide a bogus tracking number or other info.  If the buyer is legit, you should get the item back.  There are more good people out there than the small majority of not so good people so hopefully things will be fine.