About a month ago, I sold a pair of expensive designer jeans on ebay. A buyer from overseas contacted me and asked me to end the auction early for $40 (considerably higher than what they would have sold for- the highest bid was $10 so far). I agreed and sent her the jeans. I took multiple pictures of the jeans before sending them to document their condition, since I thought it was a bit strange that the buyer offered to pay so much. Until now, I had NO idea that I could not end an auction early for this purpose. I had no clue that it was illegal to do this on eBay, until researching it now.
About a week after the buyer received the jeans, she emailed me back with a very aggressive e-mail saying she wanted a full refund because the jeans were horrendously destroyed and used. Based on the pictures I took, and my own knowledge knowing that these jeans were brand new- I was surprised at this e-mail.
I responded and said she could send them back, but I will not reimburse her for shipping costs since these jeans were not used or worn. It has been almost TWO weeks since I e-mailed her, and I just received an e-mail from her asking what my return address is. If she was so horrified with the jeans, you would assume she would have sent them back immediately or asked for my address (the return address is right on the packing slip and box, so there's no excuse for her e-mailing me asking for the address). She is now claiming that they have lint in the pockets, and dirt on the bottom of the jeans. She never said this in her original e-mail, and my pictures prove that they did not leave in this condition.
Any thoughts on what I should do about this situation? I have asked her twice to open a PayPal dispute so this can be documented, but she will not. Based on how strange this situation feels, I e-mailed her back and told her I will not accept the jeans back based on the time elapsed and new claims made by her. I urged her to open a PayPal dispute. Is this the right thing to do at this point?
