Swappa experience?

[Truefan31]

I bought a razr off swappa. I got the phone but the battery was faulty. I reported to swappa staff and the seller. Seller says the battery was good and no returns allowed. I said I'd be willing to return phone but I want a refund. Since I didn't hear anything for 2 days and the seller again said no returns, I filed a paypal dispute. Now the seller is saying if I return the phone hell refund me. But I don't wanna get screwed here. Any suggestions? It's 100 usd so it's not a large amount.

 

[MRU]

Return it but make sure your PayPal dispute is recorded as sending back the phone. Get a tracking / receipt of postage.

Should worse case scenario the seller not automatically refund you, you can then escalate it to paypal and you will get refunded.

 

[Truefan31]

So notate in my paypal dispute I returned it with the tracking number?

 

[MRU]

Yep. So that if you have to elevate it with PayPal itself you and they have a record of you returning it. just make sure you get a receipt of postage and tracking / signed for delivery. More insurance if the seller doesn't promptly refund you.

 

[Truefan31]

Good idea. Think I'll take pics of the phone too in case he tries to say I damaged it returning it

 

[jamezr]

Good idea. Think I'll take pics of the phone too in case he tries to say I damaged it returning it

you could take a video of the phone and you packaging it. To show the condition of the phone and it was indeed packaged.

 

[spinedoc77]

Just out of curiosity, was Swappa any help? I buy stuff off there occasionally and it would be good to know if they are helpful, or useless if a transaction goes bad.

 

[jamezr]

Just out of curiosity, was Swappa any help? I buy stuff off there occasionally and it would be good to know if they are helpful, or useless if a transaction goes bad.

I just had a transaction go bad on Swappa. The buyer changed his mind.....wanted a different color phone. He even admitted he did not even look at the pictures in the listing. He admitted it but still wanted a refund......lucky for me i had not shipped the phone yet. Swappa recommend a refund. Buyer threatened to open a PayPal dispute. In the end it was easier to just refund the buyer. Swappa reactivated my listing and upgraded it to a feature listing.
I really do not know what PayPal would have done....they do not get into that kind of dispute anyway.....

 

[BlueGoldAce]

Just out of curiosity, was Swappa any help? I buy stuff off there occasionally and it would be good to know if they are helpful, or useless if a transaction goes bad.

Swappa will help where they can, but really the website serves as the middle-man...and really just that. You don't get the added protection of ebay, but you also typically pay less in fees.

That being said, paypal provides a pretty robust protection, and you should be fairly safe if you take precautions. If the phone is worth over 250, then make sure you get a signature confirmation...that is required by paypal.

But keep this in mind, if you are the seller, the buyer is ALWAYS right. Paypal is quicker to side with the buyer than the seller. That is why you take before pictures, and you get signature confirmation. That way, if they buyer tries to pull something, you have proof. Worse comes to worse, they ship it back and you refund them.

Really the same can be said for ebay, though I believe there may be some other protections in place. Honestly, I have been using swappa lately and enjoy it. Just got to be smart enough to be careful.

 

[rhinosrcool]

Both ebay and swappable have their uses. However, take precautions like pre - shipping pics and signature confirmations. With ebay, you have some history to look at. With swappa, it's less so (obviously, it's newer).