BUYER PROTECTION

If a product does not arrive, arrives damaged or different to advertised, eBay is the first line of protection. You need to open a claim within 30 days of the expected delivery date. For most items, return postage must be covered by the seller — be aware some will try to avoid this. Never return an item without some form of tracking to show you posted it, and it arrived. eBay’s dispute process is simple to use, but at least partially automated and sometimes gives unexpected results. If so, get in contact via the help page and the customer service should be able to make it right. Your second line of defence is via PayPal (if used), which offers much the same process. Keep in mind you have 180 days from the purchase to claim through PayPal, but you can’t do both it and an eBay claim at the same time, go via eBay first. You can also claim through your credit card purchase protections if needed.