My predicament

I think it is reasonable for the Seller to request return of item before refund. Whether a licensed seller or not, normal trading rules (written or unwritten) dictate that item be returned before refund.

You trusted the seller before purchase by sending money in advance. I think you should trust the seller to refund the money once you have sent the item.

Having said that, I totally understand your anxiety - I have been involved in a couple of very similar transactions before (not with sellers on this forum) and remember that I was quite concerned the same thing you described would happen to me. Thankfully, return/refund went through without any problem.

If the seller is a long standing member with lot of positive feedback, it is unlikely that he would do what you described (unless he can prove it with evidence eg: serial number etc). Good luck!

Police wont get involved with this type of thing unless the value is a few grand at the very least. Nor will the postal inspectors they are to busy chasing all Nigerians and large scale fraud on ebay to have time for civil disputes. Your only course of action would be civil court or possibly Judge Judy if you really want to put the guy through the ringer.

Hope it works out in the end.

theelectrician wrote in post #10603397
Good idea, but even if I get proof that it was received what course of action would I have?

I understand if it is a licensed business but what is to stop him from getting the lens back and claiming I swapped it out with a broken one and keeping both the lens and my money?

If it was a 50mm f/1.8 I would consider this but it probably isn't worth fixing

Well, in that case, you should have a basic trust of the seller. I assume that you did a research on the seller's reputation before you pulled the trigger. If you have no any basic trust, then things indeed become very difficult. A crook seller could claim the item was damaged or was not in the original sending condition.

If you had purchased the lens from Amazon, would you expect them to refund your money before you returned the item? What guarantee does the seller have that you will return the item if he refunds your money?

Personally, I think it is a normal and reasonable request.

When I buy an item using paypal I am protected by them should there be a problem, I figured the same would be true for a refund since it is essentially the same transaction backwards

theelectrician wrote in post #10607459
When I buy an item using paypal I am protected by them should there be a problem, I figured the same would be true for a refund since it is essentially the same transaction backwards

Paypal doesn't offer as much protection as you think. (For forum transactions anyways)

Even if the deal goes south, you're only out maybe $80. I say send it back.

C.O.D.

Trust is a difficult thing on the Internet, so as a mediator mail the lens C.O.D. (cash on delivery) while requesting a bank issued check be cut. This way you get paid and they get their lens back - everyone's happy in the end.