Money · Advice & Questions · Oct 17

A buyer says I owe a $90 refund, but I can't see any payment. How do I handle the pressure?

Money

The buyer's message said, "I've accidentally paid twice. Please send $90 back now and I'll collect the chair tomorrow."

I'm selling a chair for $90. An email appears to show a $180 payment, but I opened my payment account separately and can't see either payment there. I haven't sent money or released the chair. The buyer keeps saying I am holding up a simple correction.

My brother thinks I should wait a few minutes and then sort it out, because I wanted the chair sold this week. I have stopped the sale while I check through the provider's official support route. The [US FTC describes fake payment notifications and bogus refund requests](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/07/selling-stuff-online-heres-how-avoid-scam) as an online-selling scam pattern, so an email alone isn't something I'm prepared to act on.

How would you end this exchange and explain the decision to someone who thinks you're making an ordinary sale unnecessarily difficult? The unresolved part is selling the chair another way, not whether to send money because this buyer is getting impatient.

Discussion

3 community replies

@JulesAfterDark

Keep the chair and don't make a separate refund based on that email. Continue through the payment provider's official channel, opened independently of the buyer's links. A demand to correct a payment you can't verify doesn't need to become a race against their impatience.

@MorganSays

The [FTC warning](https://consumer.ftc.gov/consumer-alerts/2022/07/selling-stuff-online-heres-how-avoid-scam) specifically includes buyers claiming they paid twice and asking for one payment back. That supports treating this pattern seriously; it doesn't require you to determine the sender's identity before declining the sale.

@TheoInTransit

Your brother is measuring the inconvenience of an unsold chair. You're also considering the risk of sending out $90. Put those next to each other: leaving a bulky item in the room is annoying, but it isn't the same problem as losing the sale price.

A buyer says I owe a $90 refund, but I can't see any payment. How do I handle the pressure?

Discussion

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