Before I get into this, I should probably explain what Depop is; so Depop is a selling app that has become increasingly popular. It is as though Ebay and Instagram had a baby, as you take the picture of your item/s on your phone and upload them directly on to the app. Then, so the item can be found by potential buyers you use hashtags as you would on instagram or twitter, which are basically like keywords for the search bar eg. #MAC #highheels. It also has the safety of Ebay as items are paid through Paypal, however you can pay in other ways, but Depop doesn’t recommend this.
So anyway, I put a few items on Depop, and the first two sold really smoothly, and everyone was happy. Then, I sold my third item: MAC ‘Creme Cup’ lipstick for £7. The item was paid for Paypal and I sent off the product, and informed the buyer it was on its way. I sent it with first class on the Wednesday (not tracked or anything), but on Friday I got a private message on Depop from the buyer saying it had not arrived yet. I told her perhaps to wait until Tuesday at the latest because sometimes post can be slow to turn up (even though I had a niggling fear in my belly that it might be lost). So, anyway Tuesday came and it had still not turned up at her house, so I advised her to maybe check if it was at her local depot. The post office informed her that they weren’t in control of the post that comes into the depot, which seems ridiculous because surely they sort it so, that they can effectively deliver them all. So anyway, after that I was like “I’m really sorry it hasn’t turned up, and I don’t really know how I can take this further” which she replied to “Well, can I have my money back?”. Now To be honest, here, in hindsight I should’ve just said “No, sorry, I have a disclaimer up saying I’m not responsible for lost or damaged items, and I don’t give refunds”however, I offered to give her a half-refund out of goodwill, so £3.50, but she said, “Not when I’ve paid £7 for it I won’t”. So I thought, okay I’ll explain to her why I’ve offered her a half refund, and I said that, “I’m offering you half the money back where in most cases you wouldn’t get any back, and I’ve kept up good communication with you in order to try and locate it”. So then, she sent me a message saying how I was responsible for the postage ect, which I replied to her “I don’t really have any control over the postage of the item after I’ve dropped it off at the post office, and in my disclaimer it clearly states I’m not responsible of any lost or damaged post” and I followed that message with “I’m willing to still give you the half refund”. She didn’t reply.
So anyway, I thought maybe she’s gone to bed and she’ll reply tomorrow, but she’d only gone and opened a Paypal case against me, which I was like okay, and wrote my statement saying “I do have a disclaimer stating that I don’t give refunds nor am I responsible for lost post, but, in this case, I’m willing to offer a half-refund out of goodwill. But she just escalated it to a “claim” which is where Paypal decide who is right. In all honesty, Paypal doesn’t really give the seller much room to move around, in I was given 3 options, either give her the refund, provide proof of postage, or not respond, in which case she’d win anyway because I didn’t communicate, so I was pretty much forced to give her a refund of £7. I thought Paypal in a claim would freeze the situation so, someone could actually evaluate (not just a computer) the points of the seller and the buyer, but this didn’t happen, as soon, as I gave the refund the case was closed in favour of the seller. I was annoyed and a bit upset to be treated unfairly, and also to have lost out on a valuable product which I know won’t ever be returned to me even though I put my return address on the back.
She also decided to leave me a 1 star on my Depop account, but that’s fine because I also left her a 1 star with a long comment ending with “You shouldn’t buy stuff off sellers if you can’t respect and accept their disclaimer”, which I think is completely true because I do not believe I’m the only seller this has happened to. If someone has put in their disclaimer they do not give refunds, and they are not responsible for lost or damaged post, then a buyer shouldn’t be allowed to open a Paypal case against them and win because that’s totally wrong. If you went to a large clothes shop or any shop and the receipt said “no returns” you wouldn’t be able to open a case against them, so why do it against individual sellers.
Anyway, I just want to say not everyone on Depop behaves unfairly, the majority are polite and helpful and just want to sell things they aren’t using off to a better home or just looking for bargains. I don’t really know if I’ll sell anything else on Depop because I am slightly traumatized now.
Tell me have you bought or sold anything on Depop? Also, what do you think of the situation above?
thescribblingtrain 
such a shame that you’ve received a negative experience, it’s generally buyers like her and many other variants who make selling online – regardless of on Depop or not, a bad impression and reputation.. I hope this doesn’t put you off Depop completely though, there are many genuine and good people on Depop too! xx
Anita @ AllThingsAnita
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Yeah, I think I will sell on Depop again but I’ll probably be very wary and put up like a “post” stating the ground rules even though they are in the bio. I know it’s a shame that just one bad egg can bring down such a nice community of buyers and sellers! xxx
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I’ve had a few bad experiences on there too – and the other day, I found someone using a photo of my feet to sell a pair of shoes!! Haha x
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Seems like a fair few people have been bitten on Depop. Haha, were you not flattered? Send the picture to Vogue who knows you could be modelling louboutins for autumn/winter.
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Hey Lovely, I’ve just read through this and think it’s a shame you had a bad experience but thought I should point out that as a seller, shipping is your responsibility. If you bought something from ASOS for example and it didn’t arrive, and they offered you a refund of half the value of the item I don’t think you’d be impressed! You’d want the item, or a full refund. It’s not the sellers fault after all if the item goes missing so why should they be out of pocket? If you post items standard delivery just make sure you ask for a proof of posting (receipt) at the post office, then if it does go missing you can claim the value back at the post office. Or you could always offer tracked delivery which does cost more but at least you’ll know when the item arrived with the buyer. I hope you don’t think I’m having a go as this is not my intention, I just want to explain things from a buyers point of view xxx
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Yeah, I totally understand but I think if the seller has it stated in their bio they don’t give refunds & aren’t responsible for lost or damaged post then that should also be respected by the buyer. I ensured that I paid the right amount of postage ect when I dropped it off at the post office and after that point there’s not much else I can do. Yeah I think I will probably send things recorded delivery if I sell on there again because this has been an eye opener. Don’t worry, I didn’t take it the wrong way xx
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I’ve only ever sent packages via signed delivery to prevent this from happening. I have an account with depop however I’ve never used it. To be honest you never know what goes through people’s minds and who will find the perfect opportunity to receive free gifts..if you get what I mean.
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Yeah, I understand she could lying as there is no way to prove she got it. I’ve sold other stuff before on ebay and depop and it’s always been smooth so I didn’t expect this turn of events. It’s been an eye opener to say the least x
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What a nasty thing! I’m sorry you had to go through this, I haven’t heard about Depop but I buy from Ebay and Etsy. I don’t know for sure but maybe she was lying because there are some REALLY bad people on Internet!
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I never heard about depop before, for selling my clothes I’m using Vinted app http://www.vinted.com/ maybe you like this too!
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I came across this post through Google and just want to say how sorry I am about the way you were treated. I recently had a bad experience with Depop myself. I bought an item which never turned up and unfortunately the seller hasn’t replied after I mentioned as much. You were honest and tried to handle the situation as best you could x
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In all honesty you could have both handled the situation a lot better by going straight to the post office with your proof of postage and reclaiming your money. You legally have to refund her the whole price but the money should be paid out by the post office not you! Next time just make sure you get proof of postage just in case! 🙂 but I wouldn’t I’ve had a lot of bad experiences with people on depop such as now, eight days later and my item still hasn’t been posted! Best of luck for future sales
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I want to start selling some stuff on Depop but I’m affraid of cases like this one because I live in a country with a exchange control and to convert between different currencies is not easy and very expensive and also, our public mail service is good but takes too long to deliver packages 😦 I would go for etsy or ebay if they didn’t charge money for only listing a product…
Thanks for sharing this information 😉
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The EXACT same thing happened to me with a Mac foundation… The girl pretended not to get it so she’d get a full refund…
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Great read! Funnily enough I have had similar experiences on both Depop & Ebay! I sold a very expensive hoodie on ebay once, the buyer paid. etc. A month later he replied saying he never received the hoodie. I told him that I have proof of postage & never heard anything back! Interesting how people try it on! Currently on Depop I am dealing with a girl who I sold an item to. The Day she received the item she gave me glowing feedback….. a month later she is accusing me of sending her a faulty item… which apparently was faulty when she first received it? Why she has given me positive feedback is odd?!?! help! haha
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My buyer decided she don’t want the goods after she pressed the buy button so she raised a disbute with Depop saying I’d didn’t sent her the goods. Depop told me to provide proof of posting within two days or it will grant refund to the buyer. I’d replied Depop the same day with the photo of the postage receipt but the next day Depop told me it had grant refund to the buyer because I failed to provided proof of posting. The funny thing is on the day after that the buyer told me she had received the goods! I told that to Depop but it said the disbute is closed and now I have to deal with the buyer myself. The buyer now has the goods without paying any money and not replying my emails.
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@Backprotectors
I have clients who have had issues with depop also. If you don’t refund a seller within 48 hours after they open a case, depop close down your account without notice.
Always send with TRACKED OR RECORDED delivery and ensure that you only send to the address stated on their account to protect your money.
I have a case from Depop and Paypal where I lost out to fraudulent buyers stating they have not received items and then depop/Paypal refund them even if they confirm through message they received it. I will be talking more about it on a video as I have a fair bit of experience selling online and now more people are choosing to make money online, it’s worth sharing to improve the community.
Depop customer service is very poor, their platform is very good in terms of reaching a high customer base and building a following, but they are very much a buyers based platform rather than a company that values their sellers.
Recently, I sold an iPhone online to a buyer claiming her name say Sue De Casare. They messaged through depop and asked to send an iPhone to an address in Southampton special delivery, I agreed and so they made the purchase over Paypal rather than through the app. This usually wouldn’t be an issue…but depop cannot cover you as a seller if you take it off the app.
They paid through Paypal which was more convenient and had immediate access and Depop hold funds for 14 days before depositing it to your wallet, then you have to send the money to your bank which takes up to 3 working days.
They requested I send the item out special delivery to an address in Southampton and that it was urgent. I obliged, and as soon as I sent the item and gave a tracking number, ‘Sue’ opened a Case with Paypal stating ‘I bought a computer off of the seller and I have been waiting two weeks for it…’ yadeyadeya – bullshit.
I called Paypal who have a friendly and helpful phone line *cough (Depop take note) who informed me that you do not have seller protection unless you send to the address stated on the account and can provide tracking it was delivered to THAT address.
The address on their Paypal was to north london. So I was not eligible.
Long story short they got the phone, and got the money back. Luckily for me, the phone is insured so I can just have it cancelled and I have opened a fraud claim with the police and Paypal are investigating their account.
Always read seller protection policies and only Send and correspond with the buyers on the app or through an email LINKED to that account and always keep all messages and correspondence from them. It also helps if they look legit and good feedback is everything.
On Depop now, I sent an item and gave tracking for it on the app thinking all would be well. My Hermes tracking info stated the item had been ‘collected and received at depot’ but had not been sorted and send from their side.
The buyer opened up a case and messaged my Hermes who informed them the item is lost. I state no returns, no refunds and no responsibility of loss after posting…
Now to the point
Depop sent me an email asking for tracking, which I replied within the 48 hour time frame – which I sent.
They then replied informing me that because the item hadn’t been delivered, not sent, delivered – I had to refund the buyer.
Having sent out the item and provided tracking I couldn’t understand why this was the case.
Awaiting a reply, which has been over 5 days now, depop closed my account without notice immediately and sent me a further email, with no response to my last email, telling me to pay them through Paypal.
I have done this before but I asked for bank details as I do not use Paypal for transactions usually as the app has the option to pay you straight through deposit to your bank card which is what I do.
I sent the payment same day, emailed Depop, Messaged the buyer on Instagram to ensure they knew their refund was sent and waited for my account to be reinstated.
6 days later and £17 down, an item down, and a depop account STILL deactivated – I have now lost a lot of money and am still awaiting that reply from depop…
Depop have no phone customer service and only correspond via email or on the app through their staff or twitter. So you’ll be waiting sometimes over 7 days for a reply if you have an issue, but they expect a reply about lost items, refunds and damages item responses in 48 hours. Which doesn’t correlate.
Failure to reply to these messages results in your account being closed down without notice, where you will need to email them to ask what the issue is, then after 5+ days they will tell you how to resolve it.
Once you respond, you will need to wait another 3-5 days + to receive a response to THAT email, so any information you may need to relay immediately will not be able to be achieved.
In all, Learn Learn Learn. Remember as soon as you sell an item on these third party apps you have to comply with THEIR policies. Always keep in contact and use their telephone service if you can as they can override the automated decisions made on them, because we all know computers are 💩
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You’re actually the one in the wrong here. Your “disclaimer” as you keep calling it *does not count*. Paypal’s Terms & Conditions state the seller is the one ultimately responsible for getting the package in the hands of the buyer. If the package gets lost in the post, the buyer is responsible and has to provide a refund – which is why Paypal made you give a refund. As I said, it’s in their Terms & Conditions. You putting “not responsible for lost parcels” in your bio is in no way any kind of disclaimer nor represents any kind of contract. I can see why the buyer left you a 1 star – you were highly unreasonable and tried to break T&Cs.
This is why Depop always recommend you use tracked delivery services because then you can see that the buyer has received the item and only then is it no longer your responsibility (once you receive the confirmation it has been delivered). A proof of postage is not enough for you to abscond responsibility, BUT it means you can at least go back to the Post Office and try and recover the costs for your parcel (which I have done before and it worked absolutely fine). There are always going to be dodgy people out there who claim to have not received an item, and when we just send parcels through regular mail rather than tracked, we make this kind of behaviour possible for them. Just always send tracked and you won’t have any issues.
I hope this info is useful for you and I hope you’ve already taken down that message in your bio, because all it does is exploit people who are vulnerable who believe your message. There are probably hundreds/thousands of buyers who’ve lost their monies because they never received a parcel and believe (due to a silly message in a Depop account bio) that they can’t recover what they’ve lost when they absolutely can. It’s the law.
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