You be the judge

[ChromeScholar]

If the wrong kilt is sent out, then the replacement is at the seller's expense. If, however, the problem is the buyer's measuring (which is the case here), then it becomes the buyer's expense.

[Chef]

I guess I'm a bit unusual in terms of sizing, but my kilts and my pants are the same sizes... Some are a 30, some are a 32. Is it weird that I can order kilts the way this guy tried to... by my pants size?

The problem sizes today is the trend to vanity sizing, done so you will feel better about yourself and buy more clothes. In your case you probably are not bothered whether your pants are a 30 or a 32, although i would guess that your actual measurement is closer to 32 than 30. Where you see the difference is for the guy with a 40 or 42 waist. He's convinced he has a 36 or 38 waist because the pants he buys are that size. It isn't unusual for sizes to be off by 2 sizes. Sometimes more if pants come with a "comfort waistband". In other words it has elastic in it. So the guy with a 41 waist is fooled into thinking he has a 36 waist.

The big difference with kilts for a guy with a belly is a traditional kilt is measured at the natural waist, but most guys with a belly wear their pants under the belly wich gves you a much different measurement.

Some people just don't listen. I agree with others that the customer should have to pay for at least some of the shipping, as it was their mistake, not yours... twice.

If the wrong kilt is sent out, then the replacement is at the seller's expense. If, however, the problem is the buyer's measuring (which is the case here), then it becomes the buyer's expense.

Ebay is a very interesting place. It is very much set up to protect the buyer at the expense of the small seller (if you happen to be one of their real Power sellers the rules are not quite applied the same), particularly if you use PayPal (which you really need in order to business on eBay). In creativeaccent's case he also did not have a stated return policy which put the buyer in the driver's seat on this transaction. So if he doesn't bend over backward, he could risk having the money returned to the seller by PayPal as well as receiving negative feedback from the buyer. For a low volume seller even a couple of negatives can have your account restricted. Because of this you are always fighting to make sure you don't get any negatives because you never know when you will get one out of the blue from someone because they are unhappy about something. Yes people will actually just leave negatives without giving you a chance to do something about it.

[creativeaccents]

LOTS of good thoughts and exchanges here as regards the seller/buyer relationship, responsibities of both, and ways to better communicate. I really liked the simplicity and succinctness of MAC Newsome's "Our general policy is that if we screw up an order, we'll always do what needs to be done to fix it (thankfully that doesn't happen that often!). But if a customer screws up an order, we still do what we can to fix it, but it may involve some additional costs on their part. Most people are very understanding of this."

Chef is absolutely right re the need for eBay sellers to "bend over backwards" to assure good feedback, but that is something that is in line with our efforts anyway and, like many a distributor here, our commitment to deliver merchandise and buying experiences that please. With our own website we could perhaps personalize more in keeping with our total migration to kilts and things, but the 200 million person international market at eBay is hard for most online retailers to ignore.

The question then becomes one of bringing folks to a new site versus defining just how many of that 200 million really are looking for kilts, both very real marketing considerations. We did have a boutique here in Cartersville with my wife's ladie's items, but quickly learned a LOT about the shopping trends in small towns as affected by Kmart et.al....something that has been a real hit to many a small town. Often, you sell just about enough volume to cover the meager foot traffic.

So, location, location, location. A kilt store here would be a bust for a host of reasons. Even getting traffic to a new web site is just as much a consideration as stocking the merchandise and building the site. Anyone thinking kiltmakers or even distributors, on the web or otherwise, are getting rich quick, is simply dreaming. You gotta love it!

[Jennifer D]

Also, for in the future you may want to help cover yourself by charging a restocking charge for returned items. I do not like the idea of that, but at some point you need to be sure that you are protecting your business and sometimes protecting your business involves policies that 'filter' potential customer abuse.

You might at least note that you reserve this right.

For our wedding my husband was nervous about getting the right size so we drove all the way to the kilt rental shop in the NY to get sized properly. They sent the wrong size except the bow tie. He wore his own kilt and we ran to the local tux shop to buy a shirt. Sometimes even the pros make mistakes.

[Ian.MacAllan]

. . . They sent the wrong size except the bow tie. . . .

So the package didn't even include a handkerchief? They might have gotten that size right too.

Reminds me of a catered dinner at which everything but the ice cream was cold.

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