Update: Mercari sided with me! The buyer's return request was cancelled!
Hi all, and thank you in advance. Here's my story - what would you do in my place?
I have sold 40 items on Mercari as of now and have a five-star rating. I'm a diligent seller and describe things accurately, package things carefully, work with buyers to save on shipping, and ship quickly. This is reflected in the feedback I've received up to now.
I listed a purse recently and sold it to someone with no ratings. I thought it would be ok: at one time I also had no ratings, and people took a chance on me. The buyer made me an offer, I countered, she accepted, and I shipped the purse the next day. It was delivered, and on the second day after delivery, she messaged me to tell me my description was inaccurate and that the purse had cosmetic signs of wear. She asked for a discount or a return.
Before I could reply, she messaged Mercari for a return. She included photos of a box that was wet, part (but not all) of my packaging, also wet, and a wet purse (with small drops of water on it, not consistent with signs of water damage whatsoever, but one edge is peeling. My photos don't show that side clearly - my mistake - but the purse I sent was never peeling). I'm not sure if that purse is the same one I sent her, but I don't think it is. She told Mercari that the package got wet in the rain and the item got damaged, and she'd like a return. In her return photos, the shipping label has her address cut out, and the box appears to have had water poured INTO it. She then messaged me to tell me she realized the damage was done by the rain. I sent this purse sealed in a plastic bag, which I can't prove because I didn't think to photograph my packaging.
None of this is adding up, and I submitted my response to the return request yesterday. I haven't heard back from Mercari yet. What do I do? Am I out of luck?
Thank you again, and sorry - I'm panicking a bit. It's not the money, it's the sense of injustice, the idea that I can't make this right, and the idea that my reputation is at stake. I'm just some lady selling her old things, and this feels SO wrong :(