eBay Item Not As Described: A Seller's Guide to INAD Returns (2026)

Quick answer: An eBay item not as described return happens when a buyer says the item that arrived does not match your listing: wrong item, wrong variant, damaged, faulty or missing parts. You have 3 business days to respond, you pay return shipping, and you refund within 2 business days of getting the item back. Respond fast, offer a fix, and stop the cause in your listings.

• The buyer can open the request up to 30 calendar days after delivery, or within your return window if that is longer, even when your listing says no returns.
• Every not as described request counts toward your service metrics, even when you resolve it the same day.
• For dropshippers, most cases start upstream: a supplier swap, a variant mix-up or listing copy that promised more than the supplier ships.

Picture the message: a buyer ordered a blue phone stand, opened the parcel and found a black one with a different base. They select "Doesn't match the listing" in their purchase history, and the clock starts on your side. How you handle the next three business days decides the cost of that order, and how you fix the listing decides whether it happens again next week.

This guide walks through both, then shows where Ecomli, a non-API browser extension for eBay dropshippers, fits on the prevention side. You get the exact eBay timelines, a decision table for each type of claim and the listing habits that keep these returns rare.

What eBay item not as described means for sellers

eBay groups buyer problems into two families. "Remorse" returns are change-of-mind returns, and your return policy controls them. Not as described returns, often shortened to INAD or SNAD, fall under the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, and they apply whatever your listing says about returns.

The policy covers a buyer who receives the wrong item, or an item that arrives broken, damaged or faulty when the listing did not clearly say so. The buyer is entitled to return it for a refund. You and the buyer can also agree on another outcome, such as a partial refund while they keep the item, or a replacement. eBay may review a request before it reaches you and decline it when the buyer's evidence does not support the claim.

The money side is different from a remorse return in two ways. You pay return shipping on every not as described return, even if your listing says the buyer pays. You also cannot keep the original shipping charge out of the refund if eBay decides the case against you. Our full guide to eBay returns for sellers covers remorse returns, return preferences and fee credits; this post stays on the not as described path.

The INAD timeline, step by step

These are the deadlines from the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy, in the order a case unfolds:

Two details catch sellers out. eBay can step in without being asked when you have not responded, and it can hold the return request open for up to 35 business days after you accept it. Funds tied to an open request may also be held, so a slow response costs you cash flow as well as the order.

If the buyer's complaint is that nothing arrived at all, that is a different case type with its own evidence rules. Our guide to the eBay item not received case covers that path.

How to respond to an item not as described return

Open the request in Seller Hub, read the buyer's reason and photos, then pick the response that matches what actually happened. A short, specific message to the buyer helps in every case.

1. Compare the photos with your listing. Check the title, item specifics, variation, photos and description against what the buyer shows. Most cases are decided right here.
2. Check the supplier order. Open the supplier order for that sale and confirm the variant, color and quantity you ordered. If you ordered the right one and the supplier shipped the wrong one, you still owe the buyer a fix on eBay; the supplier claim is a separate step.
3. Offer the cheapest fair fix. For a small difference the buyer can live with, offer a partial refund so they keep the item. For a wrong or broken item, accept the return or, where the item is cheap and the return label costs more than the item, refund without asking for it back.
4. Send a return label you control. When you accept, provide an eBay return label or another tracked method the buyer accepts. A tracked return is your proof of what came back.
5. Refund on time. Send the refund through the return request within 2 business days of the item arriving, never off platform.

When a partial refund settles it, send it through the return request so the case closes cleanly. Our walkthrough on how to refund a buyer on eBay shows the full and partial refund screens and how to recover the cost from your supplier.

Which response fits each eBay item not as described claim

The right answer depends on the claim and on what the item is worth after the return trip. This table is a starting point for the common dropshipping cases:

Run the numbers before you choose. On the phone stand above, a refund without a return costs you what you paid the supplier. Insisting on the return adds a label you pay for, and you end up holding an item you may not resell easily.

For low-priced items, the label can cost close to the item itself. Set a simple rule from your own fees and supplier costs in Seller Hub, such as refunding without a return below a set item value.

How not as described returns affect your seller metrics

eBay tracks an "Item not as described" return rate in your service metrics. According to the eBay service metrics policy, it is the share of your transactions where a buyer requested a return because the item did not match the listing, and eBay counts every opened request even when you resolved it promptly.

The rate is compared with peers: sellers with similar volume, categories, prices, item condition, return policies and delivery times. You see a rating of Low, Average, High or Very High. A few rules from the policy are worth knowing:

• eBay runs the evaluation on the 20th of each month.
• Sellers with more than 400 transactions in the past 3 months are measured on those 3 months; smaller sellers are measured over the last 12 months.
• A Very High rating with a rate under 1% is adjusted to Average.
• A Very High rating has no account effect unless it involves at least 10 requests from 10 unique buyers.
• When it does apply, you may be charged higher final value fees and may lose the option to deduct value from refunds on items returned used or damaged.

eBay's own example is a seller with 7.8% of transactions returned as not as described against a peer average of 1.3%. The lesson for a growing store is simple: the rate is about patterns, so a repeat pattern on one listing matters far more than a single odd claim. Our breakdown of eBay seller performance metrics explains how this rate sits alongside your other standards.

When a buyer's claim looks false

Most buyers report real problems. Some do not. The Money Back Guarantee policy lists falsely claiming an item was not as described, returning an item other than the one received and using or damaging an item before returning it as abusive buyer behavior, and those buyers can lose coverage.

When a claim looks wrong, keep it factual and on eBay:

• Ask for clear photos through the return request and keep every message inside eBay.
• Accept the return with a tracked label so what comes back is documented.
• If a different or damaged item comes back, photograph it on arrival and ask eBay to step in before the refund deadline.
• Report the buyer through the request and add them to your blocked buyer list so they cannot buy again.

The cleaner your listing, the stronger your position. A case where your title, photos and item specifics match exactly what you shipped is far easier to win than one where the listing borrowed a supplier photo with extras in it. Our guide to eBay seller protection covers the protections available when you have met every requirement, and the guide to negative feedback removal covers feedback tied to a case.

How to prevent not as described returns when you dropship

Dropshippers face a specific version of this problem: you never touch the item, so your listing is only as accurate as the supplier page you built it from and the order you placed. Ecomli is a non-API browser extension for eBay dropshippers. It works through the eBay seller account already signed in to your desktop Chrome browser, and it creates listings from Amazon and AliExpress products, keeps them in line with supplier stock and prices, and tracks orders and profit. Several of its tools aim straight at the causes in the table above.

Listings built from supplier facts. Ecomli's Create Listings reads the supplier product and fills the eBay listing from it, including variations and optional AI titles and descriptions written from supplier facts. Safety Shield screens products and copy for flagged brands and restricted items before anything publishes.

That keeps the title and description tied to what the supplier actually sells instead of copy written from memory. Your own title best practices still apply to how you phrase it.

Stock and price changes caught early. A common source of wrong-item claims is a supplier running out of the listed variant and shipping something close instead. Stock Monitoring checks supplier stock and prices for your Ecomli listings and updates eBay price and quantity, or ends the listing, using your rules.

When the exact item is gone, the listing stops selling it. Our post on eBay out of stock control goes deeper on the rules.

Expectations set before delivery. Auto Messages sends rule-based buyer messages for purchase and shipping events, and feedback requests skip buyers with open issues. Tracking Conversions adds converted supplier tracking to the eBay order after its automatic checks, so buyers can follow the parcel from their eBay order. A buyer who knows what is coming and when is less likely to open a request out of confusion.

The real cost in one place. The Overview dashboard shows eBay sales, fees, refunds and supplier costs by day or period. Sorting out which listings keep producing refunds tells you which ones to fix or end. You can see what each plan includes on the Ecomli pricing page.

eBay item not as described FAQ

How does a buyer return an item not as described on eBay?

The buyer opens the order in their purchase history, selects return, chooses a "doesn't match the listing" reason and adds photos. The request goes to you, and you have 3 business days to respond with a solution such as a return label, a replacement or a refund.

Can a buyer return an item not as described if my listing says no returns?

Yes. The eBay Money Back Guarantee applies to not as described claims regardless of your return policy. Your no-returns setting only limits change-of-mind returns. Items sold as not working or for parts have shorter windows, so check the policy for your category.

What should I do if a buyer is lying about item not as described?

Ask for photos inside the return request, accept the return with tracked shipping, and document the item when it arrives. If a different or damaged item comes back, ask eBay to step in before the refund deadline and report the buyer. Falsely claiming an item was not as described is listed as abusive buyer behavior.

Can the buyer keep the item and get a partial refund?

Yes, if you both agree. eBay's policy allows a full or partial refund while the buyer keeps the item, or a replacement. On low-value dropshipped items this is often cheaper than paying for a return label.

Can eBay force a seller to refund?

Yes. If you do not respond or a case is decided against you, eBay can refund the buyer and seek reimbursement from you. Responding inside 3 business days with a reasonable solution keeps the decision in your hands.

Who pays return shipping on a not as described return?

The seller pays. If you authorize an eBay return label, or eBay provides one on your behalf, the label cost is charged to you separately.

The bottom line

Sources: eBay Money Back Guarantee policy; eBay service metrics policy.

An eBay item not as described return is a deadline and a signal. Meet the 3-business-day response window, refund on time and offer the cheapest fair fix.

Then treat each claim as data about a listing or a supplier, because the service metric counts every request. For dropshippers, accurate listings built from supplier facts, Stock Monitoring that stops selling a variant the supplier no longer has, and clear shipping messages through Auto Messages do most of the prevention work. If you want those tools on your own store, you can create an Ecomli account and set them up from your browser.

Ready to run this on your own eBay store? Get started with Ecomli → Plans from $29/month · 7-day money-back guarantee on your first payment · cancel any time.