Selling something secondhand usually feels simple: the buyer checks it, pays, and takes it home. I think the situation gets messy when the item suddenly develops problems only after it has left the seller’s hands.
One Redditor sold a dresser through Facebook Marketplace for $70 and says it was sturdy when the buyer’s boyfriend picked it up. The drawers had been removed only to make carrying it down three flights of stairs easier, and the boyfriend even inspected the piece on FaceTime before leaving.
About an hour later, though, the buyer started sending videos claiming the drawers no longer fit and the dresser had become wobbly. She then began asking for a refund. The seller suspects the damage happened during transport or while carrying it into another walk-up apartment. Scroll down to see whether Reddit thought ignoring the messages was fair.
A woman sells a sturdy dresser online, only for the buyer to demand a refund hours later
It is hard not to feel guilty when a buyer says something went wrong immediately after a sale, especially when the item was working fine before pickup.
The OP seems caught between two instincts: wanting to be fair to people who just moved into a walk-up apartment, and not wanting to take responsibility for damage that may have happened after the dresser left their possession.
That tension is understandable because private sales rely heavily on trust, but they usually offer far fewer protections than buying from a store.
Emotionally, the seller’s frustration comes from the timeline. The dresser was sturdy enough to be carried down three flights of stairs, inspected from several angles, shown on FaceTime, and accepted before payment. The buyer’s boyfriend also apparently reinserted the drawers before leaving.
From the seller’s perspective, the item was examined and transferred successfully. Once it was transported again, unloaded, and carried up another walk-up, several opportunities for damage appeared.
There is also a useful psychological point here: people often assign blame to the last person connected to a problem because that explanation feels simpler.
When something breaks soon after purchase, the buyer may naturally assume it was defective all along. The seller, meanwhile, may assume the buyer mishandled it. Without clear evidence, both sides can become increasingly certain of a version they cannot actually prove.
Consumer psychologist Kit Yarrow has written about how perceived fairness strongly shapes reactions after purchases. When buyers feel they received less value than expected, they often become emotionally invested in getting the seller to “make it right,” even when responsibility is ambiguous.
That insight helps explain why the repeated messages may feel so intense. To the buyer, a refund may represent fairness. To the OP, it may feel like accepting blame for damage that happened outside their control.
The healthiest response is probably neither endless arguing nor abruptly disappearing without a final message.
The OP can state once, clearly and politely, that the dresser was inspected and accepted at pickup, that it was functional when it left, and that they cannot verify what happened during transport afterward. They can also say they are happy to forward any helpful manufacturer information, but they are not offering a refund.
After that, continuing to debate the same facts is unlikely to help. Screenshots, payment records, and the original listing should be kept in case the situation escalates.
Feeling bad for the buyer does not automatically create responsibility. Compassion can coexist with a firm boundary, especially when the condition of a used item was accepted before it left the seller’s possession.
See what others had to share with OP:
These users believed the buyers were trying to scam OP into giving a refund
These commenters said the dresser became the buyer’s responsibility once it was inspected and taken away
These users suspected the drawers were reinserted incorrectly rather than the dresser being defective
Would you send one final “sale completed as inspected” message and block the buyer, or offer a refund only if the dresser came back in the same condition? And have you ever had a Marketplace sale suddenly become complicated after pickup?
