What to do when buyer claims sellers item broken?

Always make clear that the sale is "as is, where is." That is to say, the buyer either takes your word for the condition it is in or s/he can come verify it personally, but you're not going to hassle with him/her if it isn't what s/he expected. Now, to be ethical, this means that you must be VERY careful that you accurately describe the equipment and its current level of performance. The second thing it means is that if the equipment is damaged in shipping that is entirely a matter between the buyer and the carrier. Again, you must be very clear about how you are going to package and ship but it is up to the buyer to tell you if that isn't satisfactory.

I get the signature of the buyer on an "as is, where is" statement before I accept the money and/or ship the merchandise. Sure avoids a lot of problems.

In the present instance it sounds a bit like the buyer wanted a component upgrade and figured you might as well pay for it. I could be wrong, of course.

will

By the way:
Did the buyer send you or faxed you or e-mailed you the parts invoices that he spent the money for?
His responce as from the technical point of view seems to look like a responce from a confident person on that issue, but anywhay it needs to be checked for the "gipsy transaction". Being confident sometimes gives you a power to argue and flirt even if there is nothing to argue about and YOU are in the situation that you have to trust to what the buyer sais(pretty odd isn't it?)

Further on to avoid such situations follow Will's advice firmly.

After thinking about the situation for a day, I finally emailed my buyer offering to pay for the standard parts replacements costs or a refund if he sends the amps back to me in its original conditions. Attached is my email reply:

"I'm glad to find out that you are the competent technician for the repair job.

From what I understand, on one amp a resistor is open, on the other, the resistor was of wrong value. So the fix is to solder the open resistor on one amp and replace the wrong value resistor in the other. I can understand that the shipping process can cause a soldier joint to come loose causing the popping noise. I bought these amps preassembled, the wrong resistor can only happened at two places, either Doc B. put the wrong value in the kit when he shipped it out, or the previous technicians error in assembly.

As for the parts upgrade, I find that it is not fair to ask me to pay for the upgrades in place of the originals. It is fair to pay for the standard parts replacements as Doc B. would have included in his kit.

Used equipments are sold as is, that's why they are advertised as used, and the buyers save money buying them used, at the risks of no long term warranty or support. I do my best to describe my used equipment and provide the buyers with plenty of photos to describe its conditions as well as packaging. During my 2 years of using the Paraglows, I have not noticed obvious popping noises or any other side effects. If you think these amps are not in good conditions when I sold them to you, you can packed them up and send them back to me tomorrow in its original conditions for a refund."
PT

Good for you PT999 on your email reply. It is very fair of you. I do not think you should have to pay for Upgraded parts . If the original parts were bad then replace them with the same parts as they were sold with. Anything over that price as upgraded parts is not your responsibility but that of the buyer if he so choses the upgraded parts. It sounds to me like someone is trying to get away with upgrades at your expense.

Buyer should ask before he does work. Something smells a little funny. Bishopwill is a little off with his "as is" comment. I can assure you I would never buy a piece with that disclaimer. I have bought and sold hundreds of pieces of audio gear and 95% + If it worked when it left it worked when it arrived. Also be fair if a piece is a little shaky before it ships UPS can usually finish it off with a bump or two.FYI I think you may be able to save the pay pal fee with the Paypal refund option. Try to work it out either way and move on to the next piece. Remember it's all about the music!