Disputes31 August 20267 min read

Writing listings that don't end in an “item not as described” dispute

“Item not as described” is the most common dispute category on every resale platform, and it is the one sellers lose most often. Not because the buyer is dishonest — usually because the listing left a gap, and the buyer filled it with the best case.

The fix is almost never more disclaimers. It is removing the gap.

Disputes come from the difference between two pictures

The buyer builds a mental image from your photos and your words. The parcel arrives and there is a second image. A dispute is what happens when the gap between them is bigger than the buyer expected — and note that it's the gap that matters, not the flaw. A visibly chipped plate, described and photographed as chipped, almost never gets disputed. A perfect plate with one hairline crack you didn't mention gets disputed every time.

Photograph the four things nobody photographs

Most listings have five beautiful photos of the front. The dispute is always about something else.

Every flaw, in focus, close up. One frame per flaw. A wide shot with a chip somewhere in it does not count as disclosure — the buyer has to be able to see it without hunting.
The back and the underside. Where the repairs, the replacements and the marks live.
Any mark or label, legible. Close enough to read. This is both your evidence and your best selling point.
Scale. The object next to something ordinary. A surprising number of “not as described” claims are really “I thought it was bigger”, which measurements alone don't prevent.

Write condition as a list, not a sentence

Condition buried in a paragraph reads as reassurance. Condition as a list reads as disclosure, and it is far harder for a buyer to claim they missed it.

Don't

In good vintage condition with some minor wear consistent with age, please see photos.

Condition: chip approx. 5mm to the rear left corner (photo 4). Two shallow scratches to the top surface (photo 5). Original finish, unrestored. Drawer runs smoothly. No repairs, no replaced hardware.

“Please see photos” is not a disclosure and platforms generally don't treat it as one. It asks the buyer to find the problem you already know about.

The four phrases that cause the most disputes

“Good vintage condition.” Means nothing. It is a grade with no definition, and the buyer's definition is always better than yours.
“Minor wear consistent with age.” Covers everything from a faint scuff to a missing foot, so it covers nothing.
“Working when last tested.” Either it works and you tested it, or you are selling it untested — say which, and say when.
“Sold as seen.” Widely believed to be a shield; largely isn't, particularly in consumer sales, and does not override a marketplace's own buyer protection. It is not a substitute for describing the flaw.

Measure everything, in numbers

Height, width, depth, and for anything worn, the actual flat measurements rather than the label size. Labelled sizes drift across decades and countries, and “fits like a modern M” is an opinion. “Pit to pit 54cm” is not disputable.

Overclaiming causes disputes too

Not every dispute is about a flaw. If the listing says solid walnut and the buyer can see a veneer edge, or says Victorian and the buyer knows the hardware is 1960s, that is also “not as described” — and it is a worse position to be in, because you wrote it rather than merely omitted it. Everything in the claims you can't make applies here directly.

A two-minute check before you publish

Is every flaw I know about named in the text, with a photo number?
Have I given real measurements, not a size label?
Is there a photo of the back, the underside, and any mark?
Have I claimed a material, a maker, a date or an authenticity I couldn't demonstrate?
If the buyer photographed this on arrival, would anything surprise them?

Where this tool helps, and where it doesn't

VitrineList reads condition from your photographs and writes it into the listing rather than reaching for “good vintage condition”, and it labels each detail with how confident the assessment is so you can see what it actually saw. Giving it more angles — the back, the underside, the flaw — moves details from inferred to observed.

What it cannot do is see what you didn't photograph. A chip that isn't in frame will not appear in the condition notes, and no tool changes the fact that disclosure starts with the camera.

Note: general guidance for sellers, not legal advice. Buyer protection rules and consumer law vary by platform and country.

Try it on something you're selling

Your first listing is free and needs no account. Every detail comes back labelled with how confident the model actually is.

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