Advice on refunds

[springmoone.livejournal.com]

Here's the situation:

I sold a partial fursuit (head, hands, tail) via an auction site to a buyer. They paid in installments and that was all fine, and I sent them the suit. It arrived safely, but upon inspection they decided they didn't like it because it was hot, the mouth was not as mobile as they would have liked, and the vision was not what they expected. I offered to take the suit back to work on it (make vision adjustments, fix the jaw, and add a fan) for free. They would still like a full refund, minus shipping charges.

However, I'm short the money for the refund. The payments came in in small installments and that all went right out the door to pay for printmaking class supplies (one of the reasons that I made and sold the suit in the first place). If the suit was returned I would be able to work on it and re-sell it, but there's no guarantee that I'd be able to get the same amount that it originally sold for.

Should I ask one more time to take it back for repairs/refurb or is a refund justified in this situation? Should I suck it up and borrow from a friend to pay the buyer back? I don't know how to handle this. Even if I did re-sell the suit I might still end up in the red. I can't responsibly take on more work/projects to make up for the shortfall, and I'm not having luck in my "day job" search right now.

Edit: It was a premade

Edit II: The buyer has been working on their own head and has realized they can be quite hot (especially in the summer sun). I am going to put a fan in the head (good experience for me anyway) and all will be well.

Comments

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

I'm sort of on the fence about the first part. On one hand, it does feel like issues should be mentioned, but at the same time, isn't it like buying a full mask at a store? It's hard to see, it gets hot, but this isn't mentioned on the package since it should be common knowledge or something you look into before buying.

I'm unsure how I feel about it, but it seems like it'd make more sense to mention issues that aren't the norm. But from everyone I know who's owned a suit, there isn't really a way to not have these issues, it's part of the costume.

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

Yeah I'm admittedly not sure about the issue myself, though in store bought masks there's generally (or I'd think, I've never bought masks from shops except ones tied from behind and never seen other types sold so bit limited here on expertise) a test or try out piece you can test? At least it's what I'd want first if I bought one since I've never worn a full head mask, which also makes me think that like others mentioned this might also be a new guy who's never worn a fursuit head before and gets buyer's remorse because of that.
(This is why I never buy clothes or similar from the web :D)

[sbneko.livejournal.com]

Ya, but those masks are like, 5$. If someone wanted to spend 300$+ then I'd sort of be their responsibility to see a way to try it first, like a friends. Not everyone can of course, but then you're taking a risk. I'm honestly not sure what I think about this haha

[vauvakolibri.livejournal.com]

I know, that's why I said in my original comment that there needs to be some consideration by the buyer (also on the part of them understanding a pre-made item won't be tailor made).
"It'd sort of be their responsibility to see a way to try it first, like a friends."
To be fair, I think suit heads can be made in different ways depending on the artist, so testing a friend's possibly tailor made and more pricey (like maybe one with a fan etc) might give them a possibly wrong idea that all suit heads are made in way X and so on...
Overall that still won't really excuse a buyer's remorse if this person is having it.