Any idea how long "refused" packages take?

[totoro470]

Anyone have any experience with "refused" packages? How long do they traditionally take to return to sender?

Story is: I sent a wrong item to a buyer and immediately sent them the correct one, the correct one still ended up arriving on time because I shipped using a faster method. I asked the buyer if he'd be willing to return the incorrect item, I would pay for the shipping label and give him a discount on the lot he bought. Unfortunately, he said he didn't have a printer so he "refused" it when it arrived. USPS tracking reflects this, it was scanned April 15th as "refused, returning to sender."

 I need that other item as it sold a day after I shipped it to the wrong buyer (that's how I realized I sent the wrong item). I tried to get the new buyer to cancel the order but she really wants that specific item and there's nothing even close as a replacement anywhere on ebay, she said she would be willing to wait. It is now April 22, about a week since it was refused and there is no tracking updates. I asked her if again on Sunday if she still wants to wait, and she told me her son specifically picked it out for his birthday and that she still wants it. His birthday was today, so now I feel really bad

Anyways, how long should I tell her to wait? I'm willing to express it to her when I get it but I don't want to give her false hopes.

[aquajoe07011 · Accepted solution]

It usually takes one to two weeks for a first class or priority refused package to be returned to sender.

[goodluckselling]

It is hard to give you an estimate?  Refused mail is rare and usually when you get them you do not know about them until you get the item back, but generally it should not take any longer than it did to get delivered?  It is possible they use a slower service for these kinds of returns?

Good Luck Selling!

[a_c_green]

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@aquajoe07011 wrote:

It usually takes one to two weeks for a first class or priority refused package to be returned to sender.

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Second that. If it was scanned as Refused, it should be on its way back to you, and tracking scans along the way will continue to be reported as they occur.

Go to usps.com to follow the return tracking, though. Do not rely on eBay's reporting, as it tends to stop as soon as it sees a Delivered scan; later ones may go unreported by eBay, even though usps.com will report its progress all the way back to you.

[totoro470]

It was a first-class package, it doesn't seem like the USPS is scanning it anymore- even from their website. The last scan was when it was refused 1 week ago. I'm thinking they must be shipping it in with junk mail/media mail where it bypasses scanning entirely but takes much longer.

Anyways, thanks for the replies! I guess I'll see if it comes this week.

[m60driver]

My experience is that "refused" mail is returned with just slightly less urgency than media mail.  So perhaps 2-3 weeks.