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Help! Sold item being returned to authenticator

I recently sold a Cartier watch with eBay's "Authenticity Guarantee". I printed the label directly from eBay so it had the correct info. It shipped to the authenticator, passed, and was being sent to the buyer, only now it is being returned to sender by FedEx due to "incorrect address". The problem is that it's being returned to the authenticator and now has a different tracking number! What do I do? Will the authenticator know whose it is to then send it back to me? I can't afford to lose the sale AND the watch.

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Help! Sold item being returned to authenticator

     This may prove to be an interesting one but you should be in pretty good shape. Since the watch is being returned to the authenticator they should, according to process, verify the same item is coming back and then return the item to you. 

     This is where it may get a bit interesting. The policy is not real clear on "return to sender" where the buyer had an incorrect address. In most instances eBay considers and incorrect address the same as delivered and technically you are not required to refund anything to the buyer. There is also the "all sales are final" option/clause that goes with items going through the authentication center but no sure if you had that set in you listing. 

     While you may not be required to refund the buyer once you have the item back ethically it would be the right thing to do rather than keeping the $3.2K the buyer paid. However, you should deduct all the shipping costs and fees from the refund amount. Just curious have you attempted to contact the buyer? You may also want to contact eBay through the facebook connection as this may be an authenticator issue if the authenticator messed up the shipping to the buyer. 

     Let us know how this comes out it is an unique situation. 

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Help! Sold item being returned to authenticator

Thank you for your reply. I did try contacting the buyer to no avail. What is the "facebook connection"? I agree that it would be great to get in touch with ebay. The buyer has lots of positive feedback as a buyer so I find it hard to believe he has an erroneous address. It's all a very weird situation.

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Help! Sold item being returned to authenticator

@cravestep 

 

Buyer feedback is always 100% positive. Buyers can’t get negatives. 

No one asked, but I am looking forward to the day when having feedback default sorted by relevance seems right.
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Help! Sold item being returned to authenticator

@cravestep 

Here's the Facebook link:

 

https://www.facebook.com/ebayForBusiness/

 

Contact them as soon as you can.  They may take some time to reply, but usually no more than 24 hours. 

 

Good luck to you!

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