Seller won't pick up return from the post office.

[xbrianowen]

I recently purchased a camera for $2000 from a seller on eBay, when I received the camera it was defective. The seller said he would honor my return and accepted my RMA and issued me a return label. I sent the return out and now for the past four days it has been sitting at the post office in his city "waiting for pick up." I have e-mailed him just friendly reminding him that it was ready to pick up at the post office, and he will not respond. Now I can't get my $2000 back until eBay sees that the seller has atleast picked it up. What should I do? I obviously don't want the camera to sit so long that it gets returned to sender and I am stuck with a defective camera.

[robot-hands · Accepted solution]

Do nothing. I wouldn't even email the seller again. Eventually it will make its way back to you but don't worry. Ebay will side in your favor no matter what because sellers cannot get around refunds by not accpting the item. When you see the tracking update that is coming back, escalate your case.

In a few days you will have your money and the camera back and a seller begging you to return their item. At his point you can do a few things:

You can return it if you like, but I wouldn't. You might see what it is worth to the seller to have it back. 

You can keep it for yourself.

Give it away.

Throw it in the street.

All perfectly acceptable. You can ignore the people that say "you can't have the item and the money". Yes you can because your ill-informed seller was trying to stiff you. All morality is out the window now. Proceede how you like but you are under NO obligation to do anything further.

[xbrianowen]

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@freezebreath wrote:

Do nothing. I wouldn't even email the seller again. Eventually it will make its way back to you but don't worry. Ebay will side in your favor no matter what because sellers cannot get around refunds by not accpting the item. When you see the tracking update that is coming back, escalate your case.

In a few days you will have your money and the camera back and a seller begging you to return their item. At his point you can do a few things:

You can return it if you like, but I wouldn't. You might see what it is worth to the seller to have it back. 

You can keep it for yourself.

Give it away.

Throw it in the street.

All perfectly acceptable. You can ignore the people that say "you can't have the item and the money". Yes you can because your ill-informed seller was trying to stiff you. All morality is out the window now. Proceede how you like but you are under NO obligation to do anything further.

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Thank you for the advice, I appreciate it!

Cheers!

[thingsoldandnew10]

Both e$bay and PayPal require "Signature Confirmation " on items $750 and over in value. Did you send back with Signature Confirmation? If not, you could possibly have more problems in the future if the seller does pick up.

[xbrianowen]

I used the return label that was provided to me from EBay. Since the return label was addressed to his house and the tracking now says "ready for pick up" it is probably being held for signature confirmation. I work at a shipping company and generally that is the standard procedure for anything we ship out with signature confirmation required, USPS will attempt to deliver once and then just hold it until the recipient comes to pick it up. 

[beyondfab]

The labels that eBay provides do not have Signature Confirmation included.

[impalajohnny]

I wouldn't jump to the conclusion the seller is trying to stiff the buyer. It's a possibility but not a certainty.

If the camera comes back I'd persue the refund but keep the camera in a safe place until all is resolved. I would not give it or throw it away. On a $2000 sale ebay might not be the final authority. It's enough money that a civil lawsuit or criminal charges could result from things not being handled acording to the real law even if they were in keeping with ebay law.

[xbrianowen]

I completely agree. I definitely would not just sell, keep or get rid of the camera. I just want my refund so that I can purchase a working model. If it does get returned to me, I get a refund and the seller finally contacts me, of course I'll send the camera back. Not looking for any legal battles, trust me.

[dailybuglegifts · Accepted solution]

Hi,

Sorry that you are going through the unfortunate event of a seller trying to stiff you.  We operate an store on eBay as a seller and if you play by the PayPal and eBay policies....  you win almost every time.

If a seller or buyer refuses to pick accept an item that was returned or sold....  and you have PROOF that they are refusing to receive the item, then the escalation department with eBay will rule in your favor... the money is returned to the winners side of the case.

Recently, we had a customer who bought a relatively expensive item from us.... they decided that they did not want it once it was in transit.  We explained that once they received the item that there would be responsible for returning it to us, at their expernse, plus a restocking fee.

Make a long story short, the buyer thought they would be clever and refuse the delivery, in an attempt to have us pay for the return shipping cost and the orignal shipping cost...  even though they knew full well the terms.  Wrong move...  eBay sided with us, closed the case in our favor... and once we receive the item back, it is ours... plus the hold on our funds was release back to us as well.  

It is a shame that some people in this world think low character, self serving actions...  completed biased and unfair decisions don't come back to haunt them, but this transaction most certainly will for this dirty character who purchase from us.  We are debating if we even refund anything back to them, though we may but only a fraction.

Moving forward, just make sure all terms are clear prior to buying and make sure in the future, with a quick phone call to eBay, how you can protect yourself in a iron clad manner moving forward.

Wish you the best and I am confident things will work out in your favor... it did for us.

[hafoster]

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@dailybuglegifts wrote:

Make a long story short, the buyer thought they would be clever and refuse the delivery

Wrong move...  eBay sided with us, closed the case in our favor...and once we receive the item back, it is ours...

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You have no defense against a chargeback, as the buyer can prove the merchandise was returned.

So your bill will be:

• Total amount of the payment, including shipping if any
• eBay FVF (not refunded for a chargeback) and listing fees if any
• PayPal fees (not refunded for a chargeback)
• $20 chargeback settlement fee

http://pages.ebay.com/resolutioncenter/BuyerProtectionForSellers.html

http://paypal.com/useragreement

It might be wise to voluntarily issue a full refund, to head off a chargeback.

[hafoster]

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@xbrianowen wrote:
Seller won't pick up return from the post office.

I used the return label that was provided to me from EBay.

the tracking now says "ready for pick up"

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If your green bubble stalls at "Item Shipped" when your seller is unclaimed, eBay will assume delivered and button.

Type a comment, select "I haven't received a refund" and ask eBay to step in it.

[marcing00]

Hi,

can you tell how this case finished?

I’m in similar situation. Bought faulty item. Seller disagreed with return so I opened the case. Ebay was on my side and asked me to send an item back. Ebay provided me a label and I was following the procedures. 

Ebay returned me a money but month later the parcel came back as seller did not pick up.

What to do ? I have money and I have an item.

[robot-hands]

Sell it, donate it, use it, give it away, leave it in the street, shoot it from a canon.

All accpetable. 

[scannerman-of-nm]

I am experiencing this too from a seller on eBay whose Scanner Antenna did not work worth crud & was a waste of time & money.  I filed for a return on the item directly on eBay with the seller & he accepted my return allowing me to print out a return shipping label directly through eBay at $6.60.  He told me that he would refund me once he received the Antenna back. 

While it turns out, that it was delivered 5 days ago & is ready & available for him to pick up, but he is not & has not gone to pick it up.  I kindly emailed him inside eBay telling him that my returned item package to him was available for pickup at his local post office.  He contacted me back & told me that he would try to stop by & pick it up yesterday 10/24/2017.  I kept checking on the return tracking number for this return that I shipped back to him & he still won't & has not gone to pick it up.  Strangely, I received my full refund yesterday 10/24/2017 from the seller even though he did not & still has not bothered to go to the post office & pick up the returned package from me.  Now today 10/25/2017, the USPS has put a (Delivery Attempt Action Needed) alert on the tracking number for the return package giving him only until 11/3/2017 to pick it up otherwise it will be returned to the sender which is me.

What is up with this & what do I do if he in fact never bothers to go & pick it up from his post office?  I have already been refunded for my purchase from him without him even picking up the return from me.  I am afraid that if the USPS sends it back to me due to his ignorance & laziness, that they are going to make me pay more on the shipping upon picking it back up at my local post office due to him not picking this retuned package up in time from his post office.

[kh-leslie]

Hi everyone,

Due to the length of time that has passed since this thread began, we have locked it from future replies. If this is still an issue that warrants discussion, don't hesitate to begin a new thread here.

Thanks.