Buyer gave wrong address, item was returned as undeliverable

[mezzodiva54]

I am a fairly new seller, and need some advice.  I listed an item with me (the seller) paying the postage out of pocket.  Printed the label from eBay, coughed up the postage (basically half the cost of the item).  The buyer then messaged me that I had sent it to the "wrong" address (the address on their eBay account), I should send to a different address.  I responded that I had sent it to the address they provided, provided tracking number (which they of course would have been given already by eBay), told them that the PO had a problem with the address they had given, asked them to please contact their PO.  Crickets.  Today the item arrived back at my doorstep.

NOW -- what should I do?  After postage, taxes, and fees, I only made about $4 on this transaction as it is.  Am I supposed to re-ship it to the alternate address they gave me?  A Google search shows it to be a warehouse, and I am already nervous about this buyer.  If I pay for shipping costs AGAIN, I will see nothing at all on this transaction.  Can I write the new address by hand on the original package and throw it back in the mail?  Can I refund them the purchase price minus what I am out shipping etc.?  What is the right thing?  Mostly I want them to go away, but my precious 100% rating hangs in the balance here.

[chapeau-noir]

They buyer having the incorrect address on record and the package refused negated their MBG.  I would simply cancel the transaction for 'problem with address' (you have up to 30 days), which will refund your buyer's payment and your seller fees.  If you used free shipping, you can't deduct it.  I would not resend the package with an address handwritten - that negates your seller protection and you're out that money.

[gone_4_good]

What does the USPS tracing say?

What was the reason for return?

[rebell45]

Problem with address, undeliverable. 

[daw365 · Accepted solution]

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@mezzodiva54 wrote:

The buyer then messaged me that I had sent it to the "wrong" address (the address on their eBay account), I should send to a different address.

Today the item arrived back at my doorstep.

Am I supposed to re-ship it to the alternate address they gave me?  A Google search shows it to be a warehouse, and I am already nervous about this buyer.

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eBay considers undeliverable due to a bad address the same as DELIVERED. You do not refund anything @mezzodiva54 and immediately cease all communication with the warehouse-address scammer. If you had changed the address according to plan scam, you would have lost the item and what little money you made.

Later, if they start an item not received refund request, just re-upload the tracking number again showing its a bad address. If asked to step in, eBay will close the case without a refund, and the buyer is blocked from leaving feedback/feedback already left is automatically removed.

[no_zero369]

@mezzodiva54 

DO NOT RESHIP to some alternate address the buyer gives!  Period!

You could relist it and allow the buyer to buy it again if you want to deal with them.  I would BBL the buyer.

As a new seller one thing you may wish to do is to look and see what price your item has sold for in the past on eBay.  Then look at the shipping costs, eBay fees, shipping materials and other costs.  When you do that you might see upfront that the potential "profit" is only $4 and then  you can decide if your time is worth that level of compensation.  Not everything is worthwhile selling online - shipping costs put a BIG damper on many items.  Cash & carry flea markets, FB Market place or CL postings often work better for some things

As a foot note: There are scammers out there that target new sellers.  They will buy something and then send the seller a note that they messed up and need the item shipped to an alternate address.  Seller wanting to be helpful, changes the address and ships. Now here is when things go south.  Tracking shows the item was delivered, however, the delivery is to a different address or zip code than what is on the order.  eBay requires the seller to get the item in good condition to the buyer at the address on the order.  Since the buyer can not do that, they lose an INR case and lose the item.  Buyer of course had the package shipped to their sibling, aunt/uncle or accomplice so they get both the item and their money.  Can't say this is what you experienced, but something to be aware of.

[chapeau-noir]

It's funny/not funny, but when I first started on another site a couple of years ago, I had the scammers pestering me.  They can't quite pull the tricks they try here, but they do have a real scheme going.  After I sold a certain number of items, they abruptly stopped.  I guess they're everywhere!

BTW, @mezzodiva54  I think 'free shipping' is a trap and use capped flat rate - roll a bit into the item and offer cheaper flat rate shipping to my buyer.  They're happy with the cheapie shipping and I don't lose out.

[monster-deals]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

 I would not resend the package with an address handwritten - that negates your seller protection and you're out that money.

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They no longer need seller protection from ebay since the buyer opted themselves out of the MBG.

[mezzodiva54]

Thank you ALL for your helpful responses -- I learned something from all of you!

[raal_3845]

I received an undeliverable item, being new I contacted buyer who said the zip code was off one number. I said I would contact EBAY as I had already paid shipping, and wasn`t sure how to handle.  Now I think maybe I should ignore and bann him, but what if it waqs an honest mistake?  I guess I could refund him minus the shipping ($4), but if its a scammer he will just move to the next victim.  What to do?

[soh.maryl]

Strange that the last sale I see for this ID was on February 6th.??

And, since you're new at selling, you need to understand that most sellers who list with free shipping have rolled the shipping cost into the item price.

[chnon-25]

Is there any additional cost if I provide free shipping for my customers?

[harbeee]

That's not true.  They consider it not delivered.  I am dealing with this now.

[wastingtime101]

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@harbeee wrote:

That's not true.  They consider it not delivered.  I am dealing with this now.

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I suggest starting a new thread instead of reviving one that's 2 years old. Moderators tend to lock old discussions because they can have outdated info. That said, if the package was returned due to the buyer providing a bad address, you're covered if an eBay non-receipt claim is filed. If that's not the issue I suggest starting a new discussion topic with the details of your situation.

This is my standard advice for RTS (returned to sender) packages. Take the parts that are relevant to your situation.

You have a few options. You should decide which route you'll be taking and communicate with the buyer, but wait until the item is returned (and delivered) to you before you take any of the following actions.

• You can refund the buyer the item cost minus original shipping and minus a portion of your eBay fees (fee credits are prorated on a partial refund so you won't get back fees on the shipping amount you withhold). Go to your orders page, find the transaction and select "send refund." On the next page enter the amount. After that, relist the item and if you still want to work with this buyer you can tell them to repurchase it with the correct name/address.
• Have the buyer sort out their address issue then pay for re-shipping. Send them an invoice through PayPal or give them your PayPal e-mail. This is post-sale so it's OK to exchange e-mail addresses. It's also OK to ship to a different address because it's technically not tied to the original transaction. You would not purchase the shipping label through eBay or upload tracking to the transaction. You would purchase it from an alternate site like pirateship.com or paypal.com/shipnow and you can send the buyer the new tracking # through e-mail or eBay messages.
• A different way to accomplish buyer payment for re-shipping is to create an eBay listing for the shipping cost (bumping it up to factor in eBay fees) and having the buyer purchase it, entering their correct address at checkout. You could purchase a shipping label through eBay for that transaction.
• You can cancel the transaction "problem with address" which will trigger a full refund to the buyer and your FVF would be credited.
• You can do nothing. The buyer's MBG protection is voided when there's a package delivery attempt. I don't recommend this because even though you'll win an INR (item not received) claim on eBay, there's nothing stopping that buyer from going to their credit card to file a dispute and why deal with all that? I also think handling it before it gets to this stage with a partial refund is the "right" thing to do if you're not going to make reshipping arrangements.
• You might also want to direct the buyer to this page so their address is updated for future purchases: Account Settings: Addresses

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.