shipped a cd to HI.. refunded buyer due to delivery length... turns out it showed up

[addictedtoselling]

took almost a month for the buyer to get his item from NY to HI.. several weeks go by.. buyer contacted me and said he doesnt know where it is and if i could issue a refund($25).. I made a claim with USPS and was waiting patiently (almost 1 month).. of coarse usps didnt update status .. so i looked at the tracking and it turns out the buyer did in fact recieve his item.    of coarse i havent heard anything from the buyer.. i put alot of time into this $25 and i want it back.  Is there anything I can do?  

Thanks

[comics-scifi-collectibles · Accepted solution]

@addictedtoselling   

I hope you have an honest buyer.   As a fellow seller I know how frustrating delayed mail can be.  

These are the options for dealing with this type of situation. There is no way within eBay to handle this. I hope you have an honest buyer as eBay can not force the buyer to pay you back.

I would contact the buyer and say I see that your X finally arrived, I hope you are enjoying it. I would offer a small discount to encourage them to pay you back since part of your money is better than none.

#1 You will need to ask the buyer for their email address to send them a PayPal invoice

#2 You can share your PayPal email and they can send the money as friends and family or other electronic payment method such as Venmo

#3 They can snail mail you a check

#4 If they no longer want the item and have not opened it they can mark it as refused return to sender.

#5 You can send the buyer a return shipping label in eBay messages as a JPEG.   Buy the label on Pirateship.com.  They refund you for the label if it's not used within 30 days.    They charge the same commercial base rates as eBay. 

You are allowed to share contact information after a recent sale.

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE>>  

When I see that a package is running late or "stuck" somewhere the first thing I do is sign up for text updates and let the buyer know that I am checking on the package and thank them for their patience. 

If the package is 5 days late then I file a missing mail search for it.    These steps often "shake" a package lose and get it moving again with updated tracking.  

I have had buyers tell me that they only were willing to wait longer for their item and not file a not received refund request because I kept them informed.  I have had packages go on weeks long "walk abouts" in the totally wrong direction and never had a buyer file a not received case. I always thank buyers for their patience and assure them that they will receive their item or a full refund. My buyers are always willing to wait for the item.  

[addictedtoselling]

Thanks... You truly are a legend  !! Im honestly not sure what to do at this point.... I hate to have to email a buyer who recevied an item extremely late and beg for money back.  My friend suggested I go after the post office as the item was outside of their delivery window..but im not sure how that would work or possible. 

Thanks

[mam98031]

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@addictedtoselling wrote:

Thanks... You truly are a legend  !! Im honestly not sure what to do at this point.... I hate to have to email a buyer who recevied an item extremely late and beg for money back.  My friend suggested I go after the post office as the item was outside of their delivery window..but im not sure how that would work or possible. 

Thanks

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Oh no, you aren't begging.  It is YOUR product.  If they want to keep it they need to pay for it.  

It has been my experience that most buyers tell me that they got the item after the refund.  And some want to keep it and some don't, but they are honest and up front with me.

Then there are those that see an opportunity to steal, likely without any ramifications.  Because they likely think you don't know they got it.

I however always advise sellers that refund a buyer for an INR because the item simply didn't arrive to ALWAYS go to the USPS site and sign up for email updates on the tracking, just for situations like this.  It allows us to be a step ahead.

Another thing I do when I get notified that they item got delivered to the buyer, I will wait a day or two before I contact the buyer in the hopes that they will contact me first.