Seller is requesting me to return package to different address than prepaid return shipping label

Question

Greetings. I have an item that I purchased on ebay which ended up being defective and have to ship back to the seller. The seller has requested me to send the package back to a different return address than the address generated on the automated prepaid shipping label from ebay. Do I ship the package back to the address on the prepaid shipping label or the address to where the seller has adked me to ship the package to? The seller has also told me that I will have to pay for shipping the package...

tenbigdogs · Answer

Hi @mana0529 The "prepaid" shipping labels are not actually paid for until they are used, scanned in by the post office, when the post office will know how much the package weighs and how much the exact postage is. So it won't cost the seller anything to generate another one for you with their correct address.

As the others have said, DO NOT send it anywhere at your own cost. Where is the seller located? For sellers located outside the US, it's supposed to be ok to ship and have them reimburse. The only MAJOR catch is that eBay has NO WAY to enforce that. If the seller does not reimburse you, eBay has no way to make them. Just say you cannot do it, that if they want the item back, they must send you a prepaid shipping label with their correct address per eBay Policy.

You must resolve this quickly because there are only so many days to use the return label or the return will close. You may have to call eBay and explain it to them and ask for their help. If the seller is making the return difficult, eBay may just refund you from the seller's account and not make you send it back at all. Good luck!

gosimus · Answer

@mana0529 < The seller has also told me that ... he will reimburse me the shipping cost > Maybe it's just my suspicious nature, but I smell a rat. If you don't use the prepaid label, then you won't be able to prove that the item arrived at destination, and the seller could say he never got it.

lady_madonna · Answer

@mana0529 You ship the item to the address on the prepaid shipping label. If you ship it to a different address, you will never see the refund.

comics-scifi-collectibles · Answer

@mana0529 NO, don't do that. You need to use the return shipping label from the return request or you will not have tracking to prove delivery in the case that you returned the item.

It is the sellers responsibility to keep their return addresses up to date so the return case has the correct addresses. I know that may sound harsh but that's the way the system works.