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Selling - reimbursement for delayed perishable item
I am selling perishable items items via USPS. One item has been 'in transit' almost a week past its estimated delivery window.. it's clearly going to have no value to the buyer. I want to refund the buyer all costs, but hopefully there is a way for me to get reimbursed by eBay for value of item, listing fees, and shipping - since the shipping did not live up to expectations and caused damage. I am new to selling and can't seem to find a way to move forward here. The buyer has not yet filed an item-not-arrived claim with me. Thank you for any guidance!
9 comments
lady_madonna
Mentor5 months agoEbay will not reimburse for you refunding your buyer you since they are not responsible for the shipping issue.
inceptions
Mentor5 months agoHi @tuba..lady
eBay will not reimburse you for the item or the shipping. You bought a shipping label through eBay - eBay didn't ship the package. You selected Ground Advantage as your class of service which has a delivery estimate of up to 10 days out (which is not a promise date).
You can wait for the buyer to open a case, but if you know that item you shipped won't survive the long transit time, you can be proactive and refund now. The refund option is in the dropdown next to the transaction in your orders list (click the three dots). eBay will credit your final value fees when you refund.
If the package is never delivered, you can file a USPS insurance claim online here:
https://www.usps.com/help/claims.htm
tuba..lady
OP5 months agoOk, thank you! So is it better for me to be proactive and just do the refund or should I ask the buyer to file an item-not-received claim (or a return claim if the item finally does arrive expired)? I imagine it's better for my seller metrics to just do the refund proactively, but I was wondering if the formal process of buyer filing claims helps anything.
inceptions
Mentor5 months ago@tuba..lady
I don't know anything about fish (other than eating it), so I'm no expert. When I google how to ship aquarium fish, it looks like it's recommended to follow the complex packaging instructions and then ship overnight (which is quite costly).
I would contact the buyer now to explain that the transit time has been too long for the fish to survive and that you will process a refund. (You can offer a replacement as an option if you have one, but you'll have to absorb the cost of the expedited shipping).
As for your seller metrics, you are only dinged if you don't resolve the problem within the stated timeframe. However, if you receive an excessive number of cases, even if resolved, I would imagine that eBay algorithms would notice that and perhaps some action would be taken.
tuba..lady
OP5 months agoOK, thank you very much for all of your helpful information. You folks are all wonderful!
inceptions
Mentor5 months agoYou're welcome!
glorybells
·5 months ago@inceptions ,
Aquariums are a hobby with me. Shipping fish is not easy. They need to not be fed for a period of time so that during the shipping, they’re not pooping and fouling the water. They should always be shipped overnight, and only on Monday thru Wednesday so they don’t get stuck in a post office over the weekend. It’s also important to pay attention to the temperature both where they’re being shipped to and from.
inceptions
Mentor5 months ago@glorybells
That's good information! So @tuba..lady, you'll want to adjust your handling time for these items to the longest # of days before you'll ship so you don't incur defects for late shipping. As @glorybells stated, you need to ship overnight on Monday thru Wednesday so they will arrive alive (see post above).
tuba..lady
OP4 months agoAquariums are my hobby too, but I have not been brave enough to ship fish. I do ship snails and plants though. This particular shipment was snails.. apparently the package got lost and has been re-directed all over the country.. I'm sure the little snails have died by now, especially since their shipping warming pack has long since run out. Poor things.