What do I do as a seller if an item is broken in shipping

Question

An item that I sold was broken in transit to buyer. What do I do? Do I file the claim with the Post Office or does the buyer do that? Do I accept the return or issue the credit? I have never had an item break that I sent. The buyer took over 5 days to contact me that it arrived broken. Do I need the item to file with the USPS or just the picture of the broken item?

I contacted eBay over the phone but I think the representative gave me wrong information. She said the buyer is responsible for filing the claim with the Post Office because the buyer has the damaged item. She said they would step in, but when I read the articles you loose the return fees if eBay steps in. This is really confusing.

disneyshopper · Answer

The seller asks the buyer to send photos of the broken item, along with photos of the outer packaging (including the shipping label) as well as the inner packaging. If the seller wants the item back, the buyer will go to his Purchase History and select to Return the item because it is Not as Described. Seller approves the return and provides a prepaid shipping label. Buyer prints out the label, affixes it to the package, takes it to the post office where the clerk scans the label. Once tracking shows DELIVERED, seller has 2 days to refund the buyer. If no refund, the buyer can go back to the Returns Request and clicks Ask ebay to step in, to force the refund.

If the seller has paid for insurance, s/he can refund the buyer without requiring the item being returned. Seller will file an insurance claim, so set the item and packaging aside in case the postal service wants to inspect the items. Seller logs into USPS.COM and locates the link to file an insurance claim, and uploads the photos the buyer sent. If accepted, USPS will send the seller a check.