Additional Refund to Buyer after Refund is Closed
I have a Refund Closed situation. I have never had to refund a buyer, so I am clueless. My buyer returned the item, which I received today. I initiated the refund per eBay instructions. The item is now considered Refund Closed. However, I had told the buyer that I would reimburse her for shipping it back to me. I looked on the box and it said no postage required if mailed in the United States, so I guess it was free shipping back to me? She sent me a copy of a form from eBay that shows she is still owed $10.00. It appears she paid $424 and I refunded her $414 (although I actually refunded her $400; I honestly don't know how eBay processes the refunds. I also had to pay an additional $22.00 to eBay apparently to cover fees over the $400, but that is another question I can't answer and I don't care...it's just money I'm out.) All I want to know how to do is send the buyer the additional $10.00 she apparently is owed so she won't leave me bad feedback. This is a nightmare! I have been on the phone trying to reach someone at eBay and am now getting the recording we are out of normal business hours. Please, please, please can someone help me and tell me how to send the buyer $10.00 after the Refund has been marked closed!!! Thank you.
kalyoth
·4 months agoIn theory - once you have fully refunded a purchase on ebay - negative feedback on the transaction is subject to removal by ebay because the situation was fully resolved. Don't fear the feedback.
As to the refund, if you fully refunded everything attached to the transaction, you can't go beyond that.
albertabrightalberta
·4 months ago@kalyoth
Where are you getting this info? If a buyer was disappointed, i.e., if the item didn't work as intended and returned for NAD (not as described), they are allowed to leave a legitimate neg because the refund doesn't necessarily mean the buyer is satisfied.
Please post a link to the policy that states this.
kalyoth
·4 months agoI have fully refunded buyers, have had negatives left for it & ebay automatically removed them. It is my experience only.
bonanza125
·4 months agoIf there is no postage required my question would be to you is did you send her a return label and she used it? If yes then she didn't pay anything you paid return shipping which Ebay charged you. Are you sure the "Cover Fees" you were charged $22 for was instead a return label? Once a case is closed there is no more way to refund through Ebay. You could talk with her about a refund of shipping through Paypal however if you were charged for a shipping label I wouldn't pay her a dime.
ncydrew
OP4 months agoThank you for your kind reply. I thought the extra $22.86 that was charged to my VISA was for the return postage, but I don't really know. I just followed the directions on the screen from eBay on how to process the return and it seemed to go OK. The $22.86 charge came later when I had to update my payment arrangements. As I said, this is all new to me, and for me, very, very confusing. I haven't sold on eBay in a long time and everything has changed in the time I haven't been selling. Unfortunately, I think the buyer could be unkind and leave negative feedback, and I enjoy that I have had no negatives since I registered in 1996 and that is important to me. I think the PayPal idea is a good one and I will contact her with that suggestion. I just want this to be over. Thank you again.
soh.maryl
·4 months agoYou don't seem to have mentioned the reason the buyer requested a return. That's somewhat important in the overall scheme of things.
If your buyer opened an item not as described case, and you wanted your item returned to you, then you were required to send the buyer a prepaid return shipping label. If you did that and then received the returned item, you were required to refund the buyer in total.
Or you can just refund the buyer and let them keep the item. Sellers do this sometimes when it's a low dollar item. Or when the buyer claims damages and shows a picture (or not). If you don't do anything at all, eBay will refund the buyer from your funds and let the buyer keep the item.
If, however, the buyer's reason was "buyer's remorse", like simply "didn't like it", you weren't required to cover the return shipping cost.
All of this, am pretty sure, is spelled out in the information provided for sellers. If there's been a gap in your selling history, you might want to do a refresh reading, just in case there have been any changes. I think the above information about returns/refunds has been in effect for quite awhile though.
ncydrew
OP4 months agoThank you for your input. The seller wanted to alter the item with a couple of additional pieces which accompanied the item that had been with it since my original purchase years ago. Apparently, however, the additional pieces were not for the item, which was a total surprise to me! Naturally, I would accept the return. I believe we have resolved the issue, but this has taught me that if I plan on selling again on eBay, I need to take the time to read and understand the rules for selling as it is today! I'm an eBay old-timer who began buying and selling in 1996, so you can imagine how different it is today from back then. I just received my first monthly statement and couldn't follow the numbers! Thanks to all who responded to my plea for help.
jonathanbrightlight
·4 months agoYou can never refund more than you were paid by eBay. You can attempt to find another way if you feel you should, but it’s not required, and don’t let the fear of negative feedback drive you to do something you’ll regret.