Seller wants my PayPal to pay for return shipping
Recently when I bought a game for the Nintendo DS (Kirby Dream Star Ultra), I was sent a bootleg, which was obviously not what they advertised. There was no mention of it in the item description and the pictures they provided were different than what they sent me.
So I requested to return it, and it was accepted, but since they're in China it appears they won't be able to send me a return label. They've requested my PayPal number to refund my shipping cost, but I'm not a fan of giving that out to someone I don't know, especially since Ebay would be unable to help if something went wrong. Is this normal procedure or is it a red flag? It feels risky but I don't want to mess up someone else because they have no other choice.
14 comments
pcobra93
·2 years agoIn response to all....I have not had this issue thankfully as I screen out sellers and only buy from US addresses. Even if the seller is in a foreign country, the return address as far as Ebay is concerned is the one it was listed/shipped from. If I were to have this issue, I would ask the seller to refund me in full through Ebay and then I would provide them the return cost and my PP. I would not let them hold my money hostage.....They know they will lose the case and be out the item anyway if you refuse to provide a PP address, so why would they not agree to this?
chrishaw9599
·2 years agoI contacted eBay support regarding a similar issue, but with a car radio from China instead. The cost to ship back to China from the US will be $200+, and I simply do not want that liability running outside of eBay's buyer protection. The support agent reassured me that it is the duty of the seller to provide the shipping label to the buyer if the return is because of inaccurate item descriptions, or false information regarding the item. I now have a 5-day grace period where the seller may provide a shipping label (although they claim they can't). After the 5 days is up, eBay claims I will receive a refund and will not have to return the item, although I'd like to return the item as I have no use for it. I originally contacted eBay support because the Chinese sellers were trying to get me to lie on the customs forms about the value of the package, which I believe is some sort of fraud. On top of that, I don't want to risk the possibility of a chargeback, or the seller claiming I never sent them the item because the shipping label wasn't officially provided through eBay.
kalyoth
·2 years agoMy response would be "I do not use Paypal." I also package items, get a return address & go to the post office to get a price for the return, but do not ship it. Then provide them with the dollar amount. Most of them try to get you to show proof of cost to ship. It's an attempt to get you to ship first & then they "disagree" on amount & u never get the shipping.
I am truly surprised ebay can't provide postage via a carrier & claw back the cost from the seller since they do control the money network on it's site via charges that post to the seller account...
house*of*paws
·2 years agoHi @josatte40
It is normal procedure when buyer and seller live in different countries. 🙂
josatte40
OP2 years agoAlright, good to know. I wanted to be sure since it would be difficult to prove dishonesty to Ebay like that and the seller had already demonstrated they were not trustworthy.
louisiana.lagniappe
·2 years agoI'm having this same issue now. I ordered a 1:6 Action figure from a seller in China. He has a 83% feedback rating and one of the negative comments said he sent something completely different from the description. I messaged the seller and clarified he would send what I was ordering and he promised he would. Then, lo and behold, when I got it, it was a much smaller, cheaper item! I opened a case as 'item not as described' and now he wants my paypal email to issue shipping refund and said that when he gets the item back, he will issue refund for it. I called Ebay C.S. and they said he needs to provide return shipping label. Seller only gave me their address to return the item. I'm so aggravated at this point because I dont want to give him my paypal email and I shouldn't have to do all this to begin with as he knowingly tried to scam me from the beginning by sending the wrong item. This is not a cheap item, either. It's almost $300 and he charged 77 dollars for shipping this small item!
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoSellers from China can't provide a return shipping label, they have to send you the money to pay for the return shipping and it's usually done through Pay Pal.
dqdistribution
·2 years agoBuyers can't buy return shipping to foreign sellers on eBay either. 🙂
No reason sellers can't go on pirateship and buy a return label with their paypal account and then provide it to the buyer.
Few things people don't realize is that if they send you money on the outside of the transaction and the package gets lost then eBay wont approve refund.
If seller provides label and it gets lost it doesn't matter buyer will still get refunded.
However since buyer is technically buying the label then this puts way more risk for the buyer.
I have always refused to buy any label I'm not responsible for, let eBay know that seller is refusing to provide a label, and eBay will issue a refund in buyer favor without return.
kako_5344
·2 years agoWhen the re turn trac king has ex pired, the sel ler in Chi na files for a re fund of their Pay Pal pay ment for the re turn ship ping pos tage or a charge back, well be fore the 180 days.
slyders_finds
·2 years agoThey can send a partial refund from the sale. Unless the sale is so old they can't view it anymore.
kako_5344
·2 years agoLet's check the math, @slyders_finds.
You buy a $100 item. Seller partially refunds $20 for you to return the item.
You spend the $20 on return postage. When the seller gets the item back, they refund you the remaining $80.
So you paid $100, and received $80 back.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoI have a Pay Pal account set up where I can receive and send money. I guess it's like a "Cash App".
I've had it for awhile...can't even remember about the set up procedure.
And you just give the seller your email address and the money goes into your account.
And then you can transfer that money into your bank.
And not everyone of course has such a Pay Pal App to receive and send money.
Everyone talks about how easy it is for someone to send you money for a return label...but its actually not
that easy for the older crowd.
kensgiftshop
·2 years agoInternational sellers can't provide return shipping labels.
They have to send you the money to pay for the return shipping and it's usually done through Pay Pal.
bonjourami
·2 years agoIts normal procedure.