How to handle a eBay sale that was returned to sender (me) ?
So I sold a item for $540 maybe a week and a half ago or so. Shipped immediately and noticed it was returned to sender because there was "no such number" and no mail receptacle to deliver to. The buyer said he's away on work and wanted me to ship to another address and even updated his eBay address but eBay is only letting me ship to the original address.
I've been doing this long enough to know I'm only shipping to a eBay provided address to be covered under seller protection (if that even still exists since it seems like eBay only cares about buyers lol).
I asked the buyer to cancel the sale yesterday and told him he could repurchase it after I relist it, that I confirmed with a eBay CS representative that's the only way to proceed but this morning he sends me this...
"Why don’t you just write an address on a small package, with a pen, and send it? You could put a few stamps on it, or print a label from the usps website. It’s not that hard, this is how it’s been done for many years. I can’t believe how stupid this has become. I will cancel, if necessary."
"I can't believe how stupid this has become "? Yeah buddy all because of you providing me a address with no mailbox. 🤦ðŸ»â€â™‚ï¸ðŸ¤¦ðŸ»â€â™‚ï¸
This has all been more difficult to handle because he only responds to messages once a day. I'm at the point I just want to cancel but not sure if I should do that because the eBay CS rep that helped me with something yesterday said if I cancel it could go on my record? Even if I say cancel because there was a problem with buyer's address? I figure I'm probably out the cost of the original shipping label but at this point I just want to make sure I get my FVF back and not get a defect or something on my seller account if I cancel.
sextons-sweet-deals
·1 year agoYou have been here since 2010 correct? You have to know this is a scam!
Reading your post, you probably have not received the item back yet based on timeline. Do nothing until you get item back!!!!
Did you ever entertain reviewing your buyers' profile before shipping?
1. all feedback
2. location
3. Google map / street address
Shipped immediately and noticed it was returned to sender because there was "no such number" and no mail receptacle to deliver to
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoWhat about this reads scam to you? The item was returned to sender (back to the seller), they aren't out anything. That's not a helpful comment to someone in their situation.
sextons-sweet-deals
·1 year agoread the post again.
Sold a week + ago. Seller will not get package back that quick.
Shipped immediately and noticed it was returned to sender because there was "no such number" and no mail receptacle to deliver to
Also posted by O.P. was this: The buyer said he's away on work and wanted me to ship to another address and even updated his eBay address but eBay is only letting me ship to the original address.
silverbuyer13
OP1 year agoI've been here since 1998, this is just one of my accounts. I've never encountered a return to sender before, not that I can recall anyways...
Yes, I received the item back it was just sent to the next state over.
Yes, i did check up on him, he has good feedback and the address he originally gave me does exist, it's just like vacant land that he was parking his trailer on and apparently while he was parked there the mailman would deliver to his trailer but he moved onto the next job site and forgot to update his address. He thought the post office would hold his mail but I told him no you have to file a mail hold request on their website.
I truly think he means well, he's just one of those "difficult" ones...
sextons-sweet-deals
·1 year agoIf you received item back, did you refund buyer and relist or just sent to the address the buyer asked you to send to?
Hope you sent with signature required. Too much going on here!
silverbuyer13
OP1 year agoNo I haven't refunded or resent the item. It made it to the buyer's address and back to me as a return to sender parcel in just a few days because we're only a couple hundred miles away from each other.
I've been trying to get the buyer to request a cancellation since that's what a eBay rep told me to do and the buyer just keeps trying to get me to resend the item to another address which I won't do.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoThe buyer can't request a cancellation at this point. You shouldn't cancel either, just refund (they are different things). Sending a refund will allow you to specify the amount and not refund them for the shipping that you already paid for and cannot get back. Don't keep communicating with this buyer either, just refund and block.
@sextons-sweet-deals, I read it carefully. And the OP just clarified above. Going around making people jumpy about possible scams when nothing in this post indicated a scam yet is unhelpful.
silverbuyer13
OP1 year agoThank you! I just got him refunded so frustrated with eBay CS giving me bad advice that was even a U.S. based phone rep that told me THE BUYER had to initiate a Cancellation so it didn't count against me. I'm so over problem buyer's. I rarely have them, like I had 1 problem buyer the last 10 months then all the sudden the last few days I've had like 4.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoGlad you got it taken care of! Yes, sometimes CS gives bad advice, we help correct a lot of that on these forums.
sextons-sweet-deals
·1 year agoHiding under another I.D. with no listings and trying to bash someone who is trying to be helpful to keep their guard up.
Maybe you need to read a little harder in the original post.
Shipped immediately and noticed it was returned to sender because there was "no such number" and no mail receptacle to deliver to. The buyer said he's away on work and wanted me to ship to another address and even updated his eBay address but eBay is only letting me ship to the original address.
If the O.P. received the item back, they should have refunded and relisted right? If the same buyer repurchased, the address should have changed.
A little too much going on that the O.P. has not clarified.
The O.P. posted in original post that sounds like the buyer's response:
"Why don’t you just write an address on a small package, with a pen, and send it? You could put a few stamps on it, or print a label from the usps website. It’s not that hard, this is how it’s been done for many years. I can’t believe how stupid this has become. I will cancel, if necessary."
Check it out and tell us what you think.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoThat doesn't sound scammy to me, but more like a buyer who has never sold anything and has no clue how ebay selling works and having never been a seller doesn't understand seller protections.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoDespite your insults, I’m doing just fine at following what’s going on (and I’m not hiding behind a posting ID, but I’m not going to get into the reasons with you).
The OP literally confirmed that my reading of the situation was correct, but you’re conveniently ignoring that.
They didn’t relist the item when they got it back because they came here to ask what to do (a sensible choice).
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoThe ebay rep didn't give you accurate advice. The buyer doesn't need to cancel.
You can just go to the order, click on refund and after deducting your original shipping, issue a refund for the item price.
And again, BLOCK the buyer!
silverbuyer13
OP1 year agoThank you! I got him refunded and adding to the BBL now. I can't believe that I finally got a U.S. based CS rep on the phone and they gave me bad advice just like the India support does. Ughh.
albertabrightalberta
·1 year agoI'd handle it differently than @luckythewinner
titipeo
·1 year agoA few things, as you mentioned, you are only responsible to ship to the address that shows up on the label for your seller protection, if you send to another location, you lose that. Second, when making the purchase, buyer had at least 2 times where he could verify and confirm the shipping address, he did not do so, that is not your fault, that's on him. Third, this is where it gets tricky, you are allowed to refund him and deduct the shipping charges, not your fault it was incorrect address. Fourth, block him, this is not the type of buyer no one wants to deal with.
silverbuyer13
OP1 year agoThanks , yeah he keeps getting more difficult now instead of just sending a cancel request like I asked he's sent me 2 more messages first time he's ever sent more than 1 message a day and he now sent me his phone number and wants to talk over the phone. Guys like him test my patience and waste my time and as we all know, time is money.
fern*wood
·1 year agoSince this was an item that you shipped, I don't believe cancellation is even an option now. I feel sure your buyer can't find a cancellation button now since it was shipped.
luckythewinner
·1 year agoI figure I'm probably out the cost of the original shipping label but at this point I just want to make sure I get my FVF back and not get a defect or something on my seller account if I cancel.
eBay does not provide a good mechanism for reshipping items.
IMHO the safest and best way to handle this is:
That way you do not get a ding for cancelling the transaction, you do not lose seller protection for shipping late, and you get all your fees back.
Yes, you lost the original cost of shipping.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoI don't believe they need to have the buyer file a case. If they just issue a refund and choose the appropriate reason, their fees will still be returned to them, and they will not be cancelling the transaction so there should be no ding. They can even refund just the item price, not the shipping that has already been paid.