Has Ebay always provided a refund to the buyer before the item even gets back to the seller?
I am the seller, and I accept returns. I have an item coming back to me due to fit. The buyer just shipped it and it seems like once it got the USPS acceptance scan, Ebay gave the buyer their refund. Baffling. I didn't authorize the refund because I don't have it back yet.
@jjddmwi wrote:
Yes, this is in the clothing category. As a matter of fact, I have 2 returns coming back and BOTH buyers received the advanced refund.
No idea if it matters, but both are returning due to not fitting - and I have 30 day returns, buyer pays shipping.
Thanks @jjddmwi - I've been digging into it more and discovered a stealth unannounced change in eBay's Refunding Buyers policy page. 🔍
The Internet Archive shows this is what the page looked like on April 9, 2024:
And here's what the page says today:
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/refunding-buyers?id=5182#section1
Unfortunately, April was the most recent archive so it's impossible to say when exactly it changed, but considering we haven't seen very many (any that I'm aware of?) reports here in the community from other seller seeing it, I'd guess it's likely much more recent than that - probably in the last month or so.
It says this change will not impact seller protections , so in theory sellers should still be able to deduct up to 50% if an item is used or damaged by the buyer and should still have neutral and negative feedback removed if they choose to deduct from the refund for that reason.
However, it's not clear how that will actually work in practice.
If the buyer is provided a full refund in advance and the seller completes the process with an allowed deduction once the item is actually received, does eBay let that buyer keep the full amount and just eat the difference themselves or will that difference be taken back from the buyer?
If it is taken back from the buyer, that sounds like a recipe for all kinds of problems, including possibly running afoul of consumer protection laws and regulations and most certainly increasing chargebacks claiming unauthorized charges.
I'm guessing eBay may be planning on revealing details at eBay Open and/or in the Fall Seller Update but since this is clearly already in effect now, they really do owe it to sellers to provide information now, in my opinion.
devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay please get with the appropriate team to find out when this went into effect and details of how it works, including how eBay determines when a buyer is eligible for an advanced refund and who funds the difference if the seller rightfully deducts from the refund once the item is received back.
@valueaddedresource wrote:
@jjddmwi I've recently seen where eBay is considering offering advanced refunds for "Trusted Buyers" in auto parts categories but have not heard of it in clothing categories (which I'm assuming from your active listings would have been what this order was for.)
We've been trying to get more information about what the criteria is for the "Trusted Buyer" program since eBay doesn't publish anything about it publicly and it appears it may include other perks as well like avoiding immediate payment requirements on offers, based on what @my-cottage-books-and-antiques posted here:
devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay - can you please provide details about why some buyers would be receiving advanced refunds like this, and if it is part of a Trusted Buyer program, please provide details about that program as well including eligibility criteria?
Hey @valueaddedresource! At this time we do not have any additional details that we can share on this topic.
Devon,
