What happens if I do not have enough money to cover a return?

[purrfec-4298]

Greetings all. Basically what the title says. I sold something for around $780, but the buyer would like to return it, BUT I spent the money to pay bills. What happens? Will I get in trouble?

[evry1nositswindy]

If you don't have enough money in your payouts, then eBay will take the money from your account or charge your attached card.  They can send you to collections.  They WILL get the money.  

Do not refund until you get the item back from the buyer.  How long ago was this?  I do not see any sales under this ID.

[candd205]

Not refunding a return is how sellers lose their account permanently. If eBay has to pay for your refund, they will take action against you to claim the funds from you.

[ebooksdiva]

This is what happens...your payouts will first be placed on hold.

When the return comes to you then you refund, refunds will come out of available funds.

If you don't have enough in available funds then it will come out of the account you chose to pay fees etc.. if that is a bank account it will be, unfortunately over drawn.

If it's a credit card and there's insufficient funds they will send it to collections, restrict or suspend your account until the refund is satisfied. 

[kensgiftshop]

If you don't have the avaliable funds, they'll pull the money from your funding source if you have one set up or they'll take it from your checking account.

Selling online line, it's a good idea not to spend the money for awhile in case they want to return the item.

[kitschy*loot]

In the future you should really start thinking about not spending the money you earned for a while. I understand you probably need it for something, so you want to make sure you have some kind of payment method attached that can handle refunds. 

I've sold items elsewhere and I don't have a lot of money, but sometimes I will hold on to my earnings for a while in case there is a return. If I can't hold on I will make sure to have some money ready that can be used for refunds. I also make sure not to sell higher priced items...

[purrfec-4298]

What do you mean by "send me to collections"? Will the police come after me?

You're right I should have waited a bit before I spent the money but I wanted to pay those bills!

[wastingtime101]

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@purrfec-4298 wrote:

What do you mean by "send me to collections"? Will the police come after me?

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It means a debt collector will come after you and, depending how much $ you owe, it can ruin your credit rating for a while.

https://www.equifax.com/personal/education/credit/report/articles/-/learn/collection-accounts/

https://www.consumerfinance.gov/consumer-tools/debt-collection/

https://www.creditkarma.com/advice/i/accounts-in-collections