albertabrightalberta
mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999
@bonanza125 wrote:It's all part of business. When you receive the item back just issue a refund "wrong address" and relist it for higher to recoup your shipping cost. Then tell the buyer to make sure they edit the address to where it shows there apartment number. Then when that is done then the buyer purchases the item. Make sure everything is correct and you can confirm with the buyer before shipment as well. Had this done many of times to me as a seller. The buyer might have move to that apartment and either forgot to put the apartment number or didn't know they had to in the first place. It's not hard to believe it's actually very common mistake.
The buyer's error of not putting the complete correct address shouldn't be part of the seller's "cost of doing business." Although the seller isn't obligated to refund the buyer for the incorrect address, he certainly should refund the portion of the buyer's payment but retaining his own costs.
And if I were the seller, this buyer would be on my BBL.
We are all human and we all make mistakes, some are really simple mistakes that most times they would have caught. It is sad that we are always on the lookout for someone trying to scam us that we forget sometimes people just make honest mistakes.
One caution I would give you is to NEVER ship anything with a signature required unless you have informed the buyer that is what you are doing. Never do it as a SURPRISE, that will certainly cause some upset buyers and understandably so.
I'm unsure how you think this buyer would be committing a scam. Sellers are protected when the tracking shows the item to be undeliverable. So if the buyer were to file an INR, they would not win, you would.
As for the buyer wanting you to reship the item, you need to tell them that once you get the item back and it is in the same shape as you sent it, you will be happy to reship the item at their expense. You can invoice the buyers through PayPal as Ebay does not have a vehicle in which to do this.
The amount you invoice them should me the amount you originally charged them for shipping PLUS the fees you will be paying to PayPal.
Then when you go to reship the item, DO NOT create the shipping label in Ebay as the new tracking could over-write the original tracking and you do not want those details to get lost. Go to PayPal and do the shipping from the transaction there. Oh, make sure they got their address correct this time.
You will be protected by Ebay on this with these steps.
@m.ant wrote:So I wait until it’s returned then cancel and it will allow me to refund minus shipping? I did have it listed as No Returns because the item was NWT and as I said I just don’t trust people particularly with no feedback. I did pay my own money for the signature confirmation slip but if I’m only out $3 that’s better than $11.
Also what should I tell the buyer? Should I explain the situation above that I need for it to be returned, I’ll cancel minus shipping, and I can re-list if they want to purchase again?
Thank you for the help.
NO, do not ever "cancel" a transaction that was actually shipped. That is a specific process for specific reasons, but this isn't one of those reasons.
When you refund someone, Ebay refunds your fees, but in this case you would not refund the shipping fees. So if you decide to refund the buyer, you would refund them the Product amount less your non refundable fees. There is no reason for this transaction to cost you money. Heck Ebay wouldn't even force you to make a refund of any kind to this buyer, but I never advise that.
A No Return Policy does not protect you from INRs or INADs. The ONLY thing it will protect you from is Properly Filed Buyer Remorse returns. If a buyer files an INAD because there was a problem with the item, you would need to process that INAD. To deny it would, in time, end up with Ebay forcing you to refund, not refund your FVFs and give you a Defect on your Seller Dashboard. So make sure you learn what you can and can't do with a No return Policy. Do NOT assume you are immune to having to process INADs.
First find out if your buyer will still want the item. If they do, let them know you will notify with when the item is returned to you. I personally would not do a new transaction of ebay as all the risks now come back to you as you had in the original transaction up until the tracking showed it was undeliverable. The new transaction would also allow them to leave feedback.
IMHO I would encourage you to process it as I stated in my previous post. It is the safest way for the seller.
Some apartment complexes have a handful or units, others have thousands.
@iart wrote:We wouldn't send signature confirmation without the buyer's approval - especially for a $50 item. This is probably what messed you up. The carrier probably couldn't easily tell the apt number and so simply returned it. Or maybe the buyer simply wasn't home. It's not a part of the deal that the buyer has to waste their time going to the post office.
I agree. The OP got lucky on that part of this transaction. That could have really caused them problems. The bad address was kind of a favor in this case. The carrier didn't have the apartment number as the buyer admitted they didn't give it on their ship to address.
