I had a buyer return an countertop ice maker (new in box) as not working. I just got it back today and it works perfectly fine.
I am out shipping $20 each way (total of $40) on an item I cleared $55 on. I don't mind covering it if I am in the wrong but this isn't the case. So my question is, what can I do? Can I refund them everything but the shipping (basically $25) and they are gonna be upset or do I just eat it? How do I stop this from happening in the future?
Every time you consider a potential inventory item, think of its value/shipping cost as a directly mathematical reward/risk ratio. The return risk for something that costs $20 to ship is a lot more worthy of listing if you can get $200 for it, whereas something with a value that isn't much more than shipping should give you pause.
You can't stop it. Virtually every eBay transaction carries the risk of fraud if the buyer files a fraudulent "Item not as described" dispute. And the higher the shipping cost, the more you are putting at risk.
Over a decade ago I decided to shift my inventory to items that ship for under $5.
I had a buyer return an countertop ice maker (new in box) as not working. I just got it back today and it works perfectly fine.
I am out shipping $20 each way (total of $40) on an item I cleared $55 on. I don't mind covering it if I am in the wrong but this isn't the case. So my question is, what can I do? Can I refund them everything but the shipping (basically $25) and they are gonna be upset or do I just eat it? How do I stop this from happening in the future?
Not much you can do if a buyer returns an item and claims it was not as described.
If you accepted Returns, you would find that Buyers are less likely to make a Not As Described claim.
And you get a small boost in Search.
And you can reduce the refund for Buyer Remorse returns.
And when buyers have a choice between multiple listings of the same item, they'll get the one they know they could return with no hassles or 'permission,' even if they doubt they'll need to.
