Buyer returning item without opening a return.

[curiousparts1998]

An item sold with 'free shipping' is being returned because 'ordered by mistake'.

He did not open a return, just mailed it back.

How do I recover my shipping costs and ebay fees?

[kalyoth]

A question - did buyer refuse at time of delivery or just pay themselves to return to the address on the original package? If refused, buyer invalidated their buyer protection & no refund is obligated. Good sellers do process refunds as it avoids further payment issues in the form of chargebacks.

If the buyer never opened a return case via ebay for the transaction, you have nothing to recover as no return occurred. ebay can only return what it knows about through its established processes. Fee refunds are subject to the type of return opened. In general, you will not recover shipping costs ever. They will be a business expense for you. 

Either way, refund nothing until you have it in your hands & can verify it is what you shipped out.

[caldreamer]

Free shipping is free shipping...under no circumstances would you get shipping money back.   As far as EBAY fees are concerned....I believe when you refund customer's money EBAY automatically refunds fees.

[pcobra93]

I have had this happen a couple times. If it was your mistake of some kind, I would just refund 100%. If it was a "remorse" return then you can just refund them the amount less you shipping cost. Since this is not a standard return, you can just do that through the "issue refund" process at any time. It will let you do a partial or full refund.

[ebooksdiva]

@pcobra93 The seller would not be refunding shipping costs at all if the listing stated free shipping. The refund amount will be of purchase price only.  

[kensgiftshop]

@curiousparts1998 

Free shipping, the buyer will get a full refund.

The shipping you paid was used so you can't get that back.

Just refund and be glad they didn't file an INAD.

[curiousparts1998]

I offer same day free shipping.

The buyer messaged me next day stating he'd ordered it by mistake.

I replied that if he returned unopened, I would refund same day.

Ebay collected about $20 in fees.  Do they keep that?

Shipping cost me $11  Sounds like I have to eat that.

Was wondering how to recover any of that?

This was a buyer error that would seem to be costing $31

[curiousparts1998]

That sounds promising.  When you refunded, did ebay refund your fees?

[ryry-jj]

If the buyer just ships back, when you receive it, you can issue a partial refund and minus the fees and shipping cost if you want.  From you post, the buyer already paid the shipping back to you, so you dont have to credit that back at least.   Had they filed a NAD then you would be refunding the return postage, too

[wastingtime101]

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@curiousparts1998 wrote:

I offer same day free shipping.

The buyer messaged me next day stating he'd ordered it by mistake.

I replied that if he returned unopened, I would refund same day.

Ebay collected about $20 in fees.  Do they keep that?

Shipping cost me $11  Sounds like I have to eat that.

Was wondering how to recover any of that?

This was a buyer error that would seem to be costing $31

---

Refund the buyer in full. The eBay fees will be credited as part of the refund. The shipping is lost.

Example: If item was $100 and fees were $20, you process a refund for $100 and $20 will be credited by eBay within the refund flow while the balance $80 is pulled from your account.

If you choose to issue a partial refund minus the shipping, the buyer can file a formal return through eBay to get the balance refunded, or they can file a payment dispute.

You told the buyer you'd refund if they returned unopened and that's what they did, so you should follow through with the refund.

Don't try to withhold shipping, which is owed to the buyer because you offered "free" shipping, just because the buyer is nice enough to work it out amicably @curiousparts1998 .

[curiousparts1998]

wastingtime101

Thank you, seems like sound advice and I'll take it.

[pcobra93]

It did, yes. I know the shipping was "free" in your listing, but we know it was not free. If the shipping was say $6 just deduct that from the refund amount. In this case, you should be able to do that.