eBay

ravenwolfe84 · ‎10-19-2017

I sold an item a couple of days ago to someone who paid with an echeck. I messaged them letting them know that I would ship once the check cleared. They messaged me yesterday asking me to refund them. Obviously I do not have the money yet so I cannot refund. Once the money clears, I will be glad to go through the return process. I have a few questions. First of all, the reason for the return was that she thought she was buying something else. The item she thought she was getting looks completely different from the one she got plus the names are absolutely not similar. I suspect she is having buyers remorse. That's fine but now I am in a pickle. I have a 20% restocking fee on all of my listings to cover my returns when they happen. Would it be wrong to charge that to her? I will have had to hold this item for her for over a week until this situation is cleared up which means I can't sell it in the mean time. It's a bit of a loss. My other question is can she leave me negative feedback once I do the return even though she never had the item in hand and returned prior to shipping? I have a feeling she is going to see the delay in return as my fault even though she paid with a check and my hands are literally tied. I am just a little miffed about the whole thing. I'd hate to get a negative over a non-transaction. Is there any way to avoid her feedback? Any help and advice would be most appreciated.

prpro2016 · ‎10-23-2017

This is one of the reasons I quit selling here years ago. Just not worth the aggravation. Easier to sell in person and have cash handed to you. I will be interested to read how this plays out now that the echeck cleared and they refused the cancellation.

@ravenwolfe84 wrote:
That's fine but now I am in a pickle. I have a 20% restocking fee on all of my listings to cover my returns when they happen. Would it be wrong to charge that to her?

It never ceases to amaze me how greedy some people can be. A restocking fee for the item still sitting exactly where you keep it? Then good sellers wonder why less people are looking at their items. If I were in the buyers shoes and had the audacity to be human and make a mistake and was told 20% restocking fee you can bet it would leave a negative impression on me. Out of spite I would have probably just bought it and left you a permanent reminder on feedback so you could remember it as a negative as well. And I don't give negatives. In todays online market, returns are part of business. Usually without a restocking fee. Those options will flourish while the outdated options will die off. It requires a lot of faith for one to purchase something sight unseen from a complete stranger, and returns hassle free is what tips the odds in favor of the transaction.

1786davycrockett · ‎10-23-2017

Since you have initiated the cancellation this past Thursday, the cancellation procedure is indeed in place, and you do NOT ship. Repeat -- do NOT ship.

What do you mean by "The funds just went through today"? Do you mean that the echeck has cleared, and that the payment is in your PayPal account? Or do you mean that the echeck has been reversed, and returned to the buyer? Which is it?

dtexley3 · ‎10-23-2017

@ravenwolfe84 wrote:
Update:
I initiated a cancelation on last Thursday but the buyer never accepted. The funds just went through today but the buyer has not been in contact with me at all about anything. My new question is since I have a pending cancelation, I am safe to not ship, correct? I have 1 day processing but since the cancelation process has started, I obviously can't ship. I just wait it out, correct? What a horrible buyer this person has been. UGH! I wish they let us negative buyers. This person is literally the definition of a waste of time and space on ebay. 😕

So paypal now states: Ship Now? If so we are back to your first post. Try to go in and cancel, buyer requested to cancel and refund the money. If you can't, contact CS and explain that the buyer requested to cancel, they can see the message, and have them help. It may take a phone call or two to get a CS agent that understands the concept of a buyer cancelling, but they do exist...

And no, you can't charge a restocking fee in this case, it's a buyer requested cancellation, not a return.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

vintagecraze50 · ‎10-23-2017

Under no circumstances should you refund this buyer until you know that this echeck has cleared. There have been scam attempts using E-checks on Pay Pal with people who do not check their accounts. The buyer can cancel the e-check if she wants a refund. Again, do NOT ship an item or refund an item with an Echeck until you have thoroughly been convinced it is cleared through Pay Pal and good to go.

sam9876 · ‎10-23-2017

"The buyer can cancel the e-check if she wants a refund. "

False.

vintagecraze50 · ‎10-23-2017

You initiated the cancellation of the item, not the payment. If you ship this the buyer might be able to cancel the payment, NOT SURE. Please check with Pay Pal about this. Perhaps you could just refund the payment? AGAIN, get on the phone with Pay Pal every step of the way with this to prevent a misunderstanding on how to proceed.

vintagecraze50 · ‎10-23-2017

That's good to know. Thanks.

sam9876 · ‎10-23-2017

" If you ship this the buyer might be able to cancel the payment"

Nope.

"Perhaps you could just refund the payment? AGAIN, get on the phone with Pay Pal every step of the way with this to prevent a misunderstanding on how to proceed."

There is no need to call anyone. Just log-in to your PayPal account and issue the refund.