Buyer wants to return item to me without going through ebay

[optimum_4]

I had a buyer who purchased a non expensive item. He wants to return it but said he cant figure out how to return it through the ebay page. He is asking for my address so that he can send the item back. Im not worried about a scam as this is only a $10 item, but does messaging someone my address so they can return the item violate any ebay policies?

[dtexley3]

If they want to return it, they need to go through eBay.  You can choose to help explain it to them or not.  If they do open a return, approve it and send them a label.  There's no reason to make it easy for them to get their money back and keep the item.

[goodluckselling]

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@emerald40 wrote:

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@myboardid wrote:

If you refund withoutgoing through the eBay return process, you will get a defect for "out of stock", unless you send the moeny back via "friends & family", or whatever it is called. 

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That is exactly what I thought.

And then if you do it through friends and family where you are hiding it from ebay, how do you then prove to ebay that you refunded them?

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You can't.  A friends and family transfer is not connected to a transaction payment.  The buyer could turn around and probably get refunded from the transaction payment as well.

[green-night]

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@goodluckselling wrote:

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@emerald40 wrote:

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@myboardid wrote:

If you refund withoutgoing through the eBay return process, you will get a defect for "out of stock", unless you send the moeny back via "friends & family", or whatever it is called. 

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That is exactly what I thought.

And then if you do it through friends and family where you are hiding it from ebay, how do you then prove to ebay that you refunded them?

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You can't.  A friends and family transfer is not connected to a transaction payment.  The buyer could turn around and probably get refunded from the transaction payment as well.

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There is no reason a seller would ever send a payment via Friends and Family in this situation. 

Provided the OP's buyer doesn't have the brains to open a return via eBay and decides to return outside the return process, the OP simply needs to refund the payment via Paypal and call eBay to get their final value fees refunded.   There is no defect. 

[slippinjimmy]

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@emerald40 wrote:

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@myboardid wrote:

If you refund withoutgoing through the eBay return process, you will get a defect for "out of stock", unless you send the moeny back via "friends & family", or whatever it is called. 

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That is exactly what I thought.

And then if you do it through friends and family where you are hiding it from ebay, how do you then prove to ebay that you refunded them?

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You don't and you can't!!!!

There is absolutely no reason why one would refund in any way other than from the original transaction (unless the 60 or 90 days PayPal allows for refunds has passed). Having the buyer open a return request

If you refund this way you a) set yourself up for a defect, b) do NOT get a refund of eBay fees, c) do NOT get a refund of PayPal fees and d) You set your self up for the potential of a double dip by the buyer (extremely rare but could happen).

Having the buyer open a return request is simple, for the seller it means just one or two clicks to accept the return and then one or two clicks to process the refund and obtain credit for eBay and PayPal fees.

The return process for buyers on eBay is EXTREMELY easy

Instructions here:

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/returns-refunds/return-item-refund?id=4041&

[trustedbasset]

I just had a buyer sent a purcasep back without the ebay return process.

My communication with her indicated she was very familiar with eBay's procedures.

I could not figure out why she did not use eBay return.

I think I know why now. She must have an over abundant returns on her buying account. 

I knew the item was intact when I sent it but now I have a broken item. 

I could play the system too but I would worry about it day and night.

[ted_200]

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@goodluckselling wrote:

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@emerald40 wrote:

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@myboardid wrote:

If you refund withoutgoing through the eBay return process, you will get a defect for "out of stock", unless you send the moeny back via "friends & family", or whatever it is called. 

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That is exactly what I thought.

And then if you do it through friends and family where you are hiding it from ebay, how do you then prove to ebay that you refunded them?

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You can't.  A friends and family transfer is not connected to a transaction payment.  The buyer could turn around and probably get refunded from the transaction payment as well.

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Not only that, you could potentially get smacked around by PayPal for using friends and family for something related to sales of goods / services. 

I don't see why they can't mail it back, and you simply refund the payment via PayPal, and do a buyer-requested cancel.  But since that would be far simpler than eBay's ridiculous, bizarre, and confusing "streamlined returns process", there's probably some reason they can't/won't be able to.

[ted_200]

Provided the OP's buyer doesn't have the brains to open a return via eBay and decides to return outside the return process, the OP simply needs to refund the payment via Paypal and call eBay to get their final value fees refunded.   There is no defect. 

Er...

[robot-hands]

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@emerald40 wrote:

Sounds like he may have opened too many cases and wants to stay off of ebay's radar.

Explani to him on how to do it and send him a link to ebay's pages.  If he can figure out how to buy he can figure out how to return.

I would do it on ebay only because off of ebay how can you prove you refunded him?

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Why would it matter if they had nothing to start a return for anymore?

[chrysylys]

I wouldn't do anything.

[emerald40]

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@robot-hands wrote:

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@emerald40 wrote:

Sounds like he may have opened too many cases and wants to stay off of ebay's radar.

Explani to him on how to do it and send him a link to ebay's pages.  If he can figure out how to buy he can figure out how to return.

I would do it on ebay only because off of ebay how can you prove you refunded him?

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Why would it matter if they had nothing to start a return for anymore?

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Not understanding your question.  But in the day and age of the ebay scammer, what would prevent someone from getting refunded off of ebay and then putting through a SNAD case.

And for those types of people who needs the original item to return it back when a rock or bag of paper will do nicely, if that is what you mean by having nothing to start a return.

[theposhmermaids]

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@missjen831 wrote:

eBay revamped the returns process. It’s terrible. I am not surprised your buyer is having difficulty. 

You wont get an OOS defect if you issue a full refund through PayPal. And you should actually be able to cancel the transaction & refund if the buyer sends the item back without going through eBay or PayPal. 

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This is good to know!  Irecently fully refunded a buyer before she receive item due to a mistake I made.  She was happy, but I was worried about a defect from ebay.  Thanks for putting my mind at rest!

[brian@ebay]

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@optimum_4 wrote:

I had a buyer who purchased a non expensive item. He wants to return it but said he cant figure out how to return it through the ebay page. He is asking for my address so that he can send the item back. Im not worried about a scam as this is only a $10 item, but does messaging someone my address so they can return the item violate any ebay policies?

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Hi @optimum_4, it's best to have the buyer return the item using the process on our site. Any full refund through PayPal that does not have a corresponding cancellation or eBay Money Back Guarantee request may be considered an out of stock defect. Have your buyer go here to start the return. If they are having a difficult time doing this then let them know our customer support agents can help.

I also want to clarify that after a buyer pays through eBay checkout, it is OK for a seller to share contacting information. Sending a buyer your address in this situation would not violate our policies.