Do not let buyers bully you on returns

[natoman777]

My wife and I and our adult children all sell on eBay.  My kids call me when they have questions about eBay situations.  My daughter just called me yesterday about a buyer who bought a purse from her and opened a return.  Her reason was "doesn't fit" based on not liking how the purse hangs when you use it.  6 days go by and no return, then she gets a message from eBay saying you must communicate with buyer to resolve this return.

So my daughter contacted them and the buyer says "send me a return label".  The return settings for her is that buyer pays return shipping for reasons like "doesn't fit".  She told her she would have to purchase a label herself.  The buyer then says "refund me for the purse plus the cost of the return label I have to purchase and I will send it back."

If my daughter had not contacted me she would have done this thinking she had to please the buyer, not knowing the buyer was requesting her to do something that goes against eBay policies.  You should never refund the buyer before your receive the item back, and you are not obligated to pay for their return shipping if your settings are not to do that.

It is important to make sure you don't let buyers bully you into doing things that aren't smart, and are not necessary,  It happens to me 30% of the time I have to deal with a return

[bbravo65]

...tell your daughter to let the buyer knows that she has to "officially" open a return request through eBay, then after that your daughter will provide her a return shipping label also through eBay...

...no refunds if items didn't return back to seller accordingly...

[luckythewinner]

Your daughter is lucky her buyer is not very good at forcing sellers to accept returns.

[bill.purvis2012]

How you handle it depends on whether you're okay with bad feedback or not.  All this buyer has to do is file for a return and give another reason such as 'not as described' and the seller will have to accept return at her expense. The buyer can also leave bad feedback. It's just not worth the hastle.  I would ask her to request return, pay for the return and refund upon receipt. That way, no bad feedback. It's just not worth it to fight returns. 

[uniwarehousewares]

buyers are abusing return process a lot but you should contact ebay  and should ask for compensation. ebay always refund the buyers sometimes from their pocket and other side give refund to seller too from its pocket.  that is one of reason buyers are doing scam because they know they will get their money back. unfortunately ebay return process is mess and policies are not very clear how it should be. 

i believe if your daughter have premium store then alot of problems of return could be sorted out because ebay also have special cs too dedicated to specific stores or big seller.

[m60driver]

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@natoman777 wrote:

So my daughter contacted them and the buyer says "send me a return label".  The return settings for her is that buyer pays return shipping for reasons like "doesn't fit". 

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In today's online retail market all buyers expect to have a no cost return for any reason.  It is not a matter of bullying, it is just the normal expectations given the reality of the online marketplace.  The dispute will only escalate if you attempt to deny this reality, resistance is futile.   And in all likelihood you will lose both the item and the money if you don't issue a return label at seller's expense.  At least in this scenario you do not have to refund until, if you are lucky,  you get the item back that you shipped.

[fab_finds4u]

Your return policy is returns accepted so I am assuming your family members also have a 30 day returns accepted policy.

When you accept returns the seller has to accept a return for any reason, including doesn't  fit, changed mind, found it cheaper, whatever. It is not "bullying." 

Your daughter needs to accept the return. 

When it's a remorse return eBay charges the buyer with the return label if the listing says buyer responsible for return shipping.

[mandisattictoyz]

Not true, since it is already in the communications it’s set in stone, if they file a false inad now it won’t be homered since in the communication it says such.  And there won’t be any bad feedback.  You can always, and I mean always get negative feedback removed.  If I could write a book on this I’d probably sell millions.  The secrets of eBay and loopholes provided from poor policy makes it so.

[inhawaii]

Dear customer,

I can not issue a refund. Ebay issues the refund. 

Ebay will not issue a refund until the item is returned. 

Please initiate a return on ebay.

There's a good chance they wont even do it.

Good luck!

[stainlessenginecovers]

If there was a 'reason' shown and ebay then messaged to 'handle it'; sounds like there was a return case opened. 

I hope you tell here to always look on Seller Hub for 'Returns' as there was a time when ebay would send a message stating 'you have a return to deal with'; but they no longer do that.

Also- just 'responding' in a message does NOT free her from the return case. 

She needs to locate the 'return case' and answer with 'accept the return' or 'don't accept the return' which the latter can ONLY be done if the listing has 'no returns'. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@mandisattictoyz wrote:

Not true, since it is already in the communications it’s set in stone, if they file a false inad now it won’t be homered since in the communication it says such.  And there won’t be any bad feedback.  You can always, and I mean always get negative feedback removed.  If I could write a book on this I’d probably sell millions.  The secrets of eBay and loopholes provided from poor policy makes it so.

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It doesn't matter what the buyer says in a message, all they care about is what type of return they open.

No, you can't always get negative feedback removed, ask all the sellers that have tried and failed.

[natoman777]

@bbravo65They did open up a return and the reason the chose for the return requires them to purchase a label themselves.  They just don't like it (buyer's remorse).  eBay told her to open a case against them for misusing returns.  If they don't send the item back she will not have to refund them.

[natoman777]

To make it clear the buyer already opened a return and didn't choose a reason in which they get a free return label.  They are just wanting to be out $0 like most buyers, when my daughters settings are that buyer pays return shipping for issues like "doesn't fit" or "just don't like it".  They are demanding an immediate refund before they even ship the item back and to include added money for the return label they have to purchase.

[stainlessenginecovers]

Good deal; that makes a 'somewhat' difference, but still wondering why 'ebay sent a message'; are all her listings '30 day buyer pays'? If so, they would be 'automated' and she shouldn't have a.) received that message and b.) shouldn't have to do anything except wait for the 'return' to be delivered. 

[natoman777]

@fab_finds4uThe return was already accepted 6 days ago.  The buyer wants her to refund them before sending the purse.  They also want her to add the cost of the return label that they are responsible for.  So they want money they will get if they ship it back, plus the return shipping label price they have to pay...all upfront before sending the purse back, let alone my daughter receiving it back