Ebay refuses to reimburse me

[rcclan5]

I sold an "as-is no returns" broken crossbow to a man for $47 plus $30 shipping (total of $77).  I mailed it to him on 7/30/20 via USPS ground for $71 (Priority Mail would have cost me $112 and I would have lost $35).  It was supposed to have arrived on 8/5/20.  I tracked the package every day.  By 8/12/20 the buyer was having second thoughts and he started talking about a refund.

Long story short I gave the buyer a full refund on 8/15/20, including his Ebay fees, as it was evident that the USPS lost the package and that was the right thing to do.  I launched two investigations with USPS, which was as effective as spitting into the wind.  All they could do was give me printouts of what I was seeing on my computer.

Then miracle of miracles it showed up at the buyer's house on 8/27/20 (27 days after I mailed it).  He said that if that happened he would pay me again, but instead, he refused it and returned it to sender.

Now I'm out the $71 postage.  Ebay is refusing to reimburse me except for my selling fees, even though the buyer did not fulfill his end of the bargain.  Do I have any recourse other than no longer doing business with Ebay?

[debad4042]

Why would you expect ebay to reimburse you at all?

[corvettestainless]

This is nothing but a website that puts sellers and buyers together. This website does not ship. They do not take responsibility for you selling an item and shipping it to someone. That is between you and your shipper, and it's on you to make your buyer happy. 

 If anything, you have issue with the shipper (USPS)- and USPS Ground is not insured. 

[superfectabox]

You are out the money and won't be getting is back from eBay or USPS....next time, use FedEx and shipping label via eBay because:

1) On an item of this size and weight, it would have been cheaper than USPS

2) It would have made it like it should.

FedEx SmartPost (or Home) on big and/or heavy items is always the least expensive option.

Learning experience...we all have them.

[terrycece62]

So  you will get the item back (hopefully soon)  

Agree with above post exactly what do you want reimbursed for the shipping?

Shipping service has been provided no one is going to be giving you any money for that 

Sorry

[house*of*paws]

Hi @rcclan5 

The current shipping situation sucks ... especially USPS.  I'm a buyer only.  I purchased an item on Amazon from a 3rd party in July ... which was hung up at the 1st or 2nd depot for over 6 weeks.  I eventually applied for, and received, a refund.  The item arrived a few days later. 

I tried to repay the seller ... and even phoned Amazon to ask how to do it.  The rep was shocked and said that she never handled a repayment before and would have to contact her supervisor to see how that could be done.  She said I probably would be contacted to verify the situation before money was taken from my credit card again.  I said okay. 

A few days later I received an email from Amazon telling me that the refund case was closed ... and no further action would be taken.  [In other words, I couldn't repay.]

I'm telling this story so that eBay sellers know that they are not likely to get better service on other venues.  The grass only looks greener on the other site .....    ☹️

[kensgiftshop]

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@rcclan5 wrote:

Do I have any recourse other than no longer doing business with Ebay?

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Be lucky they sent it back.

They could have kept it plus the refund.

[donsdetour]

Well eBay is not responsible for the shipper, or the cost of the shipping.

They have returned to you what eBay is responsible for.

[shhboom]

Mistakes:

1) Not requesting an immediate cancellation because you severely underestimated the shipping costs in your listing.

2) Waiting only 15 days before assuming the UPS lost the package. Have you been reading any of the forum posts about USPS delays at all in the past six weeks? How many actual USPS lost packages have you experienced in your lifetime?

[luckythewinner]

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@rcclan5 wrote:

Do I have any recourse other than no longer doing business with Ebay?

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Nowhere on the eBay site does it suggest that eBay will reimburse a seller when the seller's chosen shipping services fails to do its job. 

IMHO your issue should be with the post office - not with eBay.

[inhawaii]

"Ebay refuses to reimburse me"

What exactly did ebay do wrong?

[dnate3]

--not to rub salt in your wound, but I think you will have to pay the return postage  to actually get the item back.....pretty sure non-standard shipping like media, parcel select, etc do not get free returns when a delivery problem happens...

[otow_18]

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@rcclan5 wrote:

I mailed it to him on 7/30/20 via USPS ground for $71

(Priority Mail would have cost me $112 and I would have lost $35).

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Unlike USPS Priority and First-Class which provide free return trips, does USPS Ground and Media Mail charge you another $71 for the return trip?

[bewbfarta-0]

So many things wrong here...

Too much, it's late, off to bed.

[fashunu4eeuh]

The buyer did live up to his side of the contract. Given that he had the refund, he refused the package, which was an honest and valid response to the issue. It is not the buyer’s fault that the package took too long to arrive. So the buyer did nothing wrong here.

Ebay fulfilled its role as well, providing an outlet for you to sell your item.

The entity that let you down was the carrier. 

When deciding how best to ship an item, the cheapest method isn't always the wisest choice. Sellers have to take shipping speed into account. A buyer who has to wait a month for a domestic package to arrive, is more likely going to want a refund. And during a pandemic, where the postal system becomes compromised, sellers have double the responsibilities when selecting the best method to ship.

By the way, the buyer does not have any eBay fees, only the seller does, so i am unclear by what you meant when you wrote “I gave the buyer a full refund on 8/15/20, including his Ebay fees...”

A final thought: you dodged a couple of bullets here. It can be risky selling a broken item on eBay. Some ebayers don’t bother reading the complete info on a listing, and are caught by surprise when a broken item arrives.  

It can also be a complication to sell a heavy item on eBay. The heavier the item, the more problematic the transaction if you miscalculate the shipping charges. (But we have all been there done that.) And the heavier the item, the wider the profit margin needs to be for the seller to recoup his investment.  A less expensive item with a higher shipping cost can be a harder sell, too. Shoppers don’t always get how expensive shipping can be, and shrink at the thought of having to pay more in shipping than the item itself cost. 

The last bullet dodged was you didn't end up with no item and no money. Your buyer did the right thing by not keeping the package. While the wide majority of buyers are honest, we have been seeing multiple complaints lately here in the forum of sellers refunding and buyers receiving the package eventually without compensating the seller for it. Sad but true.