I sent the wrong items to the wrong buyers and I don't know what to do

[nic.kos]

Hi,

I accidentally sent the shirt to the guy who bought the jacket and the jacket to the guy who bought the shirt.

I did 'oops'

What is the right way for me to fix this?

I would like to pay for any shipping or hassle, I just want to do the right thing and aren't smart enough to figure it out.

thank you in advance for your kind help.

[inhawaii]

DO NOT ask the customers to send to each other. 

Have them send it back to you and then you make it right. 

[knifeaholic]

I agree with inhawaii.  And whenever I do something like that I also give each buyer a partial refund for their trouble.

[m60driver]

You can try asking both buyers to agree to send to each other.  I would add a carrot and offer them both a partial refund as well as shipping costs.  If you can either break even or take a small loss then it is all good.  But it only takes one of them to file and INAD for that plan to fall through and you will have to have both ship back to you.  And in that case, if your cost of goods is low, then you can just refund both and abandon both items as you might end up paying shipping three times.

By the way, even the very best of us have made that mistake once, usually early in our reseller life.

[ebooksdiva]

I also agree with @inhawaii 

It never a good idea to ask a buyer to send items to each other giving those buyers each others contact information would be a privacy concern IMO.

It’s best to have your buyers return the items to you on your dime since it was your error in the first place.  
In the future to avoid mix ups like this, it’s always best to package and label items one at a time. 

[soh.maryl]

You contact both buyers.  Apologize profusely.  Send them the funds to return the items TO YOU (not send to each other).  From there on in, this will all be on your dime and you can refund everything, or as much as you want.  Ask each buyer if he still wants it.  Maybe they were purchasing for a special occasion and that event is now over.  

[ageless_fashion]

I had this happen to me once.  I found out about the switch when buyer #1 notified me that she had received the wrong item. I contacted buyer #2 that she would receive incorrect piece. I apologized to both, refunded shipping costs and both returned the items to me which I then sent the correct items to the buyers priority mail and included a small gift as a thank you. I also updated both buyers with the status of the returns each time I had new information (i.e. when each mailed it back and so on).

  Fortunately both buyers were cooperative and it all worked out.  Things like this happen and all you can do is apologize and correct if possible.  I double check everything now when I am processing a number of items for shipping.  

[nic.kos]

thank you for your detailed reply - 

I agree that's what i 'should' do

just don't know how to do it

can you tell me how to physically do that -

I've been through and through the menus but can't figure out which buttons to press to offer the return

[isaiah53-57]

I sent the wrong items to the wrong buyers

Just so we are clear here - Are you sure you didnt send the wrong item to the right buyer? Or perhaps it was that you sent  the right item to the wrong buyer? - I can definitely tell you didnt send the right item to the right buyer, but are you sure you were right about who the wrong buyer was?  In any case in order to right the wrong, you should write them an apology, as long as its not the wrong tone in the right context. Just remember two wrongs dont make a right, right?

Sorry to poke fun - Just let them know and reasonable people will work it out with you...

[kensgiftshop · Accepted solution]

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@nic.kos wrote:

thank you for your detailed reply - 

I agree that's what i 'should' do

just don't know how to do it

can you tell me how to physically do that -

I've been through and through the menus but can't figure out which buttons to press to offer the return

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The buyers will have to start the return process.

[slippinjimmy]

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@inhawaii wrote:

DO NOT ask the customers to send to each other. 

Have them send it back to you and then you make it right. 

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I've done both ways, while asking the two customers to do the swap can be slightly risky it's the fastest way to take care of things and generally the lowest cost for the seller.

The few times I've had buyers swap directly it always went smoothly, I freely admit that it can go south if one or both don't take care of their end.

[nic.kos]

that is helpful, thank you. 

i asked both of them to start the process and said i would extend some extra discount for them. everything i have for sale pretty much all goes to aid Ukraine but I'll give them whatever is left

[ca42388]

I recently did this also. However the only way to send a postage label was for the buyer to submit a request. 

Once I saw it was on it's way back by tracking, I took the chance and mailed the correct one.  All went well, received the correct item and mailed it out. Communicated throughout the process with both buyers, all was good.

On my end I could not close the return and/or do a partial return. I tried to contact Ebay  and was unsuccessful. I messaged the buyer to please close it and never heard back. I had no choice but to do a full return. Had I not, Ebay would have and then I might have received a ding on my account.

Ugh....cost me alot for this mix up