I want to refuse a return, do I have to ask ebay to step in?

[*queenreina*]

Sold two items to a buyer. They raised two return requests after they received the item, claiming that I advertised my item was "old version(formula)".

In fact I revised my item description that this item was "new formula" before this buyer bought this item. I explained it so. Buyer claimed again that I had wrong information, so I let them know how to check the description of the item archived at the time of their purchase. After that they never responded.

I will not accept this return request. 

Now, the funds are still on hold. To release this fund, do I need to ask ebay to step in? Or do I just need to wait for some time?

Thanks for any advice in advance!

[iamalwaysright]

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@*queenreina* wrote:

Thanks everyone for the advice.
So the bottom line is, for INAD/defective return requests, ebay will always decide on buyer's favor and never step in and "help" sellers?

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Pretty much. An exception would be if the buyer fails to return the item to you. eBay won't allow a buyer to keep the funds without sending the item back after you've accepted the return.

[ckimodog]

@*queenreina* 

I would accept the return.  On eBay, no returns does not mean no refunds. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?

[iamalwaysright]

I used to wonder about this often. This is why international SNAD returns are sticky situations. Is there a max limit to the reimbursement "requirement"? Leaving this open ended allows the buyer to be petty and choose the most expensive fastest carrier service out there. Who knows, I'm sure there probably are services out there that cost over $100 to ship back when you can probably ship it back for less than $20 on the cheap.

When I used to deal with international SNADs, I often heard the opposite that I need to pay the buyer for the postage FIRST then the buyer buys postage and ships it back. The loophole there is that what if the buyer receives the funds for the return postage and just decides to keep the funds and never ship the item back? That's a guaranteed partial refund right there. There's no way for ebay to reverse the return postage funds transfer because it's done outside of ebay.

[aproudparent2010]

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@*queenreina* wrote:

Sold two items to a buyer. They raised two return requests after they received the item, claiming that I advertised my item was "old version(formula)".

In fact I revised my item description that this item was "new formula" before this buyer bought this item. I explained it so. Buyer claimed again that I had wrong information, so I let them know how to check the description of the item archived at the time of their purchase. After that they never responded.

I will not accept this return request. 

Now, the funds are still on hold. To release this fund, do I need to ask ebay to step in? Or do I just need to wait for some time?

Thanks for any advice in advance!

---

That's fine, don't accept the return but you will be giving a full refund. 

[pjcdn2005]

I don't think that ebay tells the buyer to pay for the return shipping and they will be reimbursed although I do think that some buyers understand it like that. From what I've read, ebay tells them to 'work it out with the seller' which basically means, let the seller know how much the return shipping will cost and the seller can send the money.   If the buyer actually pays for the label, there is no way to force the seller to refund that cost after the fact.

I believe that if the seller tells the buyer to pay and they will reimburse them and then the seller contacts eBay saying that the seller will not give them a label, ebay will likely then refund the buyer from the seller's funds.But what often happens is that the buyer doesn't know where to go for help so they just wait and eventually the return is closed in the seller's favor.  I think that is

what one poster might be suggesting.

[inhawaii]

... so what you are saying is ... you want to refund the customer, let the customer keep the item, and get a strike from ebay?

[*queenreina*]

@inhawaii Apparently not! I thought if ebay steps in, they might actually "help" me to refuse both return and refund.

As I realised that it will never going to happen, I tried my luck and offered buyer a partial refund around 20% of the item price, which they accepted. Now the returns are closed.

I think they did admit that they overlooked the item descriptions and accepted the partial refund.

Why partial refund instead of accepting return? As some people noticed, I'm located in South Korea and the return process would be very tricky for me. I didn't wanted to go through the hassle, and didn't wanted to restock these items.

Thank you everyone for your advice!

[inhawaii]

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@*queenreina* wrote:

@inhawaii Apparently not! I thought if ebay steps in, they might actually "help" me to refuse both return and refund.

As I realised that it will never going to happen, I tried my luck and offered buyer a partial refund around 20% of the item price, which they accepted. Now the returns are closed.

I think they did admit that they overlooked the item descriptions and accepted the partial refund.

Why partial refund instead of accepting return? As some people noticed, I'm located in South Korea and the return process would be very tricky for me. I didn't wanted to go through the hassle, and didn't wanted to restock these items.

Thank you everyone for your advice!

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Sorry.

As others have said, ebay will always (usually)  favor the buyer.

[albany_sellers]

It's honestly very dishonest the way they do it. They give the vibe off that they are there to help, and that by asking for their help, you are taking a reasonable step in protecting yourself. The reality is they already know they are going to side against you, no matter what when you ask them to step in. 

They need to make that aspect more obvious and be transparent about it, instead of duping new or unsuspecting sellers into losing their items and getting account defects for daring to ask eBay to help them out. That is the kind of thing that makes people never use eBay again. When you decide to try a site out, and get burned like that, you tend to not give that site another chance.

[iamalwaysright]

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@*queenreina* wrote:

Why partial refund instead of accepting return? As some people noticed, I'm located in South Korea and the return process would be very tricky for me. I didn't wanted to go through the hassle, and didn't wanted to restock these items.

Thank you everyone for your advice!

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That's usually the case for many international orders although some variables might be slightly different. International shipping in general is just more complicated than domestic. That's specifically why ebay offers that International Shipping thing for US sellers who don't want the headache. Unfortunately I think some international buyers know and abuse this.

I'd consider this a win for you. You didn't have to issue a full refund and let them keep the item to avoid the hassle, which is what I've done sometimes for international buyers.

[iamalwaysright]

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@albany_sellers wrote:

It's honestly very dishonest the way they do it. They give the vibe off that they are there to help, and that by asking for their help, you are taking a reasonable step in protecting yourself. The reality is they already know they are going to side against you, no matter what when you ask them to step in. 

Classic bait and switch. If they didn't do that, then sellers won't ever click that button though 😀

They need to make that aspect more obvious and be transparent about it, instead of duping new or unsuspecting sellers into losing their items and getting account defects for daring to ask eBay to help them out. That is the kind of thing that makes people never use eBay again. When you decide to try a site out, and get burned like that, you tend to not give that site another chance.

Correction, that is the kind of thing that makes sellers never use ebay again. Buyers would be fine and probably more prone to come back since that button for SNAD always rules in the buyer's favor. So I'm fine with it the way it is for now, 😀. If new or unsuspecting sellers get duped into it and never come back, that means more buyers for me. Nothing personal, just business.

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[mam98031]

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@*queenreina* wrote:

Thanks everyone for the advice.
So the bottom line is, for INAD/defective return requests, ebay will always decide on buyer's favor and never step in and "help" sellers?

---

This depends.  You have a No Return Policy.  What was the reason that the buyer used when they opened the Request for Return?  This is a VERY important question and will drive what your options are.

[robbie31415]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

I used to wonder about this often. This is why international SNAD returns are sticky situations. Is there a max limit to the reimbursement "requirement"? Leaving this open ended allows the buyer to be petty and choose the most expensive fastest carrier service out there. Who knows, I'm sure there probably are services out there that cost over $100 to ship back when you can probably ship it back for less than $20 on the cheap.

When I used to deal with international SNADs, I often heard the opposite that I need to pay the buyer for the postage FIRST then the buyer buys postage and ships it back. The loophole there is that what if the buyer receives the funds for the return postage and just decides to keep the funds and never ship the item back? That's a guaranteed partial refund right there. There's no way for ebay to reverse the return postage funds transfer because it's done outside of ebay.

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International buyers can also refuse to buy a label.

So if the seller never provides a label it will still be decided in buyer favor.

A seller can only request that a buyer receieve funds and buy a label but they are under no obligation.