It's Time to Reimburse Buyers for Return Packaging

[9ahau]

When buyers receive  items not as described or defective, and need to return the item, very often they incurred additional cost to package the item before returning it. That's because, to open the package, one must destroy the onetime use packaging. eBay needs to take that into consideration and factor that in the refund process.

Buyers should never lose money just because they shopped on eBay. Sellers get the ability to deduct from their taxes for return merchandise whereas buyers do not.

eBay must create the ability for buyers to upload receipt for packages when they need to return items either not as described or item is defective so sellers can reimburse buyers.

[chapeau-noir]

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@toomuchstuffagain35 wrote:

I can just imagine this OP at a hotel front desk when things weren't 100% perfect with their stay.

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Demanding a refund because they decided they were shorted a towel. And the honor bar had cheap wine.

[9ahau]

You missed the point...the focus is receiving items not as described. My buyers will never received an item not as described; so , don't worry about that.

[9ahau]

About 75% of my returns come back to me with horrible packaging, bouncing around inside the box halfway across the country.

We are focusing on items arrived not as described which in essence fraudulent...are you shipping items not as described?

Should we charge the buyers for the cost of the damaged items that they couldn't be bothered to even do a basic packing job on?

The shipper should never accept returns that's not packaged correctly.

[9ahau]

Looking at the feedback you leave and holy cow. This person even threatens sellers with the FBI lol

When everyone else is always the problem, sometimes that means you are the problem. Thanks for posting, and thanks for taking up some space on my blocked buyers list. Yikes.

If a seller took one's payment then never deliver nor communicates with the buyer and ignores eBay, that's a seller not worthy for selling on eBay's marketplace. BTW, it's eBay who enlighten me of IC3...know the full story before you rush to judgement.

[9ahau]

Welcome to my blocked list.....

Thank you

[9ahau]

Stay on topic...which is receiving items NOT AS DESCRIBED...it's fraudulent, isn't it?

[mam98031]

The term Not as Described is a subjective term.  So how you define it can be very different from the way the buyer describes it.

I've been selling for quite a while now on a daily basis.  I get returns, most arrive back in my hands in acceptable condition.  You are correct, buyer packaging can often leave lots of room for improvement, but for me, it is only a occasional problem, not one that worries me to any degree.

But if you have lots of returns and items are coming back to you in poor packaging that allowed the item to be damaged, I can understand why you feel as you are describing here.  There really isn't anything that can be done about that other than maybe when you get a return, send some directions to the buyer on how to repackage the item so it gets back to you in good shape.

[mam98031]

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@9ahau wrote:

Stay on topic...which is receiving items NOT AS DESCRIBED...it's fraudulent, isn't it?

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Why did you bump the thread for further discussion.  No one had posted for 30 days.  Wasn't everything covered in the first 100+ posts?

[sin-n-dex]

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@luckythewinner wrote:

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@9ahau wrote:

eBay must create the ability for buyers to upload receipt for packages when they need to return items either not as described or item is defective so sellers can reimburse buyers.

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I have never had a return package that required more than piece of tape and a printed shipping label.

That aside ...

"eBay must" ??

ROTFL. There is absolutely no way eBay is going to do this, and I cannot think of a single website that would. And where would it it end? Pay for the buyer's printer ink and paper? Tape? Gas for his car? An hourly wage for his time? Reimbursement for counseling to deal with the disappointment?

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There was a coin seller in here a couple of years ago that said he wanted compensation for clicking his car door open and closed because he has to get in and out of his car at the post office. I think a number of posters jumped on him, it was just beyond ridiculous.

And then I bought a collection from one of my roommate's friends which had a package from this seller (the stuff was still in the envelope, but the guy used his eBay name on the packaging). I said "oh I know this guy". My roommate's friend said "that guy is nuts, I wanted to buy a few coins, and I got his life's story..." and I had to hear about this for like 20 minutes (and didn't even want what was in the package).

Anyway your comments reminded me of this guy and I had to chuckle... I liked the part about counselling to deal with the disappointment the best.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

Old timers here will remember the buyer who demanded the seller reimburse her for the fake fingernail she broke opening her package. She included a photo of the fingernail (which the seller posted here).

Best response was sending the buyer the medical bill for the hernia the seller got laughing at this.

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A person in my family actually demanded compensation for gas money and time spent returning something that was "not as described". She was suggesting I be paying good money for the time buyers spend returning stuff... not that it happens often. Usually it's a really picky buyer who wants to return instead of negotiating a partial discount to keep the item (assuming the fault is mine for not mentioning something).

I don't talk to that person in my family... they asked me to mail a US cheque (this was in 2001) to a seller for something she wanted, and she didn't have a US account, but I lived in California. I asked for reimbursement for the postage because I was unemployed and didn't want to encourage this habit of mailing cheques. She got mad an said she expected me to pay for the stamp. And that's just one of many reasons I don't order stuff online for other people.

C.

[sin-n-dex]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@9ahau wrote:

Stay on topic...which is receiving items NOT AS DESCRIBED...it's fraudulent, isn't it?

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Why did you bump the thread for further discussion.  No one had posted for 30 days.  Wasn't everything covered in the first 100+ posts?

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I missed it was 30 days old... I didn't see it the first time and some of the responses gave me a chuckle.

I'm not going to reply to the OP. The post seems a bit "trollish".

C.

[gurlcat]

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@yoonix1 wrote:

When you shop in any brick and mortar store and go back to return an item, do you get reimbursed for your gas driving back to the store?

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Ha, you beat me to it!  I was gonna say this exact thing. 

[kensgiftshop]

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@9ahau wrote:

eBay must create the ability for buyers to upload receipt for packages when they need to return items either not as described or item is defective so sellers can reimburse buyers.

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Since Ebay is all about the buyers, they should should reimburse you and not the seller.

They'll raise the seller fee's to make up for it, sellers will raise their prices to make up for the higher fee's, but you'll get back the dollar or so you spent on returning the item.

[kensgiftshop]

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@9ahau wrote:

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For receiving items NOT AS DESCRIBED? Buyers should press charge then as that's fraud...

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So, if the item was damaged during shipping, would that be fraud because it wasn't as described?

Who would you press charges against, the carrier that damaged it or seller?

[gurlcat]

I think the OP mostly doesn't .... but kinda does .... have a point. Hear me out! 

I know the consensus is that giving a buyer a 100% refund makes them whole, but if/when the seller was downright negligent or dishonest and it incurs considerable 'something' on the buyer's part just to get their money back, that's not even-Stevens to me.  LOL I definitely DON'T consider return packaging a considerable something, especially since you don't have to open a package like an animal in the first place.  But there are other factors, and I would say chief among them is time lapsed without that money.  

Right now I am waiting for a (new-ish) seller's solution response regarding a jewelry lot that was missing a bunch of the pieces that were in the photos.  Considering they are "coincidentally" the BEST pieces, I'm pretty sure she realized their value and plucked them out, but I wrote my inquiry in such a way as to offer her an innocent "out" ("Could you look to see if these pieces were in a bag you forgot to put in the box?").  

I don't know how this is going to end, but if it comes to me having to return the rest of the lot for a refund, I am not going to be happy about it whatsoever.   First of all the seller took a whole week before she even shipped, then the package did goofy stuff in transit (not her fault, but a fact that added time), then it took me most of a day to sort the huge lot and figure out exactly which pieces were missing, then she took a day to reply, bizarrely, appearing (or pretending) not to understand my question, also used the word "hospital" already, so .... I'm getting the sense that even the return/refund solution would be a series of slow teeth-pulling steps, so I hope it doesn't come to that. 

Comparisons to BAM shopping have popped up in this thread a lot.  How's this? -What bank can you walk into and get a short-term loan with zero interest?  None, right?  Well, there's a little-known online bank called eBay, where all you have to do is list photos and description of something worth the money you need, doesn't even have to be an item you have, just find images online!   Then what you do is take forever to send anything, you send something else, then when your "investor" files a return, you can take advantage of various other delay features, like up to 48 hours to issue the return label, then however many days it takes them to get it in the carrier's hands, days for it to travel back, then 48 more hours to issue the refund .....and ONLY the amount you "borrowed," not a penny more!