Item left unclaimed and returned to sender

[tunisie-miniatures]

Hello everyone.

I am a part time seller on ebay.. my last item sold shipped on time and arrived on time to the buyer adress.

The post office tried twice to reach the buyer then left a notice.

The buyer did not claim his item at his LOCAL post office untill thé item is considered as unclaimed and returned to sender.

Should i wait for the item untill returned to me to refund the buyer ?

And what should i do if the buyer leave a negative feedback ? 

Thank you all. 

[brightlightbookseller]

The typical advice is to wait until the item is returned to you and issue a refund minus any non-recoverable costs.  Your fees will be refunded to you on a prorated basis based on how much you refund, but you can also safely take out of the refund any shipping costs, even any ad costs, whatever you feel is appropriate.  Because that counts as a delivery attempt by eBay's standards, you're not required to refund at all, but it's ethical to refund minus your costs, in my opinion (and many others here).

If they leave negative feedback, chances are you'll be able to get it removed, but if not, a simple factual reply will go a long way towards mitigating it.  Deal with that only if it happens, chances are they won't but you can handle it if they do.

[reallynicestamps]

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

EBay won't force you to refund anything.

Which is not ethical but if you have an unresponsive buyer there is no reason to lose money on the transaction.

[dhbookds]

Do NOT refund until you get the item back........if you decide to refund.....

[tools*]

If the package is returned to you, put it on a shelf and forget about it. If the buyer contacts you, let them know what it will cost to re-ship it.

[shallow_karl]

I believe the law in the U.S. is basically if you receive anything that you did not buy, you are not obliged to give it back. 

Can you keep an unsolicited package?

1. Keep the free gift or package.
2. Dispose of it. If you opened the package and do not wish to keep it, you can throw it away.
3. Return it to the sender if the package is marked with the return address.

[duffy4444]

   This has happened to me a few times.

   1.   Do nothing until you receive  the item back.

  2.   Ethically, then refund the buyer's payment LESS any shipping, handling, and packaging you paid.

  3.   BLOCK the buyer so he cannot pull this stunt on you again.

  4.   Relist the item.

  5.   If you receive a negative feedback, notify eBay to get it removed and/or post a response to it in a factual and courteous manner. If eBay doesn't remove it, other potential buyers will see that as harmless to you as a seller.

Cheers, Duffy

[mgpkcavtel]

nice thought, but ~ happened to me:  buyer did not receive it because ebay/he told me to mail it to a fake address; USPS said Moved, Left no Address, but ebay took my $ and more to refund buyer. [I told him I would remail it to a legit address if he paid postage.]

Lesson: anyone starting out, DON'T GET INVOLVED WITH EBAY; use another platform.

[brightlightbookseller]

Like I said in your other thread, you're leaving out an important detail: Did you ship to the address on the order?