Long Story Short.. CS Just told me to send A buyer $$$ for International Return

[pius558]

They literally told me, i needed the buyer to find out how much it is to return an item... and then pay the buyer and then have them return the items... i DO offer free shipping and free returns in USA, and international no returns..Customs opened the makeup products and tested them for whatever... And buyer complains they were opened and now wants to return them... Ebay says i need to pay the buyer to return them.

So they want international buyer to go to their post, find out how much it is for return shipping with tracking, and then tell me, and then i send them the funds via paypal... and then they return it. 

LOL??????

[femmefan1946]

You are not required to pay for return shipping.

But if you don't, you will still be paying a refund and will not have the product back.

No returns does not mean no Refunds.

You are responsible for getting the purchase to the buyer securely and promptly.

If you continue to sell overseas, use the Global Shipping Program.

This is a seller protection program under which any damage in transit (including the package being opened and the product damaged) is covered by GSP/Pitney Bowes. Using it means the buyer cannot use the Money Back Guarantee.

And any shipment that goes through a freight forwarder is the same.

The main difference between the forwarder and the GSP is that the buyer chooses the former and the seller chooses the latter.

In this case, the package was opened by Customs in the buyer's country. There is a possibility that the cosmetics were opened and tested because the package was not properly identified and Customs decided to investigate.

Did you use the HS number to identify the contents?  https://www.seair.co.in/cosmetics-hs-code.aspx

The short number is 3304, but there are some extended numbers for specific cosmetics.

The customer is right.

She bought new untouched products. She did not get new untouched products.

You owe her a refund.

Another thought, about shipping labels.

Look into Shippo.

We Canadians can use Shippo to buy shipping labels from other postal systems. I've used this myself to buy USPS labels which are otherwise unavailable.

It is possible that Shippo also deals with your customer's postal system.

If you use Paypal's Send Money service to send return shipping, and the buyer doesn't use it that way, you can then start a PP Item Not Received Dispute and get your payment back.

If the buyer does not use the label (purchased through either Shippo or Paypal ) to return their unwanted purchase, the buyer loses the original Dispute.  The cost of the Shippo label will  be refunded.

[bigdeals.etc]

One issue with providing a label to this buyer is that you don't really know how the buyer is going to package the item. They might use bags, boxes, or packing material that may be quite heavier than the original. Of course this can also happen domestically but the issue is more drastic when detailing with international.

Many times I tell my buyers (domestic) to return the item in the same packaging they received it in. I'd say about 33% actually do it. The rest use their own reused boxes and or taped up janky envelopes and bags.

[pvcliff]

Not like you can re-sell products that have been "opened and tested". Sorry this happened, but even if this is a legitimate return it seems it doesn't make good business sense to sell this type of item internationally because it is too hard to retrieve and too easy for scammers to take advantage.

[chapeau-noir]

The customer is right.

She bought new untouched products. She did not get new untouched products.

You owe her a refund.

No indemnity for Customs ruining the products?

[1tuna]

this is a non issue with ebay

you are required to send them the exact cost of return shipping

I charge $21 for edeclon service

it cost me exactly $12.19   to send to europe

I am required to send the buyer $12.19  for return shipping...that is what the label cost......ebay knows this

you will lose the return by dilly dallying around

send the buyer return funds with paypal,when this is done you are in the drivers seat waiting for a return to be sent

a CSR is not going to get involved with actual cost...tracking at all.......why would they..once you have sent the funds you have met your obligation

this is the exact reason why I charge $21 for international shipping that only costs me $12.19

I have my other buyers make up the cost of sending some $$  back to Europe

[pjcdn2005]

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@1tuna wrote:

this is a non issue with ebay

you are required to send them the exact cost of return shipping

I charge $21 for edeclon service

it cost me exactly $12.19   to send to europe

I am required to send the buyer $12.19  for return shipping...that is what the label cost......ebay knows this

you will lose the return by dilly dallying around

send the buyer return funds with paypal,when this is done you are in the drivers seat waiting for a return to be sent

a CSR is not going to get involved with actual cost...tracking at all.......why would they..once you have sent the funds you have met your obligation

this is the exact reason why I charge $21 for international shipping that only costs me $12.19

I have my other buyers make up the cost of sending some $$  back to Europe

---

The cost to send from the US may be $12.19 but that doesn't mean that the cost from their country to the US is the same.  You are required to send what they will have to pay for postage, not what you originally paid.   There was a rule at one time and it may still be valid...that the return shipping cost would not be more than what the buyer originally paid but that was never valid on international transactions.

But since you are charging almost 70% above postage cost for shipping a small item to western Europe and more than double to Canada, unless a large percentage of items are returned from those locations, you shouldn't have a problem making up the return postage even if it is more.

[femmefan1946]

@chapeau-noir 

No indemnity for Customs ruining the products?

No.

You are responsible for getting the product to the customer in the condition it was sent.

That doesn't mean you have to drive to her house and hand it to her.

But you have contracts with those who do the delivery, and they are responsible to you.

Customs is slightly different.

They are responsible for confirming that imports into their country are safe and correctly described.

It may be that your description on the parcel was accidentally misleading. There is a thread currently with a Romanian seller who declared an authentic Louis Vuitton purse as a gift and valued it as $50US.

Any bright customs office would realize the price was too low for an authentic bag and suspect it was counterfeit which cannot be imported.

So the bag was held at customs ... then it got complicated.

Take this as a learning experience, and don't we all hate those?

Did you mark the proper HS code on the parcel? Did you match the packing slip to the declared value? Was there anything in your packaging that might make Customs think it needed closer inspection?

But the best way to avoid overseas customs at all is to use the Global Shipping Program.

Your responsibility for delivery ends at the plant door in Kentucky, and the buyer does not have the full protection of the Money Back Guarantee.

Finally, when you work out your profits from your eBay business at year end, this is a tax deduction for your income tax.

[bigdeals.etc]

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@pvcliff wrote:

Not like you can re-sell products that have been "opened and tested". Sorry this happened, but even if this is a legitimate return it seems it doesn't make good business sense to sell this type of item internationally because it is too hard to retrieve and too easy for scammers to take advantage.

---

This is usually the case for many many many items being sold internationally. It's a much bigger risk and unless you factor in the many losses into your item price, I suggest you not sell internationally. I don't know how reliable GSP is nowadays so I can't comment on that. I get international buyers complain that my shipping is excessively high. I reply that is the price required for me to even allow international buyers to purchase from me. Otherwise I wouldn't be offering my items internationally.

[chapeau-noir]

I've sold internationally since 1999 and have never used GSP, but it appears that some products are better off, then, being sent through that channel.  I quite selling makeup (or anything open-able) about 10 years ago - I don't recall any problems but then I'm careful about completing customs forms.

[parkersparrow]

@pius558 

You might be able to look up the cost yourself on whatever postal service that country uses. I had to provide a return shipping label to a UK buyer once. I went on the royal mail website and bought the label myself and then emailed it to the buyer.

[mysalonsavings]

I use the GSP for international shipping. Since starting there have been two issues with international. One said they did not receive the item and the other was taken by customs. The GSP handled both issues. I really like it. Takes the heat off international shipping. I would not do international outside of the GSP.