Purchase was sent to wrong buyer ,refuses to return item

[jagonz-3818]

I feel completely overwhelmed I sold an item and mailed it to the wrong eBay customer , that customer received his $21 train and also acknowledged he received t

Another buyers purchase and he will keep the item and sale it refuses to respond to any messages now I had to refund the buyer of that item 250.00

It's so unfair 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@jagonz-3818 wrote:

I feel completely overwhelmed I sold an item and mailed it to the wrong eBay customer , that customer received his $21 train and also acknowledged he received t

Another buyers purchase and he will keep the item and sale it refuses to respond to any messages now I had to refund the buyer of that item 250.00

It's so unfair 

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@jagonz-3818 

Anyone who sells long enough will eventually make a mistake, whether it's shipping the wrong item to the wrong buyer, misplacing an item and being unable to ship when it's sold, selling an item and realizing it's broken when you go to ship, etc. 

We're human, we err and we need to learn to forgive ourselves. 

The way I'd handle this is and the order I'd do it is: 

• curse yourself and your mistake
• email the correct buyer to explain what happened and tell them that you'll try to get the other buyer to return the item sent in error
• ask the buyer to return the item sent in error
• block the buyer who refuses to respond and return the item
• Issue a full refund and apology to the correct buyer

As for unsolicited mail being considered a gift, my opinion is that an error by the sender isn't considered  unsolicited and the recipient isn't entitled (by law) to keep it. 

A person with morals and ethics would return it but it doesn't sound like @jagonz-3818 's buyer has those qualities.

[tex-421]

 I didn't realize Karma was so judgmental.  

[sapphire_studio]

Maybe I'm wrong and you are right and stealing something worth $250 (because printing a free label and doing a USPS pickup is rather inconvenient) is completely ethical/moral. 

I'm glad I'm not the one that has to decide that. Like I said, the universe will handle it.

[albertabrightalberta]

Just because something isn't illegal doesn't make doing it right, @tex-421 .

[cardsforauction]

You should try to make a deal with this person if the item is sent back you will provide a payment to them for the return shipping cost / time.  If they refuse I guess you can file a complaint to eBay regarding their unethical activity and then put them on the Block list.  I think that's all you can do in this situation. You screwed up, and found out the buyer is not honorable. 

[tex-421]

Fundamentally I agree with you, but from a practical perspective, there is no way in gods green earth that eBay could enforce this.  Its really a matter for the seller and recipient to sort out.

[tex-421]

Completely agree but right and wrong are not black and white and come in all shades of gray.  

[sapphire_studio]

I agree that it's not illegal to keep it and that eBay will do nothing about it and the poster is really out of luck if they can't get the buyer to mail it back. I just didn't agree with you saying that because it's the law it makes it ethical and moral for them to keep it.

[maxine*j]

I understand the foundation of the law, but I would like to see some case law on this.

Is an item "unsolicited" if the recipient is in a business relationship with the sender, which he is because he ordered something from the sender?  And is there truly no consideration whatsoever in this law for mistakes, if there is such a relationship?

I send an order to The Whitney for a box of notecards that feature the works of Edward Hopper. My address label ends up on a box of Hopper's unexhibited drawings being sent out for research. Do I really get to keep the original Hopper works?

In other areas of commerce, there is consideration given to error.  For example, a merchant is not obligated to honor an advertised price or a sticker price if the price is in error.

Is any law as black and white as this one seems?  It may be.  I'm just curious about it.

I went to the actual law (below).  The underlining is mine, with that proviso in b) being interesting because obviously something sent in error is not going to have the statement attached to it:

a) Except for (1) free samples clearly and conspicuously marked as such, and (2) merchandise mailed by a charitable organization soliciting contributions, the mailing of un­ordered merchandise or of communications prohibited by subsection (c) of this section constitutes an unfair method of competition and an unfair trade practice in violation of section 45(a)(1) of title 15.

b) Any merchandise mailed in violation of subsection (a) of this section, or within the exceptions contained therein, may be treated as a gift by the recipient, who shall have the right to retain, use, discard, or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any obligation whatsoever to the sender. All such merchandise shall have attached to it a clear and conspicuous statement informing the recipient that he may treat the merchandise as a gift to him and has the right to retain, use, discard, or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any obligation whatsoever to the sender.

(c) No mailer of any merchandise mailed in violation of subsection (a) of this section, or within the exceptions contained therein, shall mail to any recipient of such merchandise a bill for such merchandise or any dunning communications.

(d) For the purposes of this section, “un­ordered merchandise” means merchandise mailed without the prior expressed request or consent of the recipient.

(Pub. L. 91–375, Aug. 12, 1970, 84 Stat. 749.)
U.S. Code Toolbox

The law is always a fascinating beast.

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[aeparts1]

I'd print out a return label & send it via USPS to the buyer who got the wrong item. Include a note stating that you made an error,  & ask them to slap the label on the box & send it back. Explain in the note that they can leave the box in their mail box, hand it to any letter carrier, or drop it at any post office. Thank them for their honesty & for returning the item.

I wouldn't ry messaging them thru eBay.

[monroe67]

"As for unsolicited mail being considered a gift, my opinion is that an error by the sender isn't considered  unsolicited and the recipient isn't entitled (by law) to keep it."

Look at this from the position of the person who receives a package properly addressed to him, opens it, and finds one of these popular pink Stanley cups.  He didn't particularly want or need a pink Stanley cup.  He had not ordered one from Target's website, from an eBay seller or Facebook Marketplace seller, or from anywhere else. 

He had no interest in buying or even owning a pink Stanley cup.  Yet, somebody sent him a pink Stanley cup.  The return name and address on the package were completely unknown to him, but his own name and address on the shipping label were correct.  The USPS had properly delivered the package to the addressee.  

In other words, his receipt of this pink Stanley cup was unsolicited.  

In that scenario, my opinion -- since we're comparing opinions -- is that the person who receives, in the US mail, this pink Stanley cup is absolutely and reasonably allowed to consider it a gift.  He can use it.  He can re-gift it to somebody else.  He can donate it to charity.  He can destroy it.  OR he can sell it.   And I would say, more power to that pink Stanley cup recipient.  Hope he sells it on eBay for top dollar.  

[albertabrightalberta]

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@monroe67 wrote:

"As for unsolicited mail being considered a gift, my opinion is that an error by the sender isn't considered  unsolicited and the recipient isn't entitled (by law) to keep it."

Look at this from the position of the person who receives a package properly addressed to him, opens it, and finds one of these popular pink Stanley cups.  He didn't particularly want or need a pink Stanley cup.  He had not ordered one from Target's website, from an eBay seller or Facebook Marketplace seller, or from anywhere else. 

He had no interest in buying or even owning a pink Stanley cup.  Yet, somebody sent him a pink Stanley cup.  The return name and address on the package were completely unknown to him, but his own name and address on the shipping label were correct.  The USPS had properly delivered the package to the addressee.  

In other words, his receipt of this pink Stanley cup was unsolicited.  

In that scenario, my opinion -- since we're comparing opinions -- is that the person who receives, in the US mail, this pink Stanley cup is absolutely and reasonably allowed to consider it a gift.  He can use it.  He can re-gift it to somebody else.  He can donate it to charity.  He can destroy it.  OR he can sell it.   And I would say, more power to that pink Stanley cup recipient.  Hope he sells it on eBay for top dollar.  

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Note the part I highlighted in bold blue. The return address is NOT  "completely unknown" to him. He purchased and received another item from that same return address and knew enough to confirm with the sender that he received this item in error. 

That makes it the difference between an "unsolicited" item and a simple mistake. 

[yellow-snapdragon]

As a buyer I had this happen 2x, I sent both back at the PO as return to sender, unopened. As a seller, I ALWAYS 3x check that my orders are going to the correct place. A few extra seconds saves you a headache down the line.

[monroe67]

Thanks to maxine for providing the text of 39 U.S. Code section 3009, copied here with the underlining in subsection (b), which is not in the original:

"(a) Except for (1) free samples clearly and conspicuously marked as such, and (2) merchandise mailed by a charitable organization soliciting contributions, the mailing of un­ordered merchandise or of communications prohibited by subsection (c) of this section constitutes an unfair method of competition and an unfair trade practice in violation of section 45(a)(1) of title 15.

(b) Any merchandise mailed in violation of subsection (a) of this section, or within the exceptions contained therein, may be treated as a gift by the recipient, who shall have the right to retain, use, discard, or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any obligation whatsoever to the sender. All such merchandise shall have attached to it a clear and conspicuous statement informing the recipient that he may treat the merchandise as a gift to him and has the right to retain, use, discard, or dispose of it in any manner he sees fit without any obligation whatsoever to the sender.

(c) No mailer of any merchandise mailed in violation of subsection (a) of this section, or within the exceptions contained therein, shall mail to any recipient of such merchandise a bill for such merchandise or any dunning communications.

(d) For the purposes of this section, “un­ordered merchandise” means merchandise mailed without the prior expressed request or consent of the recipient.
[End of 39 USC sec 3009.]

(Title 39 of the United States Code contains the federal laws concerning the Postal Service.)  

It seems to me that these provisions are (or at least originally were) intended to apply to businesses  that were sending out unordered merchandise to previous customers on their mailing lists, and then sending bills, asking their customers to pay up.  Thus the references to "unfair method of competition and unfair trade practice" in subsection (a). 

In attempting to apply this law to the situation in OP's post, it appears that subsections (b) and (d) cancel each other out.  Subsection (d) seems to apply because a mail recipient did receive merchandise that had been mailed without the prior expressed request or consent of that mail recipient.  But the piece of mail did not have the required language in subsection (b), "a clear and conspicuous statement informing that recipient that he may treat the merchandise as a gift."   

Makes me wonder if there are other laws that apply more accurately to the situation in this post.  

[dbfolks166mt]

     Others have already covered most of the lesson issues and gone back and forth on everything else so I won't add to that. About the only two additional things I would offer are. 

1. Put the buyer that will not return the item on your BBL. 

2. While it's not much compensation remember to write the loss off when you file your 2023 income tax.