Refund failed for this order

[satokazuki]

Hi,

I canceled an order per buyer's request, and all I got was the email "Refund failed for this order".

Tried to refund it via PayPal but paypal said  "We were unable to complete this payment. Please add funds to your PayPal account and try again". The paypal balance I currently have is what the buyer paid minus the ebay sales tax minus paypal fees. How the eff do I make a full refund? Do I need to put in money first then bug ebay to credit those back to me??

Thank you.

[eleanor*rigby]

The refund needs to be for the entire cost of the item plus shipping (if applicable) paid by the buyer. eBay will refund the sales tax. You have to "eat" the PayPal fees.

So, if the buyer paid $20 for the item + $5 for the shipping, you should be refunding $25. Any sales tax will be refunded by eBay.

Unless I'm missing something?

[mr_lincoln]

@satokazuki   Yes, if the only money in your PP account was from the sale and you have to refund a cancelled purchase then you LOSE the PayPal 30 cents plus 2.9% fee ... so if you don't have that money in your account then transfer some in from your bank account.

It is best to do the Cancellation through eBay because they will credit your FVFs back to your account.

[satokazuki]

There's no option to do it via ebay since ebay said "Refund failed for this order, Please contact your payment provider." Does that mean I have to refund via paypal? Or should I contact ebay directly.

[satokazuki]

That's strange? I thought in the past when I refund via paypal, paypal would automatically refund the fee deducted from the sale...

[eleanor*rigby]

They used to, until last month. They no longer refund the fees. So, again, if you don't have enough in your PayPal account because their fees have been deducted, you'll need to top up your PayPal account to cover the total of what the buyer paid for the item + any shipping paid for by the buyer.

[eleanor*rigby]

Here's a quote from PayPal's User Agreement:

"If you refund a payment for goods or services, there are no fees to make the refund, but the fees you originally paid as the seller are not returned to you. The amount of the refunded payment will be deducted from your PayPal account."

[satokazuki]

yeah I just saw that...super lame.

[satokazuki]

When I go to paypal and do the full refund, paypal is telling me to refund the the full amount including the ebay tax  but ebay site says they will refund the tax. **bleep**?

[this*old*attic]

OMG, the same thing happened to me twice a month or so ago.

 I NEVER get returns but I get 2 when something is wonky?

I tried everything to no avail.

A friend ended up PayPal-ing me money so I could refund.

It isn’t fixed yet.

[mam98031 · Accepted solution]

When you issue a refund for a cancellation, it has to be for the full payment the buyer sent you.  If they paid sales tax, then the refund has to include sales tax.  Ebay will cover the sales tax if it was in a state they are responsible for, but the initial refund by you will have to include it.  So if you don't have enough money in your PP account to cover the entire refund that could be the issue at hand.

While you need to include the sales tax you did not collect or keep from the buyer, please know that Ebay reverses the amount you paid within moments of your refunding the buyer, so you are not actually out the money except for a few moments.

[satokazuki]

Wow...that really screw up the whole refund system and make it super inconvenient!!

[1tuna]

................general reply..............

this has been a frequent topic the last 30 days.I never give it much thought because I always leave plenty in paypal.I also make plenty of refunds that come right out of paypal.You can not split a payment now with half from paypal and half from your bank in a few days.Paypal wants it coming out of your balance in 1 shot with no waiting.

[buzzapparel]

I tried to make several refunds recently and it simply says “something went wrong try again”. It seems now you must have the refund amount in your PayPal account at all times. They aren’t even withdrawing from your bank account anymore. This means I must keep thousands of extra dollars in my PayPal account at all times. 

[earlyant-77]

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@buzzapparel wrote:

I tried to make several refunds recently and it simply says “something went wrong try again”. It seems now you must have the refund amount in your PayPal account at all times. They aren’t even withdrawing from your bank account anymore. This means I must keep thousands of extra dollars in my PayPal account at all times. 

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What happens if you don't choose to have a PP cash account? Wouldn't it come straight from your linked back account or CC or whatever your backup source is?