eBay

pricedtosell · ‎12-29-2024

I had an item returned to me for insufficient address. Now the buyer put in a "did not receive claim" eBay is telling me that I have to refund them the full amount including the shipping, relist it so the buyer can repurchase it. And as a seller I would be out the shipping cost as eBay looks at that as a cost of doing business....

When did the policy change? I thought in the past if a package was sent back to sender for wrong address, it was not the sellers responsibility to do anything and eBay would back us?

I don't mind refunding the buyer for the item but not the shipping costs.... as it cost me nearly 10.00 to ship the darn thing... Is this right, do I have to refund the buyer the full amount and take a loss for their mistake?

Do sellers have any rights anymore?

Sincerely, pricedtosell

wastingtime101 · ‎12-31-2024

Hi @pricedtosell . As Mam, Kyle from eBay, and several others told you, you are not required to refund the buyer in full. In fact, you're not required to refund the buyer at all (though I would do a partial).

Because a formal Item Not Received (INR) claim was opened, your first action should be replying to the INR to confirm tracking, then go back to it in a few days and "ask eBay to step in" at which point eBay will close the INR in your favor.

As long as the INR is open your only refund option is to refund in full through the INR, so get the claim closed in your favor.

After the INR is closed you can go to the transaction and use "send refund" to send the buyer a partial refund for item cost less original shipping and non-refundable fees.

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For future reference, this is my standard advice for RTS (returned to sender) packages. Take the parts that are relevant to your situation.

You have a few options. You should decide which route you'll be taking and communicate with the buyer, but wait until the item is returned (and delivered) to you before you take any of the following actions.

You can refund the buyer the item cost minus original shipping and minus a portion of your eBay fees (fee credits are prorated on a partial refund so you won't get back fees on the shipping amount you withhold). Go to your orders page, find the transaction and select "send refund." On the next page enter the amount. After that, relist the item and if you still want to work with this buyer you can tell them to repurchase it with the correct name/address.
Have the buyer sort out their address issue then pay for re-shipping. Send them an invoice through PayPal or give them your PayPal e-mail. This is post-sale so it's OK to exchange e-mail addresses. It's also OK to ship to a different address because it's technically not tied to the original transaction. You would not purchase the shipping label through eBay or upload tracking to the transaction. You would purchase it from an alternate site like pirateship.com or paypal.com/shipnow and you can send the buyer the new tracking # through e-mail or eBay messages.
A different way to accomplish buyer payment for re-shipping is to create an eBay listing for the shipping cost (bumping it up to factor in eBay fees) and having the buyer purchase it, entering their correct address at checkout. You could purchase a shipping label through eBay for that transaction.
You can cancel the transaction "problem with address" which will trigger a full refund to the buyer and your FVF would be credited.
You can do nothing. The buyer's MBG protection is voided when there's a package delivery attempt. I don't recommend this because even though you'll win an INR (item not received) claim on eBay, there's nothing stopping that buyer from going to their credit card to file a dispute and why deal with all that? I also think handling it before it gets to this stage with a partial refund is the "right" thing to do if you're not going to make reshipping arrangements.
You might also want to direct the buyer to this page so their address is updated for future purchases: Account Settings: Addresses

Walk without rhythm, it won't attract the worm.

View Best Answer in original post

chariot_badges · ‎12-29-2024

No. We don't.

Refund, and block the 'buyer'.

bonanza125 · ‎12-29-2024

Sellers do have rights if an item is delivered however in your case that didn't happen. Just click full refund and move on from the case. You received your item back and can just sell it to someone else. Yes things like this is all part of doing business. Just the way it is. You can recoup your cost on another transaction. You buy and sell a lot so you can recoup the shipping cost money fast.

lakefor94 · ‎12-29-2024

@pricedtosell

Not for sure if the buyer would win the INR case as attempted delivery counts as delivered.

I would sit tight if you have time left on the INR clock and hear from a few more sellers that have been down this same road.

Posting ID

kensgiftshop · ‎12-29-2024

Have you responded to the case and uploaded the tracking number showing it was returned for a bad address?

Have a great day.

pricedtosell · ‎12-30-2024

Yes I did that immediately

pricedtosell · ‎12-30-2024

That's what i thought too.

lakefor94 · ‎12-30-2024

@pricedtosell

Surprised no one has clarified this for you yet. Probably not as many people visiting the boards this week.

Posting ID

inhawaii · ‎12-30-2024

You are supposed to win a INR case.

You are not required to refund the buyer anything.

Who told you you have to refund the buyer?

They are wrong.

Sea Of Love - The Honeydrippers

mam98031 · ‎12-31-2024

@pricedtosell

How did Ebay communicate to you that you need refund the buyer? Phone, email or some other method?

As long as you shipped to the exact address the buyer gave you, you are covered under Seller Protection.

Evidence of successful delivery
We require all of the following to prove a successful on-time delivery:

Tracking number from an integrated carrier which was uploaded to eBay and shows a shipping scan before the latest estimated delivery date;
A delivery status of "delivered" or "attempted delivery" (or equivalent in the country to which the item was delivered);
The date of delivery or attempted delivery;
The recipient's address, showing the zip code (or international equivalent) that matches the one on the Order details page. If the zip code is unavailable, the recipient's city/county must match; and
Signature confirmation, on orders with a total cost of $750 or more. Learn more about our signature confirmation requirements.

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

You do not have to refund the buyer, Ebay should not even force you to refund the buyer, as long as you shipped to the address the buyer gave you on their order.

When this happens to me and it certainly has happened. If I got the item back in the original condition it was when I sent it to the buyer, I will refund them amount of the product, but NOT the original shipping or the fees I can't get refunded. That would be the FVFs on the amount you keep plus the 40 cent per transaction fee.

If you are willing to do another transaction with the buyer, you can relist the item and let the buyer purchase it again, just remind them to make sure their ship to address is correct. Or if you don't want to do business with them again, but them on your Block Bidder list.

mam98031 • Volunteer Community Member • Buyer/Seller since 1999

pricedtosell · ‎12-31-2024

I communicated through Facebook eBay Business. eBay business actually sent me the same link that you provided above in a facebook message and continued to say I had to refund her in full including shipping. I questioned it as in the link. She said....where did you get that information, I said that you had just sent me that link. She said well that is wrong and basically said that I could keep messaging her but she would no long respond.....