@bennotbill wrote:
Can a normal return be opened when the item has gone via a freight forwarder?
Yes it can.
For a remorse return where the buyer pays return shipping AND the seller accepts returns the buyer can do a return in the normal manner.
For a Not As Described return it's a bit different and depends on the specific reason for the return. For a damaged in transit claim the seller can refuse, for a sent wrong item or the condition is not as listed the seller needs to provide a return label, that would be a label with the Forwarders address, it would be up to the buyer to either get the item back to the forwarder and have them to use the label OR they would have to pay on their own to do the return from their location. In either case the return would have to be in transit before the 7 - 10 day clock expires.
Of course for most sellers, the ones that accurately describe their items and pack them properly returns are a non issue. It doesn't make any difference whether it is an order shipped directly or via a forwarder.
Personally I have shipped hundreds of orders to forwarders (I also ship direct to almost all countries) and have never had a single return request. Out of thousands of orders I have shipped overseas directly I have had only a handful of damaged in transit claims, all of which were legitimate so the buyer was refunded.
I understand that return rates vary a lot by category but I do not understand why some sellers seem to have chronic return issues while many (or most) barely ever have returns. In the categories where returns are more common (eg: clothing, auto parts) it is common in those categories for seller to be working with larger gross margins for that very reason.
Paranoia strikes deep
Into your life it will creep
