Sold item returned to sender due to issue with address, what do I do now?

[swbaird167]

I sold an item a few weeks ago and just had it delivered back to me today. USPS marked it as Moved Left No Address. I contacted the buyer and they told me they moved but thought they had setup forwarding; they gave me their new address in messages. Can they still leave feedback? What am I supposed to do now? If relevant, my order earnings on this sale were $1.67 .

[fashunu4eeuh]

If the buyer wishes to still receive the item, they will need to pay for a reship. There are a couple of options. You can cancel the order, refund them (minus the first shipping cost) relist and then the buyer will need to repurchase with the correct address, or you can send them an invoice for the shipping cost alone (this can be done thru PayPal) and once paid, you can reship.

[bad_box1]

Do not reship it.  The buyer bears responsibility to ensure their address is correct in eBay's systems.  If you ship it to any other address received through messaging, you lose all seller protections.  It is a common scam.  You cannot also have them pay for the "reship" through paypal since you won't be able to provide a link in messaging to do so because eBay considers that as a redirect off their platform and they would lose the final value fees they collect on the taxes and shipping (in addition to the ones already collected in their coffers on the sale price).  You also cannot refund them minus the first shipping cost.  Would suggest you read the wonderfully vague policies on this platform and report the buyer to eBay and deal with the INR case down the road with the proof you have.  But I wouldn't reship under any circumstance.

[tex-421]

@bad_box1    Great advice

[bad_box1]

If anything, just say "agree" but don't "rephrase" a post in a manner in which it wasn't posted please.  I did not use caps and highlight wording.  If you would like to do that, post your own advice and don't paint a response I have posted as your edited "rephrase".  Have your own response and contribute to help other sellers with questions.

[inhawaii]

Here's what I would do...

I wouldn't do anything.

I would wait for the buyer to contact me.

You are NOT obligated to refund the buyer or re-ship it to the buyer.

Most sellers (although not obligated) will refund the buyer LESS shipping.

If the seller wants it re-shipped, you have to collect another shipping charge.

Despite what was said above, I believe you ARE allowed to contact the buyer with payment information, like your paypal address.

[tex-421]

Agreed ---

[fashunu4eeuh]

---

@bad_box1 wrote:

Do not reship it.  The buyer bears responsibility to ensure their address is correct in eBay's systems.  If you ship it to any other address received through messaging, you lose all seller protections.  It is a common scam.  You cannot also have them pay for the "reship" through paypal since you won't be able to provide a link in messaging to do so because eBay considers that as a redirect off their platform and they would lose the final value fees they collect on the taxes and shipping (in addition to the ones already collected in their coffers on the sale price).  You also cannot refund them minus the first shipping cost.  Would suggest you read the wonderfully vague policies on this platform and report the buyer to eBay and deal with the INR case down the road with the proof you have.  But I wouldn't reship under any circumstance.

---

Hi @swbaird167 The bolded statements above are not correct. A seller can withhold the original shipping cost. Eligibility for this is based on several factors,  including the seller’s return terms. See the link below for the details shown in the written policy.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handle-return-request-seller?id=4115&st=3...

While policy wording can often be vague, this topic was discussed by an eBay “blue” (Kyle) on the forum 2 years ago, and you can see their clarification in the referenced discussion  in the following link below. I have not found any subsequent evidence that Kyle’s information was no longer apt.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Returns/Am-I-Allowed-to-Deduct-My-Original-Shipping-Cost-from-Refund/t...

As for reshipping, @swbaird167 , i was remiss in not pointing out that just reshipping —without first doing the transaction cancellation, relist, and buyer repurchase as i mentioned—can result in loss of seller protection in an Item Not Received case. If the sale was for an expensive item, most sellers likely would not want to ship outside the eBay parameters and risk the loss. The seller’s safest route (if the buyer wants the item still) is to cancel/relist/repurchase.

But as for the Final Value fees on the second shipping charge? That won’t apply for an item being reshipped. The policy makes allowances for this contingency. For example, if a buyer receives a damaged item, the wrong item, or doesn't receive the item at all, and the seller sends a replacement as part of resolving the issue, eBay typically doesn't charge an additional final value fee on the replacement item.  

[titipeo]

Keep in mind that buyer has opportunity to verify shipping address while doing check out. Not your fault they didn’t correct it.  I don’t think mail forwarding works for parcels and some items. 

[bad_box1]

A seller cannot even attach a link to invoice for expedited shipping, (even a link through paypal) anymore without eBay blocking it for trying to "drive" traffic off their site.  Cannot even try to provide one for fitment for automotive parts to show them that (when they do not do their own leg work and put their own time into that).  Have tried it, as a honest seller just trying to not have to revise a listing and put in that extra work to add shipping in for the expedited shipping then revise it again to go back to the free non-expedited shipping we do have (eBay takes the FVF with shipping included in that - funny that).  Good luck to you.  Hopefully you'll get by the AI, the algorithms, eBay's "glitches and the half asleep eBay reps. 

[swbaird167]

I know it's not my fault they didn't update their address but I don't know how eBay sees this in terms of buyer's ability to leave feedback. Mail forwarding is available for anything sent USPS but packages are charged additional shipping at retail rates from the original sent to address to the forwarded address. Recipient is responsible for paying either the carrier or going to their local post office after a delivery attempt and paying there. I have luckily not run into this situation because it can be more expensive than having the item returned to sender at no cost and then re-sending at commercial rates.

[bad_box1]

Under the link you provided, this is the EXACT wording of the policy"

"Sellers may not use this protection to recoup market losses on items returned in the same condition or recoup return postage and/or restocking costs."  A seller cannot withold the original shipping cost and to be clear, I did not bold the items in my post  As far as Kyle, did you read the posts after he asked the question?  Sorry, but you do not represent sellers on here, nor their experience on the platform and most likely are a sleepy rep.  You are simply citing community members comments and not eBay's policy.

For proof of this, see link below:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/managing-returns-refunds/handle-return-request-seller?id=4115&st=3...

[bad_box1]

Here's the link from Kyle at eBay explaining it truthfully and in all its awful state:

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Returns/Am-I-Allowed-to-Deduct-My-Original-Shipping-Cost-from-Refund/t...

[swbaird167]

Everything I sell is "free" shipping and "free" returns and based on what I'm reading on your posts I do not believe I am eligible to deduct shipping costs... however, I don't think any of that applies because this is not a return. The buyer is not happy with the situation and I am under the impression that they believe that sending their updated address to me in messages after the item was returned to sender should have been good enough to somehow get their package sent to the right place. I do not wish to contact them outside of eBay. I would also not want to relist and resell to them and I doubt the buyer would want to purchase from me again either.  Again, my sale proceeds were only $1.67 .

[swbaird167]

Buyer has opened an INR case requesting a refund. eBay says "Your package with the tracking number .... was delivered to the correct address. You've done everything you need to do right now. If the buyer doesn't close this request by 27 Jun 2025, you can ask us to step in and help." Seems odd that I don't do anything? My concern with any sort of partial refund is that they won't be happy they didn't get all their money back and also that it could complicate the case. I have not found anything about the buyer being able to leave feedback as that's my concern right now.