The buyer who moved

[kim_y_buran]

A buyer messaged me that she totally forgot that she has moved several hundred miles, did not change her eBay/PP settings or set up a mail forwarding address and so the package will get returned to me.  She apparently still wants it and expects me to send it again to a the address she messaged me.  I am, however, of two minds about this, and wondering whether I should instead cancel and refund when I get it back.   

What would you do?

[wastingtime101]

I would send the buyer a PayPal invoice so I could re-ship it when it came back to me.

[tamaralea]

I would charge her a second shipping fee.  Mistakes happen.

[a_c_green]

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@tamaralea wrote:

I would charge her a second shipping fee.  Mistakes happen.

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If the package hasn't reached her old address yet, she might still have time to file a forwarding order on-line. Yours would not be the only piece of mail going to her old address; she should set up forwarding ASAP anyway.

[wastingtime101]

The last time I filed for mail forwarding the post office said it takes 7-12 business days for them to process the change so I should file 2 weeks in advance... for what it's worth.

[city*satins]

Unless the package has already been received at the post office and returned (unlikely - the post office will hold it for a while before doing that if they're unaware that a customer has moved away)  I'd advise the buyer that they can complete the address change online and the package will likely be forwarded to her new address - provided she acts quickly.

[kim_y_buran]

No, unfortunately it is already here, bouncing between local post offices.

[parkersparrow]

I had the same issue not too long ago.  As soon as the package was returned to me I let the buyer know that I would be refunding and relisting. They fixed there ship to address to the correct one and repurchased.

[tracdea1]

Do not do anything more than what is required for the order transaction. Refund when it is returned to you. Report her for asking for more than what the listing states.

This "I moved and forgot to change my address" is a really common excuse for irresponsible or scamming buyers. Buyers are responsible for entering their own information, including and especially for changing a default to their own account. So, while it is possible that someone can forget to change their address, they shouldn't expect the seller to make the accommodation for their error. That's how you know if it's a real mistake or if it's a ploy.

I would also block the buyer so they can't come back for another stab at it.

[kim_y_buran]

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@parkersparrow wrote:

I had the same issue not too long ago.  As soon as the package was returned to me I let the buyer know that I would be refunding and relisting. They fixed there ship to address to the correct one and repurchased.

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I feel like relisting at the higher price if I do cancel.

[clearsphere]

You can figure out the next step once it's returned to you. The few times this happened to me, the buyers expected a free reship to new address. I was able to refund purchase price once when there was 0 response to messages. These days I'm sure the buyers can file for a full refund, and get it.

[parkersparrow]

Mistakes happen. As long as the buyer understands that they're only getting a refund minus the shipping. Then it's up to them if they would want to repurchase plus pay the shipping again.

[kim_y_buran]

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@clearsphere wrote:

The few times this happened to me, the buyers expected a free reship to new address.

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I think I got one of those. 

[ed8108]

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@kim_y_buran wrote:

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@clearsphere wrote:

The few times this happened to me, the buyers expected a free reship to new address.

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I think I got one of those. 

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Unfortunately there are some people that don't take responsibility and don't feel they should be accountable for their own mistakes.

[clearsphere]

It's so easy to get a full refund, there's no reason to be