USPS lost a item, refund given as expected. eBay still charges fee on refund?

[brandenlove1234]

Firstly, this has nothing to do with having to issue a refund. the item got lost. that's 100% not on the buyer.   he paid, didn't get it. gets refund! zero problems there. My question and issue maybe is with eBay. 

it went like this. Item sold, I shipped it the very next day. (tracking 9410808205499476886187) and it hung out in limbo. buyer asked what's going on. i don't know, put in a search request. nada. put in a few more and in the mean time a did not receive was filed. the whole time staying in communication and making sure the buyer new, zero resistance from me. he gets what he paid for or his money. no question on that at all

so, review time ends. no item showed up. tracking still shows nothing. lost item. as expected, a refund is issued. the problem! the money eBay is going to take from my account is WITH the fee AND the shipping I already paid for lol.  I received 447 after eBays fees and tax's. they want back 520. 

I don't know about this one. feels like this might be the hill i die on. its only $70 but still... they get back what i got. not more. I already lost the item and the $ for it because of USPS and now i need to pay eBay for that? Maybe there's a TOS that I'm not seeing outlining this but it feels a little dirty. 

i am not with out reason. if there is a TOS then so be it. by using there platform i agreed to it. ignorantly or not.  If anyone wants to share what that TOS might be that would be super. I cant find it spelled out. thanks

[dbfolks166mt]

     I don't believe it is explicitly stated in a policy but to eBay this is seen as a sale, buyer has paid and you are responsible as the seller for getting it safely to the buyer. Since eBay is not part of the logistical process, although they like to think they are, they bear no responsibility for delivery. The fact that it did not arrive falls under the MBG the same as NAD claims. In almost all disputed cases eBay is going to keep their fees.

     About the only thing you can do is file insurance claims with USPS. It may also be that your homeowners insurance and/or the buyers will cover the lost package. For the value of the item you lost it may be worth checking. In the worse case, and while little consolation, the lost item can probably be written off you taxes depending on how you file and report your eBay revenue. 

     Not sure if you added extra insurance onto the shipping, always a good idea, but you should at least file an lost package insurance claim with USPS. It looks like you sent this priority mail so there is $50 insurance included which is not much but it's better than nothing. Following is the timeline for filing insurance claim. Don't let USPS try to drag out the search beyond the deadline which they will probably try to do. Simply file the insurance claim separate from the search. 

[baydistributionllc]

You are responsible unless they refuse it. You eat the shipping. You don’t eat the fees.
Refund them. File a claim. 

when you file a claim that will prompt them to find your item and give it to the buyer. if you’ve already refunded them you’re out of luck. they will ask if you want them to send it to you or the buyer when they find it. it doesn’t matter what you say they will send it to the buyer.

   Insurance is a joke. Use the ship cover insurance. If you use the insurance UPS and the Postal Service provides you will never have it honored. I’ve had several things thoroughly destroyed and none of them got paid. I don’t pay for insurance on anything anymore because they don’t honor it. I hear that ship cover insurance is good.

[luckythewinner · Accepted solution]

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@brandenlove1234 wrote:

so, review time ends. no item showed up. tracking still shows nothing. lost item. as expected, a refund is issued. the problem! the money eBay is going to take from my account is WITH the fee AND the shipping I already paid for lol.  I received 447 after eBays fees and tax's. they want back 520. 

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eBay doesn't refund your shipping. 

Whether you get a fee credit depends upon whether you resolved the case and you initiated the refund, or whether you waited until the case was closed and let eBay step in and initiate the refund. If you let eBay step in and issue the refund, you do not get your fees back. 

Refunds that don't qualify for seller fee credits
We don't issue fee credits in any of the following situations:

• You refunded the buyer outside of eBay (using PayPal to send money, for instance)
• eBay stepped in to help with a return or item not received request, and the case was closed with a full or partial refund to the buyer. (Exception: If eBay steps in to help with a return for an eBay Authenticity Guarantee item that is returned through the authenticator, you will be eligible for fee credits if the buyer is refunded)
• The buyer receives a partial refund in resolution of a payment dispute
• You deduct a portion from the buyer's refund because they returned the item used or damaged (only applies to sellers who have access to the partial refund tool)

If you qualify for a fee credit, the credit will be added to your Available funds and may be used to pay for any selling costs that are normally funded from your funds awaiting payout. You can see fee credit details on your financial statement.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/fee-credits?id=4128

[monica-sells]

If I understand your question, you will receive a credit for the Final Value Fees...you will not get a refund for the shipping. Due to the strange way the amounts are posted, it looks like they are "taking' more money than the total of the original sale. The diffference is the refunds are 'immediately' posted, while the amounts involved are being processed. so, you "should' see a FVF credit soon. The buyer will be made whole again, but you are out the shipping costs....

[jonesdm63]

USPS must be hiring people that cant read or are stealing stuff, because I also just had w package lost. In almost 20 years of selling and shipping this would be the first time USPS actually cant find the package. We shall see, USPS is still looking for it in Atlanta.

[a_c_green]

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@brandenlove1234 wrote:

so, review time ends. no item showed up. tracking still shows nothing. lost item. as expected, a refund is issued. the problem! the money eBay is going to take from my account is WITH the fee AND the shipping I already paid for lol.

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Why the Laugh Out Loud?

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@brandenlove1234 wrote:

I received 447 after eBays fees and tax's. they want back 520. 

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Normally if you refund through eBay, they will refund their share of the fees, etc., while you refund the rest, i.e. what you received originally, so the buyer is made whole. If you do not refund before the deadline of the Item Not Received dispute (or prove delivery), eBay will refund the buyer but keep the fees.

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@brandenlove1234 wrote:

I already lost the item and the $ for it because of USPS and now i need to pay eBay for that?

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For what it's worth, you should be successful in your Lost Mail claim with USPS, which will get you up to $50 back for the value of the item (you will need to provide the transactional details from eBay to prove the sale price) plus the cost of your postage.

Incidentally, you did not need to add Signature Confirmation to that package for eBay seller protection if the sale did not exceed $750, although you should be refunded by USPS for that as part of the original postage cost. Lost Mail claims are easier to win from USPS than damage claims since USPS can see that the tracking stopped partway while it was still in their possession.

[brandenlove1234]

the LOL is, I paid for the shipping via paypal. it wasnt taken out of the total cost.  and i dont add the Signature confirmation for seller protection. i add it for general protection.  "I never got it" or "it was dropped out side my door and stolen". ive never had that happen but for an additional $2? I think... just an extra layer of security. 

[brandenlove1234]

I think this pretty much covers what i was asking. so it is in their TOS even thought its all a bit silly. a "Did not receive" claim was put in on day 10. so refund 100% after 13 days after shipping or eat the fees i guess. after the 13 days eBay stepped in by default and locked the ability to refund. I actually couldn't refund the buyer after that. did try at around day 20. 

is what it is. thanks for providing that information 😃

[caseypl]

It will really hurt when that item gets delivered to the buyer eventually and then you never hear a word from them 

[brandenlove1234]

the guy has been relativity cool about all of this but if that where to happen I'm not to worried about it.  

if that scenario where to happen and if he refused to send the item back or the money, small claims court takes around 10 mins to file. guess it just depends on how far your willing to take something.  I don't stress about "what ifs" though. what happens happens

[sweetnsexy2]

As you should have long ago figured out ebay works on mafia type tactics and should be arrested on criminal misconduct 

[sweetnsexy2]

If eBay wasn’t such a corrupt mafia type of corporation they would refund the buyer for you under their buyer and seller guarantee. It’s not the sellers fault any more than it’s not the buyers fault. So ebay should cough up. 

just like they coughed up for selling drug making machines used for illegal drugs. 

[kh-stanley1]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.