USPS returning item, do I refund shipping?

[cambriachick]

Good morning,

USPS is returning an item because the buyer moved and did not put in a forwarding address.  Of course, 

I'll refund the cost, but do I have to refund the shipping as well?

[wastingtime101]

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

[chapeau-noir]

I would contact the buyer and let them know, then ask if they still want the item. If i dont hear back (and I haven't the several times this has happened), I refund purchase price only. I give them a couple three days to get back to me.

[cambriachick]

Thanks guys.  I did let her know to change her address with eBay.  While in transit, she messaged me and told me she had moved.  I'll probably just cancel the transaction and get all my fees back.  Doesn't go down well, but not worth the bad karma.

[albertabrightalberta]

This type of situation is part of the reason why I charge separately for shipping. 

In a case such as this, I issue a refund for the price of the item only, retaining the original shipping since that money was spent on postage and non-reimbursable (to me).