Wrong address

[mbztreasures]

I sold an item and it was returned because it was unable to be delivered. I reached out to the buyer, and she gave me a different address. How do I handle this? Thank you in advance.

[penguins_dont_fly]

@mbztreasures 

Cancel the order as "Problem with Address".

Relist the item and have your buyer re-purchase it using the correct address.

[knifeaholic]

penguins is 100% correct...but just to add, only ship to the address that the buyer has shown in their ebay account, never to an address that the buyer gives you via message.

[1786davycrockett]

@mbztreasures 

@penguins_dont_fly 

"Cancel the order as "Problem with Address".

Relist the item and have your buyer re-purchase it using the correct address."

And don't forget to refund your buyer for the first order.

[toysaver · Accepted solution]

If you cancel the sale there is no way for you to recoup the shipping.   If you cancel the buyer is left virtually unable to leave feedback.  If you refund you can elect to not refund the shipping.   If you refund the opportunity for a negative is there. 

It's a tricky situation, some buyers would understand and accept their responsibility for the kerfuffle and be willing to pay the double shipping.  Others see themselves as entitled and will want you to pay for their mistake.  

[mbztreasures]

Thank you for your insight. When you say refund, do you mean that I do a "manual" refund minus the shipping cost instead of cancelling the sale?

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Yes.

The only time to cancel for a RTS wrong address issue is if you had free shipping.

[dbfolks166mt]

Cancel the order as "Problem with Address".

Relist the item and have your buyer re-purchase it using the correct address.

Won't that cause the buyer to be fully refunded? If I was the seller I would only want to refund the total transaction cost - (shipping + $.30)

[dbfolks166mt]

Yes.

The only time to cancel for a RTS wrong address issue is if you had free shipping.

     There is no such thing as "free shipping" even if the item was posted that way the seller still paid to ship the item. 

[toysaver]

Look at the item in your paid and shipped section.  To the left is an arrow down menu.  Cancel appears first, you have to scroll to get to refund.  You can open both and see the differences.  There is a second page to finalize the transaction so you can compare without issue.  One thing I'd consider too is asking the buyer what they think is fair.  That may give you a hint into the possible outcome.  

[yoonix1]

If you ship to an address not EBay approved you may get into more troubles. As many Seller's already suggested, the best is to cancel the order, and issue a full refund to the Buyer. Or you can wait for the Buyer to initiate Item Not Received Claim, and fight at this point for your shipping cost.

[abethkap]

I'm going through a similar situation at the moment.   A package was returned to me because the address (provided by the buyer on an eBay shipping label)  was insufficient.  The buyer has opened an INR case and e-mailed their corrected, complete address.   I contacted an eBay customer service agent who told me in this case,  the seller would win the INR case and could keep the money and the item.   I related this to the buyer and told them I would either refund their purchase price minus shipping (I don't think keeping the money and item is right) or if they prefer, they could send the money to reship via Paypal.  Communication with the buyer is still in progress.    Cancelling the listing is not an option on the drop down menu at this point.  I think the system is registering the transaction as complete and the package shows as delivered in the tracking history.   I think it would be very useful if eBay would state their policy in these situations on their website (if they do, I have not found it.) 

[sdneped]

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@abethkap wrote:

I think it would be very useful if eBay would state their policy in these situations on their website (if they do, I have not found it.) 

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eBay does say that in the policy but using other words, as eBay is bound to be bound by the bounds that 

eBay cannot say using weasel words that you can keep

-- the buyer's money 

-- and your returned item

because "the buyer is not covered" by the MBG.

[robbie31415]

Never cancel a RTS.

Anything that has been shipped should not be cancelled.

Yes it voids the MBG for RTS, however since you have no evidence of successful delivery you have no eBay protection from chargeback.

It's best to send full refund minus shipping and fees. This will decrease chances of a chargeback and make you whole.

[tobaccocardyahoo]

I would do the obvious.

Refund in full, relist, and ask the buyer to buy again with the correct address.