item I sold came back as (USPS) "insufficient address"

[yzmxerjl]

On 4/17 I sold an item to another member, and since I don't sell lots of stuff I like to follow up on their shipping to make sure things get to where they are supposed to go. I was surprised the item I sold didn't get delivered. According to the tracking it went to the address and was listed as return to sender the day before. I contacted the buyer right away but he never did respond. And today 4/28 the package (item I sold) came back to me. On the package it was marked twice by hand "IA" insufficient address on by a printed USPS label "Return to Sender", "Insufficient Address", "Unable to Forward", "Return to Sender". So I contacted the buyer again and still no response. I did a quick search of the address and its a real address but it's looks to be a small community building to a development (small pool and tennis court). I checked the how long the buyer was a member and that day he became a member and purchased my item. And for the shipping I used eBay to buy my USPS select ground label so the address that was put into his information is what he put in and not me making a typo error in the label.

So what do I do now... eBay doesn't have anything links for an issue like this. No "report a problem" kind of thing.  I would like to get eBay involved so it not all on me.  I could refund the guy but will I eat the shipping cost? Any suggestions? 

[dhbookds]

I would just sit on it.......wait until the buyer contacts  you. 

[12345jamesstamps]

Do nothing at this time.

I get returns all the time.

[cityslickercreations2004]

There is no reason to involve ebay. This is a buyer issue.

You shipped to the address provided by the buyer and USPS could not deliver the package.

It appears your item has made its way back to you. 

Refund for item after deducting for shipping. This is  assuming shipping was paid by the buyer. 

This makes you whole again. Then relist the item and sell again.

Based on what you have described, I suspect a maintenance person needed a part. There may have been no mail receptacle, locked gate, who knows?

[gloryglorygifts]

I would refund the customer, with the original postage deducted, and in the comments say that the item was returned to you because of a problem with the address. We used to be able to select a reason, but that seems to have disappeared from the dropdown menu. This way, your comment will be saved in your refund information on ebay.

[yzmxerjl]

thanks for all your guys input! So for now, I'll wait a bit to see if the buyer contacts me. I'll give it a week then refund him his money less the shipping. 

Ok what happens if he does contact me back and he gives me the correct address (building number or apartment #) how do I handle that with him and USPS. I'm just assuming he pays for the shipping all over again or does the USPS let me simply add the info and resend it?

[aproudparent2010]

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@yzmxerjl wrote:

thanks for all your guys input! So for now, I'll wait a bit to see if the buyer contacts me. I'll give it a week then refund him his money less the shipping. 

Ok what happens if he does contact me back and he gives me the correct address (building number or apartment #) how do I handle that with him and USPS. I'm just assuming he pays for the shipping all over again or does the USPS let me simply add the info and resend it?

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They will have to pay to reship the item. I'd actually refund them minus any shipping, relist item and they can repurchase with the correct address. No you can not simply add the info and resend because once  a label is used its void per say.

[luckythewinner]

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@yzmxerjl wrote:

Ok what happens if he does contact me back and he gives me the correct address (building number or apartment #) how do I handle that with him and USPS. I'm just assuming he pays for the shipping all over again or does the USPS let me simply add the info and resend it?

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I strongly suggest that you resolve this transaction completely first. Then you can relist the item and the buyer can re-purchase the item with the correct address. You will lose seller protection if you re-ship because you are long past the shipping deadline.

[dhbookds]

I would do as @aproudparent2010  says

[natoman777]

This isn't your fault.  The buyers address was wrong because they entered it wrong.  They are responsible for any extra shipping.  You do NOT need to refund them original shipping as you were charged for that and won't receive a refund since it was return to sender.  If they don't respond it is not your problem.  If they do, I would suggest putting up a listing with the shipping price only and they can pay for the extra shipping cost.  I have this happen often, and sometimes the buyers get upset with me, but they are the ones who messed up not me

[jrkirk]

This sort of thing used to happen all the time, in eBay's early years because eBay did not verify shipping addresses. In fact, we sold items and got paid for them, and there was no shipping address provided by the buyer, none. We sold the item, waited for the check or money order to arrive in the mail, and hope that the correct shipping address was on the check or money order, which we then tried to verify with on-line tools before shipping. Sounds crazy now, but that was how it worked in 1996-1997. And there were no pictures on listings because eBay did not support pictures in the beginning. Buyers and sellers trusted each other, and it mostly worked pretty well. An occasional problem happened, much like today, but most transactions were completed without problems. Hard to believe, but it's true. We took personal checks, and never lost a dime from bad checks. One buyer had a returned check when his wife that written a check he didn't know about, but he made it good immediately. We never lost anything from taking personal checks, but would never do that today.