eBay

call_me_caro · ‎11-14-2017

I have some vintage dinner plates listed for sale individually. Today someone bought 5 of them [yay!], but they didn't wait for an invoice with combined shipping, which I mentioned in my listing that I would be willing to provide.

They are located in the same state and shipping is going to cost me $30 less than what they paid. I feel bad about keeping that much, but have no idea how to issue a refund for shipping.

Is that individual preferance? Could it back-fire? Do I wait until the package is delivered and then offer it? Or should I not offer it at all?

Thoughts? What would you do?

mobileman67 · ‎11-14-2017

Super easy fix.

Log into paypal, go to the transaction in question, then scroll down to the REFUND link.

Then just enter the ammount you wish to refund, and a quick note. You can add the auction # in the invoice section if you wish.

View Best Answer in original post

papyruspapillo · ‎11-14-2017

I always ship, then do the math, and issue a refund through PayPal. (That choice is listed on the transaction page.) It's likely that, as she bought each one, the new ebay policy of "immediate payment" instructed the customer to do so. Expect more of this kind of thing in the future. If the buyer did not pay immediately, it's likely that the sale for an individual plate disappeared, and she had to place the order again. Good ol' ebay.

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎11-14-2017

I had something similar happen, although I do not write in my descriptions that there are overage shipping refunds.

Someone bought a grouping of individually listed pieces of a china pattern.

I kept the $18 overage and received positive feedback.

After the sale is too late to ask for a shipping discount. If the buyer cared about the discount that much, they would have messaged you already asking for it.

The greater problem is that some sellers are getting defects on their accounts for refunding part of the sale. These defects are untrackable, invisible to us or hidden from us, but we have had an employee of ebay claim right here on this forum that sellers are given defects for partially refunding transactions and that it affects our standing in search.

papyruspapillo · ‎11-14-2017

Addendum: Before you issue the refund, be sure to send the buyer a message through ebay messages that you are going to do so; that is to avoid a defect on your account. Ebay hates to give anything back for any reason. I don't know the value of the plates or what you received for shipping, but you might have to refund on more than one completed listing. I did this just yesterday, and have done it in the past.

thenobletuckylife · ‎11-14-2017

Evening,

Happen to us all the time.

Ease your conscience and do the honarble thing.

Place a nice thank you card in the package with a nice visible $10. explaining you wanted to refund them for overage on shipping.

Then sit back and smile!

Mr C

papyruspapillo · ‎11-14-2017

Back again. Another method is to refund through PayPal, bypassing ebay. Just choose to send the amount as friend-to-friend, using the buyer's direct email. That has worked for me, too. The latest I hear from others is that if the refund is preceded by an email fully explaining the reason for the refund, that a seller is "covered" and will not receive a defect. If doing all of this is still unsettling, send a check or a money order directly to the buyer. Yes, I've done that, too.

d-k_treasures · ‎11-14-2017

@papyruspapillo wrote:
Addendum: Before you issue the refund, be sure to send the buyer a message through ebay messages that you are going to do so; that is to avoid a defect on your account. Ebay hates to give anything back for any reason. I don't know the value of the plates or what you received for shipping, but you might have to refund on more than one completed listing. I did this just yesterday, and have done it in the past.

This part is (now) important.

Then call ebay and get your 3 bucks back for the shipping fees. Don't take no for an answer seeing as they cause this problem.

Or take Mr C's way - and just refund via a 10.00 bill.

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

d-k_treasures · ‎11-14-2017

@papyruspapillo wrote:
Back again. Another method is to refund through PayPal, bypassing ebay. Just choose to send the amount as friend-to-friend, using the buyer's direct email. That has worked for me, too. The latest I hear from others is that if the refund is preceded by an email fully explaining the reason for the refund, that a seller is "covered" and will not receive a defect. If doing all of this is still unsettling, send a check or a money order directly to the buyer. Yes, I've done that, too.

But if they get returned or broken in transit, and you have to refund, then you can't subtract what you gave her back in either way above.

_____________________________
"Nothing is obvious to the oblivious"

dtexley3 · ‎11-14-2017

@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:

The greater problem is that some sellers are getting defects on their accounts for refunding part of the sale. These defects are untrackable, invisible to us or hidden from us, but we have had an employee of ebay claim right here on this forum that sellers are given defects for partially refunding transactions and that it affects our standing in search.

Not entirely accurate. We were told that a seller MAY get a defect for issuing a partial refund without messaging the buyer to tell them why the seller was issuing the refund.

@papyruspapillo doesn't matter if the partial is through Paypal only, per Trinton sellers are expected to sent a message prior to a partial refund.

Member of the Grumpy Old Man crew

partial*eclipse · ‎11-14-2017

@papyruspapillo wrote:
... Another method is to refund through PayPal, bypassing ebay. Just choose to send the amount as friend-to-friend, using the buyer's direct email.....

Why would you do that rather than issuing a partial refund through the original payment transaction? A partial refund will at least get you a credit for the PayPal fees, as well as reducing the amount you have to refund if the transaction goes bad.

call_me_caro · ‎11-14-2017

Thanks, everyone! The plates go for $21 on replacements.com, so they already saved $20 right there.

The plates took me some time to package and used quite a bit of packing materials, so I do want to account for that in the handling.

I may send the buyer a message as a courtesy offering a small refund through PayPal, so long as it doesn’t cause any issues.

castlemagicmemories · ‎11-14-2017

@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:
I had something similar happen, although I do not write in my descriptions that there are overage shipping refunds.
Someone bought a grouping of individually listed pieces of a china pattern.
I kept the $18 overage and received positive feedback.
After the sale is too late to ask for a shipping discount. If the buyer cared about the discount that much, they would have messaged you already asking for it.
The greater problem is that some sellers are getting defects on their accounts for refunding part of the sale. These defects are untrackable, invisible to us or hidden from us, but we have had an employee of ebay claim right here on this forum that sellers are given defects for partially refunding transactions and that it affects our standing in search.

Ersatz: I think they said that if you have a message through Ebay that was sent to the buyer to explain the refund, then you are fine.

janet9988 · ‎11-14-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:
I had something similar happen, although I do not write in my descriptions that there are overage shipping refunds.
Someone bought a grouping of individually listed pieces of a china pattern.
I kept the $18 overage and received positive feedback.
After the sale is too late to ask for a shipping discount. If the buyer cared about the discount that much, they would have messaged you already asking for it.
The greater problem is that some sellers are getting defects on their accounts for refunding part of the sale. These defects are untrackable, invisible to us or hidden from us, but we have had an employee of ebay claim right here on this forum that sellers are given defects for partially refunding transactions and that it affects our standing in search.
Ersatz: I think they said that if you have a message through Ebay that was sent to the buyer to explain the refund, then you are fine.

i think it is another situation where you will have to call ebay to get the defect removed. Just more work as who has time for that.. Just keep the money and send a note with the package for a discount on their next purchase IF they wait for you to send an invoice. No need to explain why and maybe you will make another sale 🙂

For some......It seems wisdom has been chasing you, but you have always been faster.

mobileman67 · ‎11-14-2017

Super easy fix.

Log into paypal, go to the transaction in question, then scroll down to the REFUND link.

Then just enter the ammount you wish to refund, and a quick note. You can add the auction # in the invoice section if you wish.

ersatz_sobriquet · ‎11-14-2017

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
@ersatz_sobriquet wrote:
I had something similar happen, although I do not write in my descriptions that there are overage shipping refunds.
Someone bought a grouping of individually listed pieces of a china pattern.
I kept the $18 overage and received positive feedback.
After the sale is too late to ask for a shipping discount. If the buyer cared about the discount that much, they would have messaged you already asking for it.
The greater problem is that some sellers are getting defects on their accounts for refunding part of the sale. These defects are untrackable, invisible to us or hidden from us, but we have had an employee of ebay claim right here on this forum that sellers are given defects for partially refunding transactions and that it affects our standing in search.
Ersatz: I think they said that if you have a message through Ebay that was sent to the buyer to explain the refund, then you are fine.

You're a more trusting soul than I am.

I assume these partial refunds are picked up by and processed as defects by BRAINLESS HEADLESS BOTS.

Also I believe it made no difference where the partial refund went through, ebay or paypal, they found it regardless.