Buyer gave wrong address, haven't received returned item in mail.

[ggeowizard96]

As the title says, buyer gave me wrong address. Here's a timeline:

• ~4pm Oct 28: Buyer purchases an item.
• ~1am Oct 29: Buyer messages me saying they gave the wrong address and to ship it to x address instead.
• ~9am Oct 29: Not having seen the message, I ship the item to the address provided on the transaction.
• ~10am Oct 29: I read the message and notify the buyer I already shipped it and tell them they may be able to intercept the package. I provided the link to USPS that explains it.
• Nov 1st: They message me saying they just got paid and want to know if they can pay me to reship it to their new address. I reply right away telling them that it already shipped to their old address and that tracking said it was delivered.
• Nov 2nd: They message me saying it was sent to a college address and was returned to sender. I reply saying that once the item returns to me, I will issue them a refund (minus shipping) and relist the item. They can then buy it AFTER they correct their address, but as per eBay's policies I won't ship to any address other than the one on the transaction.
• Nov 6th: They ask me if I have received the item yet. I tell them no.

I assume the reason I have not yet received the return is because Nov 2nd was a Saturday so there's technically only been 3 business days since then, but what happens if I never receive this return? Should I really be out the item + cost + shipping because of the buyer's mistake? Is there anything I should be doing in the meantime to avoid having them open a case in eBay/PayPal or give me negative feedback? This is really ridiculous, and to be quite honest I would rather refund this buyer once I receive the item back and then block them so I don't have to deal with them trying to buy the item again.

I have sold many items on eBay and depop in the past few years and have never encountered this before so any insight would be appreciated!

[marbleslost23 · Accepted solution]

It is your job to ship an item to the address the buyer provides. It is on the buyer to insure they have the correct address on file. If the tracking shows delivered, the buyer can not claim item not received. The last time I had that happen it took a solid 2 weeks for the package to come back to me. When the package was returned, I refunded the buyer minus the shipping.  If your buyer opens a case against you, call Ebay and provide the tracking showing the attempted delivery, you will win. If you receive a negative, under those circumstances, you can probably call and have it removed.  Never ship to any address other than the one on file, it insures your protection in a case like this. And it is about the only protection a seller has these days. As for reselling it to that same customer, personally, I would not.