Buyer had her address wrong and the item came back to me

[kat5975]

I received a package back from the post office because they said the address was undeliverable.  I sent the buyer a photo of the label to see if there was something wrong with her address.  She wrote back that there was no apt. number, she didn't even realize that the address was wrong. 

I think I definitely made a mistake in how I delt with it.  I told her to request a refund, and then she can rebuy the shoes.  She requested a refund siting the reason as she never received the package.  So, therefore, she gets the full refund, and I'm out the shipping cost.  

I'm just wondering how I should handle this in the future so that I don't eat the shipping when it's not my fault.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[missjen831 · Accepted solution]

If the item not received case is still open, just call customer service and have them close it in your favor. The buyer failed to provide the correct address. Then you can go to PayPal and issue a partial refund. BUT if you go ahead and refund in full through the case, eBay will credit your FVF. So if the FVF was more than shipping just rerund in full