How Does Offering a Free Refunds Work?

[netwizz760]

How does offering free refunds work? Say for example a buyer wins an item for $15 with free-shipping, and I ship it out priority mail which cost me $8.  Does eBay automatically bill me for a label?  Do I have a method to review and approve a return or RMA? For example if I believe the buyer to be honest, I would probably just refund the $15.  It would not make business sense for me to spend another $8 to get it back even if it is still a perfectly good $15 item because then am I supposed to list it again and let it sit in the store for weeks only to sell it and pay another $8 to ship it a third time, pay eBay fees again, etc.   Simply put if a buyer is returning it there is no way to get that $15 item into another happy buyer’s hands for less than $16.    Not to mention I cannot guarantee a buyer will package it as well as I did to get it back to me, nor can I guarantee it will come back in the same condition, and if it is an item that was $15 new/unopened it is probably worth about $5 by the time I get it back used, opened, and without its manufacturing packaging.

How does that work if I offer free returns to attract buyers but simply want 24 hours to respond and/or communicate with a buyer on the off chance they want to be a PITA?

[mtgraves7984 · Accepted solution]

Yes, by requiring an RMA, you'll get to eyeball the Return request before the bots simply issue a shipping label. (At least, as I understand it.) Yours is a great example of why I have my RMA toggle switched ON. Who wants to chase good money after bad?

[mvls1]

Actually not to be rude, but if you are selling an item for $15 +free shipping that cost you $8 to ship, you have at least another $3 in packing and fees. If this is a one time thing just to clear stale inventory that is one thing, but if that is your normal business model, you need to rethink what you are doing. The $4 that you have left after selling, shipping and fees is not worth it. The item had to cost you something which makes your net even less.

Your problem is not how Ebay's refund policy works, your problem is finding items that net you more money after all costs. All a sellers money is made when they procure their inventory and realized when they sell it. Your margins are too small. If you can, don't offer free shipping, make the buyer pay for it. That would increase your net by $8 making the transaction more reasonable. Good luck.

[netwizz760]

I only now changed it to Free Returns.

My only time I chase good money after bad is when I have a hunch it is fishing for money.  Particularly vintage video game buyers Purchasing Original Nintendo, SNES, and similar games for in the $15 to $20 range will start asking a LOT of questions like, “is the plastic faded?”  “Does the save game slots work?” Etc... on an as-is “game was tested to boot” and a screenshot of it.

They buy the game, then start the refund process to see if you will refund and let them keep it OR they will ask for a partial refund etc.  On these at least when I used to do “buyer pays return shipping” they would deter returns.  Usually, they would ask for a return, and I would approve, and then they would simply never return it.  They would just go away and not be a problem.

If I do free returns, and they never send anything back, do I get to void the return label and get reimbursed for the label?

I just want some level of control to go on instinct.  If a buyer is just trying to get money back and keep the item, I like to approve the return.  If it is some that that got messed up and the buyer is believe (I.e. sends a picture) , I am not going to haste them nor chase good money after bad.