Apparently the item was damaged in shipping and the buyer has let me know but hasn't filed a return request yet. I told him that I would just issue a refund for it but now I am not seeing any option anymore to cancel the order or to refund the money. Do they now need to submit a return request before I am able to do this? Will I get the final value fee back automatically?
You're in MP, so refunds are a snap. Find the order in question (Seller Hub/Orders/Paid and Shipped) and use the blue drop-down menu to the left. Select 'Send Refund', enter the amount of the refund, confirm and submit.
Why would you want to refund without the buyer opening a case?
At least doing it that way, you will get your FVFs back. No ding on account if you issue the refund through the case. But issue a straight refund with no case = no FVFs returned.
Ok thanks I wasn't seeing that option since I was on the mobile app so I went to the browser and checked the view desktop site and found it now. There's 2 options one for "refund the buyer" and "cancel order" It doesn't say anything about final value fee under the refund buyer option so I am guessing that I should just go with cancel order since it says that I would get the $19 final value fee back?
NO! Ask the buyer to file a return request in the Resolution Center - link at the bottom of most all eBay webpages. Once a 'case' has been opened THEN you can refund without requiring a return.
