I shipped wrong item to customer, now what?

[937theandersons11705]

I (the seller) accidently shipped the wrong item to customers (got them switched). Customers have both mailed back to me, and I am shipping back out. Both customers have filed a return, and I issued shipping labels. My question is, does Ebay automaticially refund the customer their money, even though they wanted the item and I have sent item back out to them? I'm concerned I will be loosing product and money.

[lex-talon]

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@937theandersons11705 wrote:

I (the seller) accidently shipped the wrong item to customers (got them switched). Customers have both mailed back to me, and I am shipping back out. Both customers have filed a return, and I issued shipping labels. My question is, does Ebay automaticially refund the customer their money, even though they wanted the item and I have sent item back out to them? I'm concerned I will be loosing product and money.

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As soon as you receive the wrong items back, you refund the two buyers. 

[missjen831]

You don't have to refund the buyers. You can wait for the returns to time out. Or ask the buyers to close them but I worry they make "ask ebay to step in" and that would mean they get a refund.

[justme2345]

When you get the items back, refund. 

Relist and let the buyers repurchase. 

Maybe offer then a discount for their inconvenience. 

[disneyshopper]

This just happened to me.  I accidentally switched shipping labels.  Both buyers filed a return, I issued prepaid labels.  Both items returned, I refunded.  I then relisted both items and sent the item numbers to both buyers.  Neither one made the purchase again.  

[robot-hands]

Why did you have them ship back to you instead of each other?

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@robot-hands wrote:

Why did you have them ship back to you instead of each other?

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1) There is no guarantee that both buyers would agree to that. What if only one of the buyers shipped to the other and the other didn't?

2) If returns were opened ... labels are provided by eBay from the original buyers address to the seller. There's no way to change that ... and even if you sent your own label, a "delivered" return results in a refund. Which you don't want.

3) Privacy. You should not give your buyer's private information (name, address, purchase history) to a 3rd party.

Some other scenarios ... what happens if one of the reshipped items gets damaged or lost in transit or if buyer A sends a brick to buyer B? Too many things can go sideways with a 3-way deal.

KISS. Return to seller, reship to buyer if they still want it.

[937theandersons11705]

I didn't know that was an option.

[937theandersons11705]

Thanks, I'll send a message to the buyers to close the case when they receive their items in the mail.

[missjen831]

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@937theandersons11705 wrote:
I didn't know that was an option.

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It’s an option but it’s not recommended. You would have to get both buyers permission. And what would you do if one buyer decided NOT to ship to the other buyer? You’d end up refunding both buyers. And the buyer who followed through and send the item in good faith would probably be very unhappy when the other buyer failed to ship them their item.

[kensgiftshop]

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@robot-hands wrote:

Why did you have them ship back to you instead of each other?

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To much could go wrong trying that.

What if one buyer decides they want to keep the wrong item also and not ship it?

[atikovi]

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@kensgiftshop wrote:

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What if one buyer decides they want to keep the wrong item also and not ship it?

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Was one of the items much more valuable than the other? That could be a problem if a buyer isn't very honest and decides to keep it. Not much you could do in that case.