Insufficient Address - unexplainable

[littlebungalow]

I've got a box returning "Insufficient Address" coming back from a little snow-country town in Colorado. USPS parcel post, sig. confirm, insured.

Buyer is brand-new to eBay. I asked him to double check his address, but no reply. 

Would you -

1. Work with buyer to figure out a corrected address, reinvoice him for new shipping ($15 extra).... and resend? 

The post office appears questionable - many dodgy reviews on Google about misdelivering & returning of packages.

The address looks like the word HWY was left out. It says "US-6" only - no road, hwy, etc. However - I don't know, and the buyer didn't respond.

2. Refund thru Paypal immediately, minus shipping, and move on?

This is my first time ever having a problem with a shipped item. Thanks for educating me on best practice!

[orangehound]

Obviously your first step is to verify the address with the customer.   Even if the customer left off "HWY", it still should have been delivered unless the local carrier was in a sour mood that day.

If the address is correct, I've been able to get a friendly USPS counter clerk to issue a new mailing label with no charges.  (I've also heard you can just remove the return tag, and reship, but since I know my local counter clerks well, I've never done this and I don't know if it will work).

If the address is incorrect or incomplete, you have two choices.  Sometimes, buyers will be willing to pay for a second shipping (invoice via PayPal), but if not you can always cancel the sale with the reason being "problem with address".

[littlebungalow]

Thanks! I heard back - he says the address is normal and he receives mail regularly there.

I can wait til it arrives back here and try my luck with getting a friendly USPS clerk as you mentioned. But if that doesn't work out.... any advice?

I feel so sad the box didn't arrive. And it doesn't appear to be the buyer's fault nor mine.

[judydu2 · Accepted solution]

I had that happen once in my eBay career. After the buyer assured me it was a good address,  I took the box back to the post office with me and had my postmaster call the postmaster of the post office that returned the parcel. After speaking with them and confirming it was a good address and the parcel had been returned in error, my postmaster approved a reship at no charge to me. 

[littlebungalow]

thank you! I plan to follow this advice. Grateful!

[buyselljack2016]

I once tried a re-ship (same tracking #) on one that came back. The item was picked up. My carrier scans without fail.  Neither the tracking #, nor the package/merchandise was ever heard from again. The buyer was refunded. They may have gotten the item, but as I said, the tracking # never got any more scans.