Item returned for Insufficient Address, what is my next step?

[emilyandpamela]

I have never dealt with this on eBay (I also sell on Etsy but have my own shop policy which I follow there).

I had an item returned to me for insufficient address. What is the next best course of action?

Normally in my Etsy I only refund for item cost (as the postage has been used to send as intended and the incorrect address is due to incorrectly entered information on the buyer's end) but I can't seem to find any clear direction for eBay around refunds for this scenario.

[donsdetour]

contact your purchaser

[dirk12955]

Message the buyer and ask him what he wants you to do.     

[justafemster]

Refund minus postage and fees.  

That's what I'd do.

[teltuooutlet]

Did you receive the item back already?

I'm asking because I had tracking show this on one of my sales but in tracking it showed it was from the day before. I messaged the buyer and asked if their address was correct and they quickly responded yes. I then called their local post office and luckily the package was still at the post office. They realized it was THEIR mistake that they did that and delivered the package to the buyer.

[orangehound · Accepted solution]

Here is what I do for domestic returns like this.

1. I contact the buyer to tell them that their item was returned.
2. I give them two options.  The first option is to cancel the sale, and the second option is to ship it a second time at their expense.
3. If they want it reshipped, then I invoice them via PayPal for the second shipping charge and reship it when they pay.
4. If they want a refund, I fully refund (cost plus shipping) and put them on my BBL ... I refund them fully because I don't want to deal with a case or a negative feedback.
5. If they do not respond to any communications within 60- days, I refund the cost of the item less shipping (via PayPal or MP, if possible), and I put them on my BBL.

[emilyandpamela]

Yes, I ship from Canada and ship a good majority of my low cost items as economy no tracking. It showed up in my mailbox today, no email from the buyer yet though. Just wanted to see the best course of action prior to messaging them. The label is covered with a RTS label but it looks like there is a "#?" in black marker that is partially visible so I'm guessing they were missing a unit # or perhaps the house number was incorrect.

[emilyandpamela]

Thank you, this covers all the bases. I just didn't want to misstep in the process since I have never dealt with it before and wanted to be prepared before messaging them so I had a good idea of what to do prior. I appreciate this very much 🙂

[bargainbuybin]

Hello - I have the same issue, however I’m concerned if I reship the item via PayPal to the address they sent me through Ebay “messages” there is no connection to Ebay.   

Thanks,

[wastingtime101]

You have a few options @bargainbuybin. You should decide which route you'll be taking and communicate with the buyer, but wait until the item is returned to you before you take any of the following actions.

• You can refund the buyer the item cost minus original shipping and minus your eBay fees which won't be credited on a partial refund. Go to your orders page, find the transaction and select "send refund." On the next page enter the amount. After that, relist the item and tell the buyer to repurchase it with the correct name/address.

• Tell the buyer to pay for re-shipping. Send them an invoice through PayPal or give them your PayPal e-mail. This is post-sale so it's OK to exchange e-mail addresses. It's also OK to ship to a different address because it's technically not tied to the original transaction. You would not purchase the shipping label through eBay or upload it to the transaction. You would purchase it from an alternate site like pirateship.com or paypal.com/shipnow and you can send the buyer the new tracking # through e-mail or eBay messages.

• You can cancel the transaction "problem with address" which will trigger a full refund to the buyer and your FVF would be credited.

• You can do nothing. The buyer's MBG protection is voided when there's a package delivery attempt. I don't recommend this because even though you'll win an INR (item not received) claim on eBay, there's nothing stopping that buyer from going to their credit card to file a dispute which would grant them a full refund from your account. I also think that handling it before it gets to this stage with a partial refund is the "right" thing to do.

[bargainbuybin]

Thank you very much!

[bargainbuybin]

I really don't understand why Ebay doesn't have an option to cancel the order, minus shipping?  So I have to eat the shipping cost in order to get my fees back?  Otherwise I send a refund to the buyer, who made the initial mistake, minus shipping and fees which will not make them happy at all?  

Seems awful I have to eat shipping costs for a Buyers mistake in order to recover my FVFs?

[bargainbuybin]

The buyer specifically stated, please refund me Minus the original shipping, however there is no way for me to actually do that??  Seems really asinine. 

[8492nylonworks]

ebay's return system is designed by lizard people who had never sold anything online lol.