Return hasn't shipped yet

[aatarlow978]

So I had a buyer open a return under the item not fitting. eBay automatically accepted the return. This was five days ago. Because the return was opened under the fact that the item didn't fit, the buyer must pay return shipping. I have since reached out and let the buyer know once the item was returned I'd be refunding her. I have not heard back and the item hasn't been shipped yet. How long does the buyer have to ship back? If she doesn't ship should I call and let eBay know? I haven't had this type of return happen until now so I'm not sure how to go about it.

[buzzapparel]

You’re not going to like this answer. 45 days at which point you will have to have the case closed in your favor if the item is not returned, however once the buyer engages the tracking info or indicates it was shipped, eBay will add 21 days to whichever point that was until the item starts to track. However the minimum time will never be below 45 days even if the day they shipped it on was day 5. But it could theoretically be as long as 96 days on a 30 day return.