Shipping Problem

[danny2314]

Let's begin with me saying thank you in advance for your interest and or help with this matter; please know that you are appreciated.  I really hope that there is an easy solution to this that's been right in front of me for a few days now.

I have a problem that I can't find an answer to:  I made an international sale (my first, wth) at the end of September and, quick version, the buyer missed the delivery so the item is en route back to me.  By the time the package does get back to me, over 60 days will have passed since I mailed it.   There was a case opened, and eBay made good on the Seller Protection Plan.  The underlying problem is that I want to be fair to the buyer, despite the fact that the buyer tried to get me to pay for 3 missed delivery attempts, and now I have a person that is eager to work this out.  The item is a custom design that was a last second auction win for the buyer; as the artist I am surprisingly compelled to try and see this through.  The rest of me, and all of my wife, is confused as to why.  Silly with scruples.

If the item finds its way back to me undamaged, the logistical problem I am faced with is creating an invoice for the buyer that is only for shipping.  I have made a few attempts to get eBay to help me with this but they are shuffling me through different customer services or linking me to the seller help site.  The sale is over 30 days old and now closed so I do not have invoice options through the original sale.  Can I create a personal invoice, private listing, or anything for this transaction to send to the buyer?  I can figure out the tax and fee markup if I make it to that step.  Thanks again.

[richard1rst]

You can generate an invoice through Paypal. For that you will need your buyer's email address. Since a sale has been made it is safe to ask them for it.

Do I understand that the "seller protection made good on it" - as in he has already gotten his money back? So basically he is going to get it for free?

[dryophelia]

@danny2314 

You could create a new listing for this person. Make it a Buy It Now and make it so the buyer can submit an offer. 

Set the BIN price to something very high so that no one else will be interested. 
Wheb your buyer submits his offer at your predetermined selling price, you simply accept his offer. 

Be sure when creating this new listing that you are not out any money from the original sale. For instance, the cost, if any to return this item back to you. That is not always a free service. 

For me, I would not risk it again with this buyer. He would be on my Blocked Bidder List, never to be heard from again. 
When the shoes make it back to you, you can request his PayPal information and send him his money back. Again, you are not required by eBay to refund ANY if his money. He gave up his Buyer Protection when he failed to claim the item. 
Of course, those of us with scruples, wouldn’t think of keeping the item and the money. 
Refund his money minus what this has cost you. Don’t forget shipping (both ways) and the fees eBay charged you to sell the item. If it was an international sale, there were likely extra fees for eBay to process their payment into US Dollars. 

[danny2314]

Thanks for the help.  I thought that asking for personal information from either party was a policy violation?  Your solution makes sense, and thanks for it.  eBay does state clearly that they consider the matter closed.  I suppose I could advise the buyer to create a new email account for this purpose; I have done it in the past myself to avoid future correspondence/junk overload on my personal email. 

I won the case.  The buyer wanted a refund for 'item not received', but eBay Seller Protection Plan states that if tracking shows a delivery attempt was made then it is proof that the item did make its destination and it is the buyer's responsibility to get their own mail.  It's a windfall that could be listed again if I chose to do so.  Could have knocked me over with a feather when I got the decision email lol.

[danny2314]

Thanks for the response.  I would agree with you and pay to keep my conscience clear if I had that kind of money to spare (if I had the money to spare I would have refunded the buyer immediately and spared my blood pressure), and I don't so it's not an option.  This is a closed case for eBay so I was going to look into invoicing through PayPal, but personal information has to be shared for this and I am pretty sure it's a policy violation.  I just had a thought to bundle the item with some other gear in a new listing and make things more palatable for me.  It would help balance things out a little with the stressful situation and crazy research effort I have had to put into this for the last 6 days.  It was worth it to win the case, but it is still happening and I mean to say it has been forever taking.

[eleanor*rigby]

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@danny2314 wrote:

Thanks for the help.  I thought that asking for personal information from either party was a policy violation?  Your solution makes sense, and thanks for it.  eBay does state clearly that they consider the matter closed.  I suppose I could advise the buyer to create a new email account for this purpose; I have done it in the past myself to avoid future correspondence/junk overload on my personal email. 

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Once you have had a transaction with a specific buyer, it is not a violation to contact them via email, phone, text, or whatever method you have available.

Here's the specific policy:

Member-to-member contact policy 

Additional information

Your email address and other contact info might be disclosed to the other party when involved in a successful eBay transaction with you. We investigate and take action on reports of misuse of this information. Please see our User Privacy Notice for more information on how we handle your personal data.

[danny2314]

Thanks for sharing that information.  I am probably being too careful but it seems that there is room for argument about this being a successful eBay transaction.  Neither party has possession of the item at this time and the buyer stands to lose all of the purchase price if I stop trying to ship it back to him.  This might be the correct question to get a response from customer service that allows me to send it or end it.  I appreciate your input.

[autopartspuller]

Ebay absolutely is ok with sharing personal information after the sale.  Successful in Ebay terms means that it was paid for by the buyer.  In Ebay's eyes, there are several reasons to exchange information after the sale, good customer service is amongst these reasons.  I would consider your attempting to help the buyer by resending the item to be a customer service issue.  

Some things to consider before you do:

1.  You may want to consider if these is a cost on your end for the item being returned.  When it gets returned, watch your ebay account for about a week before taking any action (if you shipped through ebay).  Any extra fee will be charged to your account and they wont notify you.  It's in your agreement that you have to pay these charges.  This should also make you want to decide whether or not you would want to put yourself in the possible position of getting these charges again, if the buyer does not pick up.

2.  If you do decide to send a paypal invoice, I would not recommend outright that the buyer open a new email.  Unless they express concern, this is really not your business.  The buyer should be able to make that decision on their own. 

My thoughts on this: From what you say, the buyer had more than one chance to pick up this package.  Then he didnt want to pay for those delivery charges, which makes me feel like he could absolutely do this again.  If you get charged any fees for the return shipping, I would not reship this via paypal invoice.  I would personally inform the buyer of the extra charge for the return and offer to list the item for the cost of those fees.  If they refuse, block the buyer and relist with confidence at full price knowing that the buyer put themselves in this situation and you did everything you could to accommodate them and should not put yourself in the situation to have it happen again!

[eleanor*rigby]

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@danny2314 wrote:

 This might be the correct question to get a response from customer service . . .

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Oh, yeah. Good luck with that. 🙄

[fashunu4eeuh]

Wait a minute!

Three missed opportunities to get their item? That should have been adequate time for a buyer to retrieve a wanted package. What excuse did they offer as to why they did not pick it up? Because i believe you may have thwarted a scam attempt. It is rare for sellers to prevail, but you did.

I would be very leary of re-sending. You didnt say when, but If i understand correctly, the buyer opened a case against you when the item was available? They may have been hoping to get a refund, after which they would retrieve the package and you would be scammed out of both the item and payment. This is a known scam used by international buyers. 

Is this what happened?

[12345jamesstamps]

Some countries are still closed for packages due to covid and some are recently closed like Australia and New Zealand...cannot even get a tiny letter to those countries.

Due to what is going on I would not try to mail again.

Also check USPS which country  is currently closed to packages and / or letters.

[vintage-camerastuff]

Don't do anything until you receive the item back.   You can make your decision after that.   Life is way to short to worry about these things.   When I receive an undelivered package it goes into my stack of returns until the buyer contacts me.  If I don't hear from the buyer the package sits for a long long time.   After about 6 months I eventually relist it and move on. 

[danny2314]

Thanks for this insight, you just saved me an omission of at least $20. As soon as I started reading about added fees I remembered that eBay charges $20 (it might be $25) just for having a case opened on you, and I believe regardless of outcome. As for covering the shipping cost I am leaning toward creating a new listing that I can tailor to the buyer and bundle in the item with shipping cost, if amenable, or the buyer can leave it be. I have put a ton of effort into this and it wasn’t necessary for a case to be opened before trying to communicate the problem to me. I am getting compensated for services rendered.  I also don’t want to get away from this platform if the buyer is trying to be shady plus the shipping calculator saves me from myself. 

[danny2314]

Asking for help from the community is turning out to be the best idea I have had in a minute. I was reluctant to be a burden but I knew that I was missing perspective and it was going to cost me. I have already (possibly anyway) avoided a $20 (might be $25 lol) omission for the cost of having a case opened on me.

Ha, I have fee research in front of me now, you so and so’s, on top of whatever else I learn here - but I am seriously learning some great information and strategy and that can only improve me.

Thank you so much, everyone!

[femmefan1946]

, the buyer missed the delivery so the item is en route back to me.

EBay does not require sellers to refund on Undeliverable items.

Technically you owe the buyer nothing.

Ethically, refund the selling price less ALL shipping and packaging costs, then Block the bidder.

Most postal systems will leave a Notice for a householder telling them where and when to pick up the shipment. Usually they Hold packages for five to seven days.

He didn't "miss" the delivery, he did not bother to pick it up.