Sold item was unclaimed and returned to me

[vanbubbles44]

An item that I sold in July 2017 came back to me yesterday (January 17th, 2018) with a sticker that said "Unclaimed - Return to Sender". The address is correct because I purchased the label through ebay and the address was listed as "Confirmed".

What is the protocol now? Do I message the buyer or wait for her to contact me? It's been almost half a year since the item was sold so I can't see the record on ebay.

[sam9876]

Don't do anything.

[flyerfandan999]

Wait for day 181 to pass (to get past PayPal's 180-day refund policy), then relist.

[ed8108]

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@vanbubbles44 wrote:

An item that I sold in July 2017 came back to me yesterday (January 17th, 2018) with a sticker that said "Unclaimed - Return to Sender". The address is correct because I purchased the label through ebay and the address was listed as "Confirmed".

What is the protocol now? Do I message the buyer or wait for her to contact me? It's been almost half a year since the item was sold so I can't see the record on ebay.

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MESSAGE THE BUYER, IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

[thallidguy]

Put it behind you and relist it if you want. If the buyer refused to pick up the package, that's on her, not you.

From the amount of time that it took for the package to get back to you, I'm guessing that this was an international sale. I'll bet the buyer refused to pay import duty. Again, that's on her, not you. It's the buyer's responsbility to know and pay her obligations regarding import duty and taxes.

[vanbubbles44]

Actually the buyer was not international..so I'm not sure why it took so long for the item to be returned. 

[thallidguy]

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@vanbubbles44 wrote:

Actually the buyer was not international..so I'm not sure why it took so long for the item to be returned. 

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Wow, must have gone the scenic route. Usually it's two or three weeks, two months at the very outside.

[duggmills]

Take a picture of the returned label.

Refund buyer.

Relist.

[green-night · Accepted solution]

OP there is absolutely no way I would refund this buyer if I wasn't required to.

The buyer hasn't asked to be refunded, so don't. 

[vanbubbles44]

 Thank you for everyone's help!