To Return or not Return, (accept that is) THAT, is my question

[goldguy22k]

So I sold a textbook, the day after classes started this week, Monday evening. Go figure! 😉  Buyer has a feedback score of 1 - me!

Items was by the eBay recommended "ship it fast, ship it free" style, if you want to get sales.  So it cost me for Priority Mail.  Book was delevered to PO Tuesday AM.

The listing was clear - No Returns Accepted.  

Item was delivered yesterday (Thursday) and TODAY, I get a request from the buyer asking that I accept a return!  Dude says in his request:

Hi! I ordered the same book from two people and got mixed up. I haven t opened the package yet so it s still packed the way you sent it.

Now I suspect some here might posulate that with the lovely way eBay does things, eBay showed the buyer cheaper versions of the textbook and he went and bought one of those thinking he could just return mine.  That MAY be the case, but I have no proof of that, so it is only speculation and as such I can not allow speculation to guide my thinking.

So sure, I like to be fair and a nice person when doing business, so I am considering some compromise position.  I can see several scenarios, so thought I'd toss it out there and see what the experiences have been.

Offer a Full Refund - Buyer is happy - me not so  much

• I loose the shipping fee - Priority Mail, but get a VFF refund and part of PP refund?
• It isn't coming back fast, so might take a week or more to get it back (dude is on the other side of the country from me.)
• the "window of opportunity" for textbooks is closing soon, next week likely the last shot until Winter semester. So book not back in time to be resold.

Offer a partial refund - Buyer may be happy or get pizzed off?

• Offer partial refund IF and when book arrives back at buyer's expense AND it is in good condition - i.e. it is still packaged the way I packed it.  [now side note here, I know how I packed it and have proof of such.]
• Buyer cuts his losses and realizes that something rather than nothings is a good idea, or,
• Buyer is one of these "entitled types" and I get slammed on feedback, ruining my 100% streak.

Kindly refuse the return - buyer not happy

• May get slammed on feedback.

So what are the experiences?  What is the collective wisdom here?  

Thanks in advance to anyone so kind as to share their views and experiences!  I am always so pleased with how many eBayer graciously share here!

[kensgiftshop]

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@goldguy22k

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If the listing stated no returns, you can deny the return.

If buyer is willing to pay return shipping, I'd let him return it and refund the item price only.

If you deny the return, buyer could file an INAD and you would be paying return shipping along with a full refund to the buyer.

[goldguy22k]

If the listing stated no returns, you can deny the return.

Yes, the listing stated no returns.  Can he still do negative feeddback because he's upset over not being able to game the system.

If buyer is willing to pay return shipping, I'd let him return it and refund the item price only.

Yeah, no can do.  The listing had "free shipping" so the shipping price was included in the over all price.  Just read eBay rules and they appear to be pretty specific- if the shipping was included in the over-all price, you can not deduct it, thus I loose money accepting a return.  Ebay policy -

Accept the return – The buyer will send the item back to you for a full refund – depending on your returns policy, this may or may not include the original shipping costs. If you offered free shipping because you included shipping costs in the listing price, you’ll need to refund the buyer the full amount that they paid. You can’t deduct the original shipping costs from any refund amount.

Gotta love eBay - encourage you to offer free shipping and then have a policy that means you can't recoupe those costs on a refund.

If you deny the return, buyer could file an INAD and you would be paying return shipping along with a full refund to the buyer.

How can he do that?  Or is that his game?  Don't open the package and when return is denied he files a IND claim?  How successful are those claims?  I have pics of the item and of it going in the packaging.  Or is this another opportunity for eBay to side with buyers?

[mam98031]

Yes, which is why as a seller you need to understand the policies and rules for sellers.  It is the only way to make the best choices you can for what you return policy you want to have along with other things.  Many policies connect with other policies and you need to understand this.  None of this about return policies is new.  It has been like this for a very long time.  I wish you the best.

[goldguy22k]

@mam98031

So what would you do in this instance?  How would you approach it?  Is negative feedback a certainty?

[mam98031]

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@goldguy22k wrote:

@mam98031

So what would you do in this instance?  How would you approach it?  Is negative feedback a certainty?

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There is no such thing on Ebay as a no return policy.  ALL sellers have to adhere to the Ebay Money Back Guarantee.  We are all required to meet or exceed that policy.  

First a couple of things.  YOu do not have to ship these books via Priority Mail.  You could easily use Media Mail to save money, but you need your listing to be accurate.  Ebay does make many "recommendations" about how or what we list.  But the are just that "recommendations", you can still list them without using what Ebay suggests.

If it were me, I would refund the buyer, but not until the book was back in my hands and I make sure it was not damaged.  Also if the buyer simply wrote on the package and said return to sender, if USPS charged me any extra money for the return of the item, I would update my buyer with that information and I would reduce the refund by what it cost me.  Well as long as the buyer wasn't upset by the prospect.  I say that because a couple bucks is not worth a negative FB. 

It is simply a business decision, not a personal one.  Don't let  your emotions dictate your decision.  I understand why you don't like this, but it happened and now you need to deal with it the best you can.  When you get it back, file for a cancellation so you can get your FVFs back and issue the refund from the cancellation.  Remember to pick a buyer reason for the cancellation or Ebay will give you a defect.  And this is clearly a buyer reason.

[robot-hands]

Tell him to send the other sellers book back to them.

Decline the return.

If they leave a neg you can call and get it removed...that's a pretty easy one.