EBAY-- Can I refund a Paypal payment?

[dreamscometrue]

Hi there~
Just recently tried to sell some things on E-bay. I used to sell all the time and then things were slow...
Anyway, I had someone win an auction-- then asked if I could ship cheaper - it was Priority Mail which I prefer and also what the shipping would be if they won a second auction. I gave the combined shipping price. They won the auction , I sent the combined invoice. They paid through paypal but noted the shipping charges were excessive and would be noted in my feedback--- it was $7.75 and the rate for 1-2 lbs Priority Mail is $7.50 so I added .25 . I emailed and said that if you bid on an auction you are accepting the terms including the shipping which was clearly stated. Anyway .. is there a way I can I just refund the Paypal payment and cancel the transaction?? I worry that this buyer will not be happy since she is already going after my feedback.

How do I just send back the Paypal payment?? I know I will be out my fees but better that than additional headaches later.

TIA

 

[a1tinkfans]

if you did not respond and agreed to ship cheaper, I would not do so now.
You can refund them but honestly I think it is the wrong thing to do as they will likely say you pulled out of the transaction unfairly (and they'd be right)
If the auction clearly stated your shipping price AND they agreed to it, so be it. Let them leave the negative BUT I would definitely respond (and you can) and say they agreed to reasonable ship rate and are inexperienced and unfair. You can also contact ebay about it and it MAY get removed.
IF you agreed to reduce the charge for them, you have to abide by that though.
Meanwhile, any communications should be through My ebay as that is documented and ebay can review it, don't go thru email outside of ebay. You may want to email the winner before it goes further, and say, congratulations you won the auction and as it states in your auction terms clearly listed you would like to complete the transaction as to the agreed to terms. I would also state that you look forward to completing the transaction in a timely and professional manner with them and then go ahead and complete it. It MAY stop that person from thinking they can get away with intimidating you to bend to their ways (reducing ship they already agreed too) .
IMHO, Its an auction, s/he bid, s/he abides by terms. Good luck! As a former seller I avoid Ebay like the plague ...too many really bad people bidding and too many issues and fees...wonder if it has to do with a down economy???Consider craigslist, its free and simple.

 

[dreamscometrue]

I did not offer to reduce the shipping. I quoted a price for both auctions and that is the price that I invoiced. The Buyer paid promptly but on the Paypal payment where is said Note to Seller: they made the comment about the shipping being excessive. I am just afraid that they are a difficult buyer if they are going to complain about something that they knew about and bid anyway. I have 100% feed back and have almost 300 transactions. I can see where people make selling on E-bay more of a hassle than it is worth.

 

[erin.w]

Make sure to INSURE the item, it sounds like it may be worth it in the end?

 

[dreamscometrue]

Thanks!! I was thinking the same thing.... insurance and delivery confirmation which will wind up costing me more than the shipping that I charged. : ( I always describe everything in my auctions, but expect this PITA Buyer to find a flaw. This could be the end of my SPRING CLEANING ON EBAY!! : ) Oh well..............

 

[msmayor]

You should always, ALWAYS build the cost of insurance into your shipping price. It protects the seller, not the buyer.

A seller cannot fall back on "Well the buyer didn't want insurance" as a reason the buyer should be out the money if something goes wrong.

 

[mannasn]

Well, not getting into whether you should refund or not - but it is actually quite easy to refund a payment in paypal. Just go into paypal, find where the money was sent to you and there's an option to 'issue a refund'
I'm new to selling on ebay too - cleaning out my closets - and I had to refund something just today!