Ebay refund question

[richmond282]

I sold an item on ebay on Dec 7th. It was an international sale. The buyer contacted me 2 days ago stating that the package hasn't arrived and she wants a refund. I can't issue a refund on ebay since it has been longer than 45 days. It doesn't appear that I can issue a refund through paypal. I did respond to her with this information, but she still insists on a refund. What should I do?

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

I sold an item on ebay on Dec 7th. It was an international sale. The buyer contacted me 2 days ago stating that the package hasn't arrived and she wants a refund. I can't issue a refund on ebay since it has been longer than 45 days. It doesn't appear that I can issue a refund through paypal. I did respond to her with this information, but she still insists on a refund. What should I do?

WHY didn't you ship with delivery confirmation? You made a huge mistake not doing so. I don't understand why you can't simply refund her using your PayPal account. All you have to do is send her a payment.

 

[richmond282]

I did use delivery confirmation. It is tricky with international shipping though. I show that it made it through customs and then disappears. When I click on the paypal transaction it does not give me the option to issue a refund. It only shows the tracking information.

 

[momsully]

Have you tracked with the customs number? That will usually do a better job. It is possible it is held up in customs.

 

[tikistitch]

You should be able to refund on Paypal even 45 days out, all you need to do is send her a payment of the amount she paid. I've had a few international sellers give me refunds in this way.

 

[richmond282]

You should be able to refund on Paypal even 45 days out, all you need to do is send her a payment of the amount she paid. I've had a few international sellers give me refunds in this way.

Do you know how to do it? The paypal transaction does not have the option to refund. I tried. If I just send her a payment separately, won't it charge her a fee?

 

[seashoreCM]

It is better not to issue a stand alone refund until after Paypal tells you to. You don't want paypal to issue a duplicate refund in your behalf because things crossed in the mail, and that would be a headache to resolve.

When Paypal tells you to make the refund, you ask them how, or tell them to do it for you, linking the refund transaction with the original transaction, or reversing the original transaction. It is okay to make this order (request) in English via email as opposed to via typing and mouse clicks in appropriate web pages.

Don't forget that you should wait for eBay's dispute resolution process, here, started by the buyer, to be finished before doing a refund.

Making a stand alone refund exposes you to additional frauds including the Nigerian Scam (q.v. via Google).

 

[richmond282]

It is better not to issue a stand alone refund until after Paypal tells you to. You don't want paypal to issue a duplicate refund in your behalf because things crossed in the mail, and that would be a headache to resolve.

When Paypal tells you to make the refund, you ask them how, or tell them to do it for you, linking the refund transaction with the original transaction, or reversing the original transaction. It is okay to make this order (request) in English via email as opposed to via typing and mouse clicks in appropriate web pages.

Don't forget that you should wait for eBay's dispute resolution process, here, started by the buyer, to be finished before doing a refund.

Making a stand alone refund exposes you to additional frauds including the Nigerian Scam (q.v. via Google).

Thanks for the advice!

I figured out that I can't refund through paypal without using the "send money" tab b/c it has been over 60 days. The buyer has not contacted ebay or paypal as far as I know. They are contacting me through ebay. Should I contact ebay or paypal I guess? I have issued refunds before, but never after the cut off date. I'm trying to do the right thing, but I'm not sure what that is in this case.

 

[Gorechick]

Thanks for the advice!

I figured out that I can't refund through paypal without using the "send money" tab b/c it has been over 60 days. The buyer has not contacted ebay or paypal as far as I know. They are contacting me through ebay. Should I contact ebay or paypal I guess? I have issued refunds before, but never after the cut off date. I'm trying to do the right thing, but I'm not sure what that is in this case.

Go through PayPal.

 

[Jedimike]

I know you're asking "how to refund an issue" but let me be the first to say that I don't think you should issue a refund...if you, in good faith, shipped the package and have the shipping information to prove that you shipped it (i.e., a customs declaration form w/ the addressee clearly labelled), then you should not be asked to refund a payment based on a postal error. Ebay rules clearly state that you are not at fault if you shipped the item.

 

[ellone]

I know you're asking "how to refund an issue" but let me be the first to say that I don't think you should issue a refund...if you, in good faith, shipped the package and have the shipping information to prove that you shipped it (i.e., a customs declaration form w/ the addressee clearly labelled), then you should not be asked to refund a payment based on a postal error. Ebay rules clearly state that you are not at fault if you shipped the item.

No, as a seller on ebay you are responsible on getting the item to the buyer. Now some international buyers can take advantage of the fact that an item will never scan as delivered and open up ebay not received cases.

In this case, it sounds like the buyer missed the 45 day mark for opening up a case and contacted the seller. The seller doesn't have to do anything. But the buyer can still leave negative feedback (I think). Now if they funded with a credit card and do a chargeback, that's a whole different problem.

 

[Kies99]

OP...You did everything correct so it is now the buyer's issue. Waiting this long to contact you means it's a scam (I've had this happen multiple times). They are past the 45 day mark with Ebay/Paypal so they can't open a case with them. They are past the 60 day mark so they cannot leave negative feedback.

You're best bet is to re-supply them with all the tracking/shipping information and say "sorry, looks like you need to contact your local Customs office".

I'd then immediately add their ID to your blocked bidders list. I'd also stop selling internationally.

I have a large-ish blocked bidders list as well as I no longer sell internationally. Also, just as an fyi...I have an Ebay score of 1123 (100% positive).

 

[mollymar]

I am an ebay seller with almost 4000 100% positive feedback. I love my International customers! I always insure with Shipsaver in ebay for $1.00. So worth it. I have only had to file a claim once and it was easy.

I do agree with PP's. The deadline has passed for filing a claim. Resend the tracking info and block.

If you do decide to refund you can send as payment to family/friends so you won't be charged a fee.

Good luck!

 

[jls886]

Not to hijack this thread, but I wanted to point out a relatively new eBay program for the sellers that have commented on this thread.

If you are eligible, you can opt in to eBay's Global Shipping Program. I have been using it for the past month or so and so far have been really happy with it. From my end, the buyer pays me whatever I have specified for my domestic shipping costs. The buyer then also pays eBay the international shipping costs and customs fees. So far this has been just slightly more expensive for the buyer than had I shipped the item overseas myself (but they don't know that as they don't see what my price would be). Then I ship the item to a US international shipping location and they handle everything from there. They send the item overseas and they are responsible if anything is lost or stolen. And the tracking has been much better than when I was sending things myself through USPS. The program is only available for certain countries (maybe 20 or so?) but I know they're planning to expand to more. I have it to where I now offer than program to the countries eligible and that is now all the international shipping I offer.

Just wanted to give you all a heads-up in case you weren't aware. And I know my first thought is that a 'helpful' eBay program for sellers usually isn't helpful but so far this seems to be a pretty nice thing. It really takes all of the bad things of international shipping off of the seller's shoulders.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html#eligibility

 

[richmond282]

Not to hijack this thread, but I wanted to point out a relatively new eBay program for the sellers that have commented on this thread.

If you are eligible, you can opt in to eBay's Global Shipping Program. I have been using it for the past month or so and so far have been really happy with it. From my end, the buyer pays me whatever I have specified for my domestic shipping costs. The buyer then also pays eBay the international shipping costs and customs fees. So far this has been just slightly more expensive than had I shipped the item overseas myself. Then I ship the item to a US international shipping location and they handle everything from there. They send the item overseas and they are responsible if anything is lost or stolen. And the tracking has been much better than when I was sending things myself through USPS. The program is only available for certain countries (maybe 20 or so?) but I know they're planning to expand to more. I have it to where I now offer than program to the countries eligible and that is now all the international shipping I offer.

Just wanted to give you all a heads-up in case you weren't aware. And I know my first thought is that a 'helpful' eBay program for sellers usually isn't helpful but so far this seems to be a pretty nice thing. It really takes all of the bad things of international shipping off of the seller's shoulders.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html#eligibility

I'm going to check into this! Thank you! Can anybody direct me to where you put in a blocked buyer? I've done it before, but I can't find it now

You guys have been a big help. Thank you!

 

[jls886]

I'm going to check into this! Thank you! Can anybody direct me to where you put in a blocked buyer? I've done it before, but I can't find it now

You guys have been a big help. Thank you!

Honestly, I can't ever find that list myself without help. I just click 'customer support' (up by 'buy' and 'sell') and then in the search I type in "block a buyer" and it brings up the answer with a link to my blocked buyers list. I'm sure there is a more direct way, I just can't ever figure it out when I need it.

 

[Tarheel Mom]

I'm going to check into this! Thank you! Can anybody direct me to where you put in a blocked buyer? I've done it before, but I can't find it now

You guys have been a big help. Thank you!

From your "My Ebay" page, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Site Map". Then look in the middle (Seller) column and click on "Block Bidders/Buyers List". Then click "Add an Ebay User to My Blocked Bidders/Buyers List" and Submit. It's really less complicated than it sounds. Good luck!

 

[richmond282]

From your "My Ebay" page, scroll down to the bottom and click on "Site Map". Then look in the middle (Seller) column and click on "Block Bidders/Buyers List". Then click "Add an Ebay User to My Blocked Bidders/Buyers List" and Submit. It's really less complicated than it sounds. Good luck!

Thanks! I found it. You guys have been so helpful.

 

[Yoshi]

Not to hijack this thread, but I wanted to point out a relatively new eBay program for the sellers that have commented on this thread.

If you are eligible, you can opt in to eBay's Global Shipping Program. I have been using it for the past month or so and so far have been really happy with it. From my end, the buyer pays me whatever I have specified for my domestic shipping costs. The buyer then also pays eBay the international shipping costs and customs fees. So far this has been just slightly more expensive for the buyer than had I shipped the item overseas myself (but they don't know that as they don't see what my price would be). Then I ship the item to a US international shipping location and they handle everything from there. They send the item overseas and they are responsible if anything is lost or stolen. And the tracking has been much better than when I was sending things myself through USPS. The program is only available for certain countries (maybe 20 or so?) but I know they're planning to expand to more. I have it to where I now offer than program to the countries eligible and that is now all the international shipping I offer.

Just wanted to give you all a heads-up in case you weren't aware. And I know my first thought is that a 'helpful' eBay program for sellers usually isn't helpful but so far this seems to be a pretty nice thing. It really takes all of the bad things of international shipping off of the seller's shoulders.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/shipping-globally.html#eligibility

Thanks for the information, this sounds very interesting to me. I don't ship out of the US because I didn't like the idea of no seller protection since the cheaper international shipping options didn't use tracking and I didn't like having to deal with the customs forms (and then having to wait in line at the post office) but I am going to look into this because I want to try to increase my sales and this looks like it will make things much easier and less problematic.