eBay

jackbull999 · ‎12-05-2023

A buyer who purchased something 4 months ago (the item isn't even archived on My Ebay, it's been so long) is telling me they haven't received it. They can no longer give Feedback to me, or use the eBay guarantee program, so I am at a loss in what to do for them. I don't offer refunds, so I am under no obligation to do so. The item cost about 30$ plus $10 shipping. It was a manual sent through regular mail, hence no tracking.
Any ideas what I should do with this?

ilikehockeyjerseys · ‎12-05-2023

You're not obligated to do anything by eBay. Their buyer protection expired a long time ago. If you feel the buyer is entitled to a refund, you can issue them one. If you feel they are not entitled to a refund, you are not obligated to issue them one.

If you choose not to refund, the buyer may still be able to open an INR case with customer service. You would not be obligated to refund. If they do open a case, you would need to contact customer service to have them close the case manually for you. You wouldn't want to leave it open without a response.

If you choose to refund:

-You would have to exchange contact info with the buyer and issue the refund via Paypal or eTransfer.

-You would not get your fees back from eBay.

-eBay does allow buyers and sellers to exchange info when needed so long as an item has been paid for.

-Given that the transaction was so long ago, if you choose to exchange info for a refund, I would contact eBay first with the item number. eBay claims to scan messages to see if people take transactions off site. I have no idea if they actually do that, but you wouldn't want them to mistake this as you and the buyer attempting to circumvent eBay fees by going off site for a new transaction.

rocketscollectibles · ‎12-06-2023

You do what you want. You seems to know everything you need to know already. I would not allow a refund personally, i follow ebay rules and policies on that. Buyer has 30 days. Other than that i must say charging $10 shipping to ship lettermail is a dishonest charge. Expedited lite cost less than that.

msau4301 · ‎12-06-2023

I had this happen several years back at about the 4 month mark also and the buyer saying he had been out of the country for a while. I had responded to the buyer saying I wish he had reached out to me sooner since I could no longer access the sale on eBay since too much time past. I hadn't said in the message I would or wouldn't I wanted to point out the time frame. However I never heard from them again one way or another so I didn't pursue it any further.

The fact that he mentioned he had been out of the country made it seem to me someone could have easily intercepted or lost it while he was away which wouldn't have been my fault.

brettjet38 · ‎12-06-2023

You do nothing...

Is the Buyer new or repeat, what kind of FB have they left for others, or what FB have they received from Sellers? Even though it is not allowed many a Seller will leave a hidden false + FB amongst the grass as a warning to other Sellers. Look for follow-up FB left after the fact about a transaction as you can add that anytime, even months later.

Also, you will need to use the desktop version to see all FB as the app "whitewashers" what you can see and how you see it...(eBays way of pushing FB to the back as it were...)

If the Buyer was out of the country (they could have redirected their mail)

If the Buyer didn't contact you until now, why? (there is no valid reason)

Where is the Buyer, Canada, the USA, or elsewhere?

When I make a purchase I will always follow up if it has not arrived by the latest delivery date, to inform the Seller it has not arrived. I give the longest time to arrive possible. Still, I always contact the Seller just so they are aware the item has not been delivered by the latest date.

byto253 · ‎12-06-2023

For me 4 months is way to long. The person may have gotten it but forgot or misplaced it, or are mixing your order up with another one. Some folks go on buying binges and lose track of what is coming and going. 4 months is not a reasonable time frame to claim the item is not received. I would follow eBay policy on this one.

flipistics · ‎12-06-2023

I think my response would be that eBay handles all payments, so the process needs to go through them. I'd tell them to contact eBay and see if they can get a case manually opened. If not, they can file a credit card chargeback if that's available to them.

I WOULD NOT try to do it with Paypal or anything else. You're still within the window for a chargeback. You could end up refunding them through an offsite platform only to have them open a chargeback and you'd be out twice the amount (or at least would have one massive headache trying to prove they were refunded).

Additionally, if the refund is done through official means, you *may* get your selling fees refunded.

The other (more general) reason to make sure a case is opened has to do with the AI. I refunded a lettermail case earlier this year (they never told me they were returning the item, it just arrived back with a handwritten letter asking for a different size item which I didn't have). The AI slapped me with an out of stock defect, apparently after scanning the message I sent back to them with the refund. 🙄

reallynicestamps · ‎12-06-2023

The eBay deadline for Claims is 30 days from delivery.

The Paypal deadline for Claims however is 180 days from Payment.

Most credit cards have a 180 day deadline for chargebacks, but some have shorter deadlines and I believe AmEx has a full year, which is another reason many merchants will not accept AmEx.

So don't relax yet.

If you can find your Proof of Delivery, print it out or make a pdf of it to supply to the new claim.

brettjet38 · ‎12-06-2023

"The person may have gotten it but forgot or misplaced it, or are mixing your order up with another one."

Yes, thats a good point also.

You get that with small crafty items when a Buyer buys similier things from differents Sellers not even realizing they purchased from multiple Sellers, more common than we think that one...

reallynicestamps · ‎12-06-2023

. I don't offer refunds, so I am under no obligation to do so.

You offer refunds, we all do.

Youhave a No Returns policy which is allowed, but No Returns is not No Refunds.

And without tracking, well you're okay if he goes no further than eBay, which is likely for such a small sum, but if he goes to his payment processor, you will be refunding.