You should refund the order before the deadline in the INR case.
If you do not do this, the buyer will be able to ask eBay to step in. eBay will automatically refund them. You will receive a defect from eBay, this can hurt your standing as a seller.
The same result happens, which is the buyer receives the refund. The difference is, if you do it yourself, you don't get the defect.
From there, you can communicate with the buyer. Tell them to let you know when the item arrives, so that you can arrange for them to re-pay you for the item. The easiest way to do this is to exchange Paypal information. This is not against eBay policy, as you have already engaged in a transaction with the buyer. Alternatively, you can create a generic listing called "Private listing for _____" that is for the exact same amount. If you send them the link, they can pay you back through purchasing the generic private listing.
An important thing to do is to click on the buyer's profile. Click on both 'feedback received as a buyer' and 'feedback left for others'. Buyers cannot receive negative feedback, but they can receive positive feedback with negative comments. Feedback buyers leave for sellers can also tip you off about the buyer. If you see lots of buyer feedback stating they said the item didn't come, or lots of feedback left for sellers with comments that dictate there was an issue, it might be a problem buyer. If you see a lot of feedback like this, it might be worth calling eBay and asking them to walk you through reporting the buyer. eBay does take action from time to time on buyers who open a high amount of INR cases, but sellers have to report them. You shouldn't just report every buyer who opens an INR, but if a buyer has a very high percentage of feedback stating they opened an INR, it is worth looking into. It is very unlikely that this will result in anything happening with the case, but it is still worth doing.
Which shipping option do you have in the listing? This is important to know because all the shipping options have different shipping windows. A lot of INRs are caused by people using the lettermail shipping option which states an item will arrive in 8 or so business days. Lettermail sometimes takes 2-3 weeks to arrive. If the buyer was able to open a case within a week or two of the purchase, there is a higher chance that the item genuinely hasn't arrived yet. That doesn't mean it is lost, lettermail almost never gets lost. Only that they looked at the shipping window, thought their item should be there by now, and that is what triggered the case.
The most important thing is to understand there isn't really anything you can do other than provide good customer service, and hope the claim is genuine. That way, your account stays defect free, and when the item does eventually arrive the person is likely to pay you back. Yes, there are people who use INRs to scam sellers, but because you don't have any legitimate recourse there is no benefit to assuming someone is a scammer in this situation. It isn't like an item not described return or something else, where you can protect yourself by being vigilant.
In short:
-Refund by deadline.
-Politely ask buyer to contact you when the item arrives to re-pay.
-Exchange Paypal info or create a private listing for them to repay you.
BMerTmWU1!~~_7.JPG "lotzofuniquegoodies"){kind=avatar}
