eBay

mbuerschaper · ‎05-02-2024

Hey,

Relatively new seller here. A customer received an item that was damaged. I reported it to the post office and they refunded me the total value. My question is... Do I offer the buyer to return the item and refund him (less a percentage?) Who pays shipping? How do I send a shipping label to the US from Canada Post?

OR

Can I offer for the buyer to keep the item and refund say 50% ?? How sure how this works.

Thanks

ricarmic · ‎05-02-2024

I may be misunderstanding but:

You got paid originally for the item by the buyer.

You got paid for the item again by the post office (including shipping is normal) because of the damaged claim

So at this point you've been paid for the item twice in full.

I'm surprised the buyer hasn't forced a return or refund already, but if you refund the buyer a full refund, you're back to being paid once for the item..... I'm not sure why you'd want it back as you're still paid in full for it by the post office claim.

If the buyer has a use for the damaged item and they are open to a partial refund its a win for you, but if I were in this situation, I'd make sure the buyer was looked after and happy in the end, which it seems you can easily do, with perhaps a small chance you could accomplish that and make a bit more, if the damaged item is useable by them.

pjcdn2005 · ‎05-02-2024

When did the buyer receive the package? Had they already asked for a return?

It sounds as if they hadn't opened a return yet or the return wasn't acted on.

Normally when the buyer receives a damaged item they will open a return request using item damaged as a reason and at that time it is your option to offer a partial refund so that they can keep the item. If they are not interested in receiving a partial refund then you can not force them to accept one so then it is up to you to refund in full OR send them a return shipping label and refund once you get the item back. You have to decide whether you want to pay to get it back or not as sometimes the damage is too extensive for you to do anything with it, especially if return shipping is expensive.

This should all happen before you apply for insurance, the buyer should not have to wait for the insurance claim to be settled as the package is always considered the responsibility of the seller until it has been delivered to the buyer in as described condition. The buyer could have opened a return and if you hadn't refunded them within a certain amount of time they could have asked eBay to step in. At that point, you may or may not have gotten the item back, you would refund the buyer and would have a defect on your account since eBay stepped in.

It sounds like this was done a little differently so at this point the buyer should be refunded as you now have both the insurance and the original payment from the buyer. From a customer service point of view, the customer ordered an item and did not get the item in as described condition and then they had to wait for a refund so there is case for refunding them in full and letting them keep the item. Then yes, they would have benefitted from the situation but they also had to wait for things to be settled. But you wouldn't be out anything.

One thing that you don't do is ask them to send the item back and only refund them a portion of what they paid. If it is a partial refund then they keep the item. If you require a return then you could buy and pay for a return label from the US on Shippo or Pirateship. com. Then you would be out the return shipping and original shipping and you would have the damaged item. It really is up to you though I suspect everyone has different ideas of what the 'moral' thing to do would be.

mbuerschaper · ‎05-02-2024

Thanks for the replies. No, a return wasn't opened. The buyer contacted me with pictures showing the damage to the box and item. I opened a ticket with the post office, next thing I know, they paid me the value of the item. No email, no phone call, no nothing. I've never gone through this before so looking for suggestions. Of course I want to do what's best for the customer, but I also don't want to lose out on what the post office did to the item. Left here in mint, arrived completely smashed.

recped · ‎05-03-2024

@mbuerschaper wrote:
Hey,
Relatively new seller here. A customer received an item that was damaged. I reported it to the post office and they refunded me the total value. My question is... Do I offer the buyer to return the item and refund him (less a percentage?) Who pays shipping? How do I send a shipping label to the US from Canada Post?

OR

Can I offer for the buyer to keep the item and refund say 50% ?? How sure how this works.
Thanks

The buyer deserves a 100% refund, if you want them to send it back to you then you pay for that as well.

You cannot buy a label from Canada Post, you can probably buy one from Shippo but the easy way would be to open a (free) account with Pirateship.

Be aware that conventional thinking is that shipping from the US to Canada is cheap, was true 25 years ago but not these days especially with the dismal exchange rate. Unless the value is high (makes no sense to pay to get it back if it's not) the cost is often prohibitive and unless the customs information is 100% clear you may end up paying GST/HST on the return (not a problem if you can use that cost as an ITC if you are registered to collect GST/HST).

As @ricarmic stated, if you got paid off by Canada post the right thing to do is fully refund the buyer and let them keep the item.

To ensure you get a refund of eBay fees you paid the buyer must open a return request where you can just refund without requiring a return.

"double dipping" by gretting paid by insurance and then only offering a partial refund is a sleazy move in my opinion.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
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