eBay

sweetjpg · ‎02-05-2014

Hi. This buyer purchased an item on December and a week later the tracking showed "Delivered".

Yesterday, the package came back to me with a sticker saying "unclaimed".

I contacted her on ebay but she hasn't replied yet.

It is just weird that she left it for 2 month. Should I open a case ?

Will I get a final value or

should I take out the fees ebay and paypal charged me and refund the rest to the buyer?

Help!

meld55003 · ‎02-05-2014

My understanding is that you will have had to pay return postage, if you used Canada Post, or at least that is how it has worked with me.

As the item was presumably already Paid for, all you are out at the moment is that return Postage, so I would just wait, after sending a message asking if they still want the item. If they do, then you need to have them pay for shipping and any return postage.

There could be a valid reason it is/was unclaimed, so I would just try to contact them for the time being.

recped · ‎02-05-2014

You should send the buyer a message letting them know the package was returned, ask them if they want it resent or a refund. No more details required at that point.

If/when they reply, if they want a reship then let them know how much the postage will be and send them a PayPal invoice. If they want a refund I would refund the original item price but not the shipping. If you never get an answer just set the package aside and do nothing.

I would not try to get my fvf's refunded nor would I try to recover them from the buyer. eBay might give you a courtesy refund on the fees but that's more likely if you give the buyer a 100% refund, unless the FVF's are a lot of money I just wouldn't bother going there.

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

sweetjpg · ‎02-10-2014

Thank you for your advice. I tried to contact the buyer but the person hasn't replied yet.

rose-dee · ‎02-11-2014

@sweetjpg wrote:
Should I open a case ?

TThere isn't anything that you as seller could open a case for, at least not where the buyer is concerned. The buyer has fulfilled all his/her obligations if the item was paid for.

rose-dee · ‎02-11-2014

Well, for some reason the whole rest of my post got deleted before it was posted. Here it is again (as best I can recall):

I would take 'recped's' advice, except that I'm not sure I'd put the parcel aside for more than another 2 or 3 weeks if you get no reply from the buyer. If you are beyond 60 days from the purchase, then the buyer will have no further recourse against you through eBay anyway.

I think at that point (which would be almost 2-1/2 months from the purchase), you can either decide to give the buyer an unsolicited refund of the purchase price (directly through Paypal) if you feel that is the only right thing to do (I probably would), or keep the money, let the item sit for a while longer, then re-list it.

It is possible the buyer moved away, left no forwarding address, and forgot about his/her parcel coming, or the buyer may even have died. Strange things can happen. By the way, if the buyer is no longer registered on Paypal and you try to refund, you'll probably get a message notifying you the refund couldn't be made.

You could try checking the buyer's ID to see if there has been any recent bidding, buying or selling activity. This would tell you whether the buyer is still getting your eBay messages. If the ID itself is no longer registered, you can probably assume you won't hear from him/her again.

One other thing you can do, if you're still keen on trying to get in touch with the buyer, is to request a telephone number for the buyer from eBay -- even if no telephone# for the buyer is shown on your transaction record. After many years on eBay, I just recently found out this was possible (thanks to Pierre for mentioning it). Here's what you do:

- Click the "Advanced" link at the top of most eBay pages

- In the "Members" section at the left side of the page, click the "Find contact information" link

- Enter the user ID of the member and the transaction's item number

This will only be permitted if your transaction is current or recent. Since you're already past 60 days, eBay may not consider this a "recent" transaction. Still, it's worth a try.

I agree that this is a rather bizarre situation -- let us know how things turn out, and best of luck!

rose-dee · ‎02-11-2014

After posting the above, the possibility just occurred to me that the parcel may have been incorrectly addressed, and thus there would be no one to claim it when it arrived.

Where was the parcel going (what country?), and did you double-check the buyer's address on both Paypal and eBay against the address you put on the parcel?

Still, this doesn't explain the buyer's silence. Most buyers would speak up after about 3 weeks, especially if they knew the item was coming via a tracked service.

femmefan1946 · ‎02-11-2014

We've had two deaths in my division this month.

Another reason why the buyer may not be responding.

Oh, I'm just a bundle of daffodils and puppies today.

rose-dee · ‎02-12-2014

Yes, I didn't want to say it at the very start of my reply, but that was actually my first thought as well -- see my Post #6 above.

People do pass away, and it's the one thing that would explain the total lack of response from the buyer, assuming everything else was done in the normal course and the address was correct. Very sad to imagine actually.

pocomocomputing · ‎02-12-2014

While the buyer may have passed away, a far greater number of people (any age) seriously hurt in an accident or having a critical illness can make them unavailable for weeks at a time. Family members (if they exist) may not know what the buyer has purchased online or have time to look into a package waiting at a post office. Sad but true.

rose-dee · ‎02-12-2014

@pocomocomputing wrote:
While the buyer may have passed away, a far greater number of people (any age) seriously hurt in an accident or having a critical illness can make them unavailable for weeks at a time. Family members (if they exist) may not know what the buyer has purchased online or have time to look into a package waiting at a post office. Sad but true.

Good point, and another possible explanation.