I Refunded and Then Re-Invoiced when Item Showed Up

[jt-libra]

I sold an item to a U.S. buyer.  When she didn't receive her item in 15 days, I sent her a refund and asked that when it arrived, she either write "Return" on it and toss it back in the mailbox or, if she still wanted it, to let me know and I would send her an invoice.

There was no acknowledgement of the refund or any communication whatsoever.  Three weeks later, I contacted her to see if it had ever shown up and if she had returned it to me.  A week later (I believe she's a person who doesn't check her e-mail very often), she replied that, oh yes, she got it, it was just as described and she was very happy with it.

I responded that I was happy it had arrived and, since I had sent her a refund, I would send her an invoice for this item.  I looked everywhere but it seems I couldn't re-invoice her for the same item, so I sent her a personal invoice through PayPal.  I'm thinking though that I have no recourse should she not pay?  That this would be considered a transaction outside of eBay, which was not what I had intended.

Of course, I should have asked for your advice and the correct procedure before I sent the invoice.

[pjcdn2005]

I doubt that it matters how you would have reinvoiced as there is really no way to "force" a buyer to pay again once they have been refunded....it's totally up to them. I suppose that you could report the buyer if they don't pay you again and ebay might make a note of it but I doubt that it would help you to get your money back.

As far as invoicing for an ebay transaction through Paypal....there's nothing wrong with that and it does not make an ebay transaction an "off ebay" transaction.When I do that, I do put the ebay item number on the invoice although I'm not sure that is absolutely necessary.

[jt-libra]

You're right, PJ.  You can't force someone to pay.  I had written this money off anyway but was hoping there was a slim chance it was in fact lost and I might get it back.

And she may very well pay.  There was no awkwardness or deceit in her reply to me.  It sounded very much like she didn't even know she had got a refund.

Essentially, I wanted to know if this happened again, the proper way to re-invoice.

[recped]

Essentially, I wanted to know if this happened again, the proper way to re-invoice.

The "proper" way would be to not hand out a refund so quickly when it's a cross-border shipment.

[11canadianchick]

The "proper" way would be to not hand out a refund so quickly when it's a cross-border shipment.

I don't know about you but I have had little success in politely asking people to wait a few days.  People are very quick to file an INR claim and I find dealing with these to be very stressful, particularly when the seller loses most of these cases anyway.

99% of my light packet/small packet items do reach U.S. buyers within 7 to 10 business days but, for those that don't, I end up refunding -- either directly or via a claim.

. 

[jt-libra]

The "proper" way would be to not hand out a refund so quickly when it's a cross-border shipment.

I don't know about you but I have had little success in politely asking people to wait a few days.  People are very quick to file an INR claim and I find dealing with these to be very stressful, particularly when the seller loses most of these cases anyway.

99% of my light packet/small packet items do reach U.S. buyers within 7 to 10 business days but, for those that don't, I end up refunding -- either directly or via a claim.

. 

The above post was from me -- jt-libra.  I was working on my other I.D.