Shipped to paypal buyer address, return to sender, what now?

[berubegirl]

Hello, I am a somewhat recent addition to e-bay's selling community and can not seem to find the answers to this problem I am having with this recent transaction.

I sold a $20 item on April 7thand shipped item to the buyer's Paypal address on April 7th. This parcel has a tracking number which shows attempted delivery to buyer at three different occasions and then parcel was actually held a few extra days in case buyer came for pick up.

Buyer never actually picked up parcel and package is now sitting at my Post Office depot waiting for me to pick it up. Problem is that to pick up item I will have to pay return shipping fee of nearly $20 since parcel has travelled nearly from one end of country to the other.(east coast-west coast)

Also as a policy we always refund our buyers if we overcharged on shipping by more than $2. Which was the case with this transaction were we refunded buyer on April 8th for around $5. So already one partial refund processed for this transaction.

We have had no communication from buyer whatsoever even after we sent message advising of the shipping refund we processed thru Paypal on April 8th. We sent message again today when we received notice of return.

So what are my options now?....what happens if buyer request a full refund?...who wins buyer or seller? Is this where seller protection actually kicks in?

I really don't even want to claim parcel back since it will cost me nearly same price as item is worth. Just trying to figure out what my best way to proceed is while making sure I abide by e-Bay's rules and policies.

Thank you for any input and possible links to actual e-bay policy/rules page.

[femmefan1946]

Start by reporting the buyer for incorrect contact information.

You've already made the decision that reclaiming the item would be more expensive than abandoning it.

You and Canada Post have made several attempts to deliver.

I would suggest a partial refund of the selling price only. Put a note about incorrect address in the text box when you refund.

[berubegirl]

Well that's actually the problem...this is the correct address for this buyer, registered with Canada Post. The buyer like ourselves, is also located in a rural area of Canada and this requires registration with Canada Post to receive mail.

Canada Post postmaster for my area is telling me that they are charging return fees because this is the registered address for the recipient and failure to pick up parcel by said recipient.

On a different note, I see that you are an experienced seller here on e-bay and respect your opinion regarding ithe refund you suggest, but I would greatly appreciate if you could explain why you feel I should refund buyer even after I did everything in my power to make this transaction succesfull.

Thank you and I appreciate your input with this issue.