No Exchange Option (wrong item mistakenly sent) only Return?

[caesarleigh]

I won an auction on a vintage item of clothing, EXACTLY what I was looking for, good deal, AWESOME!

I am in Canada, seller is USA so Ebay international shipping. Worked for me so far.

Seller (100% feed back) mistakenly boxed up a very similar but not MY item.

I receive it, let the seller know it's not mine. Seller is awesome, agrees & tries to send me a return label so they can exchange it.

Ebay gives them zero help after hours on the phone & says tell the buyer to return it. Fine.

International return is handled basically as a reverse of international shipping program, yay, hurry up & wait!

I assUMED once ebay verified my return at their return center they would authorize seller to ship correct one.

I did this (The item shipped this morning) but now the seller says the only option is to relist the item.

Ebay EXPECTS me to risk getting out bid or pay more for an item that's already mine fair & square for an honest mistake by the seller?

What are my &/or the sellers best option(s) at this point, going forward?

[marnotom!]

One of the strengths and weaknesses of the eBay International Shipping scheme is that returns are handled through eIS, not the seller.  Your seller ought to have known this when they confirmed their opt-into this program.

Your seller will not see the item you received shipped back to them.  eIS will handle it and likely try to liquidate it to cover some of their costs involved in the return.  On the other hand, it's likely that the seller also won't have to cover the return with the money they received from you; eIS will do that.

Your seller is correct in that their only option at this point is to relist the item.  I'm puzzled as to why you haven't received a refund through eIS, though.  Did you go through the Money Back Guarantee process or did you just make a return request?

[caesarleigh]

I just did a regular return. I pushed the return button in "my ebay" under the more actions button.

I was told by ebay email I receive my refund 5-7 days after they open the box in Illinois & verify I sent what I said. If the tracking is correct I should see my money June 19!

So the seller paid USPS shipping for the item to Illinois, gets to pay ebay a commision on a sale they will receive no money for & not get back the item either? How does that work?

Man I LOVE this place!

How do I give zero stars feedback to Ebay?

[marnotom!]

Usually, the seller probably won’t be out any money for a return that’s handled through eIS, @caesarleigh, although I’m not sure if that’s the case when the item is returned due to seller error. Did the seller tell you that they had to forego their payment for this sale?

[caesarleigh]

@marnotom! , no mention from the seller about losing their payment, I assUMEd if I get my money back, the seller doesn't get paid but should get their item back, maybe minus a service fee for the company running the returns.

This whole setup makes my head hurt.

All I wanted was my item or failing that an exchange to get the correct item. Simple, or should be.

The only consistent, even thing out of this whole mess is Ebay seems to be inconveniencing both Buyer & Seller, instead of just automatically punishing the Seller. Well done Ebay!

Negative five stars feedback, Ebay.

@marnotom! , Thank you for your help!

[msau4301]

"I assUMED once ebay verified my return at their return center they would authorize seller to ship correct one.

I did this (The item shipped this morning) but now the seller says the only option is to relist the item.

Ebay EXPECTS me to risk getting out bid or pay more for an item that's already mine fair & square for an honest mistake by the seller?"

I would think the best way for the seller to re-list the item for you (after you have received refund though if it's not until June 19th, so you don't pay twice) would be for them to list it with Buy it Now at the exact price you paid originally for it (not auction even if that's how it was originally done). Just make sure they give you a heads up when they are listing it so someone else doesn't grab it. They could also head listing as "Special Listing for caesarleigh".

[marnotom!]

The more I think about this, @caesarleigh, the more I'm inclined to believe that the seller will keep what you paid them for the sweater and having it shipped to the eBay International Shipping hub.

Since eIS can't return the sweater to the seller to resell, it only makes sense that the seller would get to keep what they received for the sweater in lieu of having it returned for resale.

Something very important to keep in mind is that for a sale where direct international shipping was used, it's extremely unlikely that a US seller would be able to purchase a Canadian return shipping label, and then you two would have a different set of hoops to jump.

[femmefan1946]

Sounds like you can either get your money back but no sweater, or trust the seller and settle the problem outside of eBay.

If there were no eIS involved the seller would be sending you a shipping label*, you would return the sweater and they would refund. Claim settled.

With eIS the seller would never see the sweater again.

So if you trust the seller, accept the return shipping label**, mark the package "Returned Merchandise" and drop it off at the PO.

When the seller gets it back, they send you the right sweater.

EBay is not involved.

But this does call for trust.

And any current eBay/eIS claim is likely to run out past deadline.

You are protected by Paypal if you used them for 180 days from payment and by your credit card as a chargeback for 120 to 180 days.


*they do understand that this would be a Canada Post shipping label? Many eIS sellers are clueless about details like "Canada is a sovereign country"

**Canada Post labels can be purchased through Shippo (and I , think Pirateship)

[caesarleigh]

Thank you all for the replys:

@msau4301 : Your suggestion is exactly how I imagined. I will cut & paste your reply to send to my seller.

@marnotom! : I am hoping you are right. I get my money back & the seller retains the sale proceeds at least we are both still whole. I stiil say eiS could/should function both ways. Extra gov't paperwork for the return/exchange but the courier companies will make out like bandits.

@femmefan1946 : I had already dropped off my return to DHL when the seller offered to pay the return postage as they couldn't get a return label through ebay to make the exchange. Had I known the item wouldn't be returned to the seller I would have done that, but then, as you say, all risk is on me. This way at least we both get "something", just not satisfaction.

In 16 years I have made over 250 purchases on ebay & this is the first return I have ever done. Luckily,I have always received what I ordered even from as far away as the far east. My "luck" ran out.

The best thing about the eiS is it allows all those USA sellers in the past that said "USA shipping only" to continue w/their policy while enabiling a much wider buying public. I also don't understand why international shipping is so hard to grasp for many but welcome to modernity.

Buyers have also been known to be problematic when their item goes through customs & they refuse to pay the extra because they didn't "know" that would happen. At least w/eiS the buyer knows at checkout this is the price & it comes direct to their door.

Until now, I was perfectly happy w/eiS, but the lack of an exchange function is, to me, truly baffling.

[mrdutch1001]

"the lack of an exchange function is, to me, truly baffling."

The structure of the EIS program accommodates returns but exchanges is a whole different aspect...the EIS program can accept returns but cannot exchange an item when it does not have that replacement item - that replacement item has to be originated from the seller just the same as that initial item. Obviously not so easy to incorporate that into the EIS program.

[brettjet38]

Another reason not to use Sellers using EIS...

Get your full refund, the Seller will not get back the item, they shipped the wrong item, and exchanging it using the EIS will be nearly impossible.

It's a convoluted service with a merry-go-round of never-ending issues, good luck to you and the Seller.

I rarely shop from the USA using eBay anymore, it is not worth the inflated shipping costs of EIS and delivery delays.

[marnotom!]

@brettjet38, exchanging an item through eIS may be “nearly impossible” but it’s also “nearly impossible” for most US sellers to do it for direct international shipments using the recommended process of issuing a return shipping label.

(It's also pretty darned expensive for the seller to get their item back.)

@caesarleigh's problem was a combination of the seller not understanding that conventional exchanges aren’t possible through eIS and getting poor customer customer service support for this issue, and this being the buyer’s first rodeo when it comes to receiving an “item not as described” on eBay.

[pjcdn2005]

Even if a seller doesn't use EIS it is difficult to arrange for an exchange on eBay.  The system is not set up well fir that.

[sparklegirl2007]

This is why I handle all my own shipping, exchanges, returns etc.  Ebay is a HUGE corporation and customer service can fall through the cracks.  This way I can prioritize customer service:)