Unrealistic demand for tracking on return item!!

[hopsaint]

Ebay sided with seller on item I needed to return due to overly small sized garment items from China.

Ebay demanded that I need to have a tracking number for the return item which shipping back from Canada costs in most cases a lot more than the item itself.

I sent the item back without tracking costing me postage stamps upward of CAN$9 and Ebay ruled in favour of seller because I did not have a tracking no to show that it was returned to seller.

The item costed less than the returning stamps without tracking as it stands.

In addition, it took over a month for me to receive the item at the first place. I am slowly getting a better idea now why Amazon may be a better venue for goods in the future!

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

Ebay demanded that I need to have a tracking number for the return item which shipping back from Canada costs in most cases a lot more than the item itself.

Yeh.

That's the deal with the Money Back Guarantee.

If you open a Buyer Remorse case - for example, you ordered a red sweater and the garment was marked cherry red but you wanted scarlet-- then you pay for return shipping, because it is a matter of taste.

If you open a Not As Described case- you ordered a red sweater and got a blue one-- then the seller pays for return shipping because it is his error.

If he doesn't , you are refunded and are not required to return the item. He also gets a Defect, which is worse than it sounds.

The international return shipping cost is an ongoing problem.

There seems to be some help when a Canadian seller used Shippo to purchase shipping labels, because that company can also sell USPS shipping labels which the Canadian seller can send to her US customer.

Which doesn't help you at all.

At this point, all we can do when buying from China or anywhere overseas (Germany, Argentina, UK etc) is accept that if it doesn't fit or is Not As Described, we have few options.

• Ask the seller for a full or partial refund without return.  It might work.
• Return with tracking asking that the seller pay the return shipping along with the refund of the entire original payment. Not very likely.
• Leave appropriate feedback. The most effective feedback is calm and factual.
• List the item on eBay, correcting the error that led to your disappointment, and sell it on.
• Trash it.
• Donate it.

[momcqueen]

"I am slowly getting a better idea now why Amazon may be a better venue for goods in the future!"

I want to heave a huge sigh whenever I hear this as I'm not sure what would give you that idea. Have you experienced this exact situation via Amazon with a different outcome: returning something that didn't fit without tracking to your seller who was based in China? And, if you did, you still thought buying clothes directly from China was a wise investment of your time and money? 

When you buy unrealistically inexpensive items from faraway lands, you are take a risk. Will you get what you ordered? Will you get anything at all? And how will you return it if it's not what you want based on what you expected? 

This is a lesson I think every buyer on ebay has learned the hard way. I know I did. My purchasing has been adjusted accordingly. I buy from Canada, the USA or Europe. I expect to get what I paid for and, more importantly, nothing more.

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

If the item is really inexpensive I wouldn't even bother returning it especially as tracking is very expensive.  It costs you time & money that just isn't worth it.  I would have sent a message to the seller stating that I am not happy with the item (that the sizing is wrong) & what can he do for me instead of opening a return.  Most of the time the seller will give you a partial or complete refund especially if they are from China.

[femmefan1946]

Good point.

Many Chinese sellers have made the sensible business decision that a partial refund is better than a negative feedback or paying for a returned shipment.

It's something a lot of North American sellers *looking south* could learn.

Not that the customer is always right, I've been in retail too long to think that, but that it's best to choose your battles.

It's not personal, it's business.

[hopsaint]

Thank you so much for your kind and rather may I say effective insights!!