@kays_place wrote:
An item was received broken. I have no problem refunding their money.
I can't remember is it better to have them open a case and refund them or just do through PayPal? I believe one way gets a defect and the other doesn't.
What gets a defect is a refusal to do anything and the buyer opens a case and has to ask eBay to step in. When a buyer opens a case you have a few days to act so once that happens, always do something. It's the "unresolved case" where eBay has to fix it for the buyer that gets the defect.
If you are happy to refund and you know there is nothing suspicious, you may as well just refund from PayPal. The main reason to make a buyer open a case is those ones that say it never arrived, or any time that you think the buyer is taking advantage of the system.
EBay keeps tabs on the number of cases and refunds on the buyers' end, so the only way for eBay to easily know who is abusing the system is the clearly demonstrated amount of opened claims.
But in this instance if you are fine with the refund, the easiest thing for you is to just do it. No case, no eBay, no defect, no problem.
