Proper way to refund

[travis7s]

I have a buyer complaint that part of a kit I sent is missing.  This buyer doesn't seem shady and what they describe sounds plausible so I'm willing to just refund and move on. My question is what is the best procedure for doing this? Should I tell the buyer to open an INAD case? 

[maximus7001]

We would just send the correct amount to them with friends and family. Nowadays that is only fee free for within Canada. Outside of Canada just use "send funds".  You can get their paypal email address from the original transaction where they payed. Just copy the address and go from there.

The last time we refunded with "refund this payment" we got a defect for it.

[silverpinups]

If your buyer paid with PayPal then go directly to that specific PayPal Transaction and refund directly from there.

That way there is a clear record of the refund via PayPal and it will also show up in the eBay transaction details (view order details).

[lady.stark]

I would ask the buyer to open a return request and refund from there. Otherwise, if you refund through PayPal only, you would not get you FVF back from eBay.

[ricarmic]

I do the same thing silver suggests, I provide the partial refund directly from the PAYPAL payment within PAYPAL.

Part of the reason I do it this way, despite the fact that I lose the ebay FVF* is that at least in my world the average buyer seems to have little understanding of the return process (and I can't help them much as I've never requested a return myself so I don't see/know it from their perspective) and asking them to execute it opens the risk of them having problems, lots of questions to me, and possibly other problems including accidental escalations etc.

*just comes out of the "cookie jar" funds anyway

[femmefan1946]

There is no reason to lose the FVF.

Just adjust your refund to reflect that cost.

If your refund is $10 and the FVF on that is $1, you refund $9.

And don't explain to your customer how you came to the amount you did. It's none of his business.

[rose-dee]

One of those things you see briefly, file away for future reference, then can't find again is driving me nuts in this regard! 

I'm almost certain I've recently seen a reference to "partial refunds" not being allowed anymore by eBay (or perhaps subject to defect or other punishment), but of course now I can't find it!  I seem to recall it was tacked onto the latest announcement about SNADs and INRs.  I could be completely wrong on all of this and mis-remembering what I read, but I'd love it if someone has bookmarked the page and could post a link here.  🙂

[pjcdn2005]

Is this a partial refund or full refund?

If it is a partial, refund through the transaction in Paypal.  I wouldn't use the send money option as then the amount refunded is not associated with that transaction.  Is the kit usuable without the parts they say are missing? If so a partial refund might be all that the buyer wants.

If it is a full refund...

You could have them open a request for return but explain to them that you will refund without requiring a return. (if that's what you want to do)  You can refund as soon as they open the request. You will get your fvf back and won't get a defect for that but it will go as a not as described return into your Service Metrics. 

You could also refund in full through the PP transaction. You won't be credited your fees and there is a possibility that they will count it as an out of stock defect as ebay won't know what the problem was.  I have done refunds like that, although not recently, and didn't receive a defect but some people such as one of the posters here have said that that they have.   I've always thought that if the item was shipped, it obviously wasn't out of stock but I honestly don't know how it has worked lately.

You could also cancel the transaction through ebay if it has been less than 30 days for the sale.  Again...I haven't done that lately so I don't know if that would cause a defect or not.  You would have to give the reason as buyer requested cancellation which really isn't the case but the other options wouldn't be valid either.  You would receive your fvf back with a cancellation.

[pjcdn2005]

Partial refunds are allowed and there is no 'punishment' for it. I'm not sure what you are referring to.

[2nd-time-around-jewelry]

I just had a person send back an item at their own expense. I asked them to send it back with tracking & they did. I went to PayPal, found their transaction & refunded them the full amount they originally paid. Then I went to eBay & cancelled the transaction using the reason "Buyer Wanted To Cancel" & I had all my fees credited back to me.

[tyler@ebay]

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@travis7s wrote:

I have a buyer complaint that part of a kit I sent is missing.  This buyer doesn't seem shady and what they describe sounds plausible so I'm willing to just refund and move on. My question is what is the best procedure for doing this? Should I tell the buyer to open an INAD case? 

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Hi @travis7s - from an eBay perspective @pjcdn2005 gave spot on advice. In a situation where a partial refund is something you want to offer, we would recommend having the buyer open a return request and then using the 'offer partial refund' option. That will automatically credit the Final Value Fee associated with the total amount of the refund. There is a chance that this would impact your service metrics however. 

You can also consider issuing a full refund through the PayPal transaction - as noted though, this would result in an 'Out of Stock' defect for your seller performance. You would also need to contact CS to request a courtesy credit of the Final Value Fee charged (it wouldn't happen automatically). 

If you do go through PayPal directly, please do not  'send money' to the buyer in question. Because this is considered a separate transaction we wouldn't have any indication that such a payment was made, which can lead to complications if a buyer then opens a return request.

I hope that helps!

[silverpinups]

tyler@ebay 

You can also consider issuing a full refund through the PayPal transaction - as noted though, this would result in an 'Out of Stock' defect for your seller performance.

Why would there be an "Out of Stock" defect if the item was successfully delivered with a tracking number and the seller just wanted to refund the buyer because of a discrepancy with the item.

[tyler@ebay]

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@silverpinups wrote:

tyler@ebay 

You can also consider issuing a full refund through the PayPal transaction - as noted though, this would result in an 'Out of Stock' defect for your seller performance.

Why would there be an "Out of Stock" defect if the item was successfully delivered with a tracking number and the seller just wanted to refund the buyer because of a discrepancy with the item.

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Hi @silverpinups - a full refund via PayPal without any corresponding action on eBay (no return open, cancellation, etc) would indicate to us that there was an issue with the transaction that resulted in a full refund - typically an out of stock situation. 

In order to avoid this, and ensure an automatic refund of fees, processing the return request or cancellation through eBay is best.

[ricarmic]

Hmmm I've been presented with situations where the buyer seems unable to figure out how to create an INR request.

So if I send a full paypal refund via PAYPAL for a INR, that would be identified as an out of stock as well it appears.

I guess I'll have to start training buyers for this stuff going forward.....

[travis7s]

Yes, I'm looking to do a full refund. The missing piece makes it somewhat useless so I don't want to waste any time/money having it returned.

[pjcdn2005]

Ever since they started the defect system it’s been said that a full refund through PP would create an oos defect but that doesn’t seem to be consistent.  One of the .com reps did say that they check to see if there are messages between buyer and seller and if they see a valid reason for the refund there is no defect.  But I don’t know if that is consistent either,

[silverpinups]

I had a similar situation as the poster did and refunded in full in early Oct/18 so we'll see if I get a defect on or after Oct.20/18 ( my monthly seller evaluation date).

I'll report back with the results... 

[travis7s]

I asked the buyer to open a return. Then I used the option for full refund but keep the item. It says my FVF will be refunded but I'm unsure if this will be a defect.

[pjcdn2005]

Returns are not counted as defects.  But a return that is considered not as described does get counted in your service metrics so it depends on which reason the buyer used fir the return.  For example, if they said that they changed their mind, that is considered a buyers remorse return and will not count in your service metrics,  But if they said the the wrong item was sent, pieces were missing etc. It is counted in your service metrics.  Basically you  are allowed up to 10 of those before being penalized.