WWYD package returned as moved.

[musicyouneed]

I had a package returned today stating moved.  I haven't yet contacted the buyer but wanted to know what I should say.  Of course I would be refunding the buyer for the item, how do I handle the postage fee that I paid.   Any help would be appreciated.

[38e_avenue]

It happened a few time to me, too.  I asked the buyer for the new address and reshipped at my cost. Canada Post will not refund you the postage.  

[ricarmic]

Same for me as @38e_avenue because I'm hoping the buyer will become a repeat buyer, and this has worked positively (very positively sometimes) for me in the past.....

[byto253]

This is like a return at the buyer's request where you refund the item cost but not the shipping fee.  

I have had incorrect addresses because someone moved and forgot to update the address in eBay, often it is a student heading home for the summer or has finished their studies.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

What I usually do is message the buyer and ask them to verify their address so that I can re-send it to them. I include the original address I sent it to, and a photo of the original package with the Canada Post slip. If I don't hear back from them within a reasonable time, I refund them.

It's important to take a photo of the package for your records, just in case you are wrongly issued an OOS defect by eBay, which does sometimes happen if you manually mark as shipped without tracking and refund later.  That way, you at least have proof when you ask for the defect to be removed.

Normally, you always have to send to the same address that the buyer provides or else you invalidate your seller protection. You have no seller protection for lettermail, so sending to a different address doesn't matter. It doesn't make sense to make the buyer cancel/rebuy when you can just change the address on the mailer.

You can nickel and dime the seller about paying $2-$4 to have it reshipped, but stuff like this happens seldomly. If this was a $50 shipping label, sure. But to make it an even bigger hassle over a few stamps, I just accept re-sending it as a cost of doing business even if it was technically the fault of the buyer. 

If 

[musicyouneed]

I emailed the buyer and he stated that is his correct address.  He stated:   That's my correct address Don't know why I didn't get it? Could you please refund me my money.  Thanks  . 

Would you just refund the full amount including the shipping.  Would you handle this is a cancelation, buyer request or problem with the address?

[byto253]

@ilikehockeyjerseys has a good point about how much $ is involved.   You can do it and withold the shipping amount or just refund the full amount and move on.  I would refund using problem with address, this is not your fault of course.

I think that in situations like this where you have confirmed the address a good Canada Post outlet manager will resend it for no extra $ - if the buyer is open to that.   

[38e_avenue]

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@byto253 wrote:

I think that in situations like this where you have confirmed the address a good Canada Post outlet manager will resend it for no extra $ - if the buyer is open to that.   

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Probably not a good idea. The buyer clearty stated he wants a refund. I would not try to convince him to change his mind. 

[reallynicestamps]

This happened to me today!

Because it was my error, I reshipped promptly.

However, it is always worth noting that in the case of an Undeliverable shipment, eBay does not require you to reship or to refund.

Not a penny.

Obviously, contacting the buyer and asking about their preference (refund of purchase price or reshipping after correcting address AND repaying shipping) is the first step.

[byto253]

Only reship if the buyer wants to of course. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

Undeliverable address, or refused (either directly or by not picking it up at the post office) both invalidate buyer protection.

With that said, I don't think the policy stands with lettermail because there is no proof of delivery in the first place since it is untracked. 

If a buyer makes an error with an expensive tracked package, I would refund right away minus the shipping cost and invite them to rebuy. I suppose you could justify keeping a restocking fee because of the time wasted, but I wouldn't do that personally. It's just the cost of doing business that things don't work out sometimes. 

So long as you confirm with eBay that their buyer protection is invalidated, I guess you have the option with a previously tracked package to ask the buyer if they would prefer you refund minus the original shipping, or they would prefer to Paypal or eTransfer you the additional costs to send it to a new address. 

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

I would do problem with address, but I don't think it matters that much. I think you can also simply just refund them the entire amount and choose "Item Not Received" under the reason rather than cancelling. You would get your fees back the same as a cancellation. In either case, you might accidentally be given a defect by eBay's system if it thinks you're trying to circumvent being out of stock, but it should be easy to remove if that happens. 

I would just refund the full amount since that is what the buyer requested. What are we talking about here, $4? The address was correct, Canada Post screwed up. The buyer didn't do anything wrong. Things don't work out sometimes when selling online. 

[musicyouneed]

I just refunded the entire amount with the shipping and I used problem with the address.  He didn't want it remailed.