eBay

greenmangoes · ‎09-02-2015

A customer is returning an item because it doesn't fit. Not only did I put the size of the item in the listing I also measured it manually and put the measurement in the listing. Now they are returning it because it's too big - but the measurements were there? Should I just do the refund and not bother to point that out?

Thanks!!

You only fail when you don't try!

pierrelebel · ‎09-02-2015

In all communications, the buyer used "I have a question about using my item or I want to send the seller a message"

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-02-2015

I do have a defect that took quite a while to show up but I doubt that you will get one in this situation because it is probably being treated as a customer requested cancellation. 🙂

rose-dee · ‎09-02-2015

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
I do have a defect that took quite a while to show up but I doubt that you will get one in this situation because it is probably being treated as a customer requested cancellation. 🙂

This is the part I find difficult to understand. I thought Pierre was saying that he initiated the cancellation:

(From his post above): "I then used the eBay "cancel a transaction" function and eBay advised they would arrange for a refund through PayPal."

How does this square with the policy? (See my post #10). I find this whole thing very confusing.

Thankfully, the only two times I've had returns were before these ridiculously complicated policies were introduced by eBay. It was a simple matter of communicating with the buyer, arranging for return of the item and refunding.

I'm still not convinced that an article of clothing that doesn't fit when received will always be a "buyer's remorse" situation. I'm certain there must be situations where a seller has not clearly described sizing (how often do I see that!) and the poor buyer ends up with something far different than expected (and definitely not as described). In the OP's situation the shoe is obviously on the other foot, so to speak.

rose-dee · ‎09-02-2015

@femmefan1946 wrote:

When the item gets back to you, refund the original payment using PP's Send Money rather than by the refund link on the original payment.
Your cancelled transaction then looks to eBay as if it was perfect. No possibility of a defect.
Put the eBay and PP transaction numbers in the text box of the Send Money instruction. If necessary, and it probably won't be, you can show that you did refund the buyer.

This sounds like the smartest way to handle such situations. I'll file this away in the "future reference" file (fingers crossed).

pierrelebel · ‎09-03-2015

"This sounds like the smartest way to handle such situations. "

I frankly do not think so.

By "sending money" to buyer instead of refunding the original payment through PayPal and cancelling the transaction through eBay, the seller loses the fees paid to PayPal and eBay.

Why?

pierrelebel · ‎09-03-2015

"This is the part I find difficult to understand."

Why?

"I thought Pierre was saying that he initiated the cancellation: "

That is correct.

This is a very simple case where everything went right. Buyer, seller, eBay and PayPal did everything right. The buyer got his money back, the seller got his item back (and relisted it), fees paid to eBay and PayPal were refunded or credited.

The buyer did nothing wrong. eBay did nothing wrong. PayPal did nothing wrong. Nobody to blame.

rose-dee · ‎09-03-2015

@pierrelebel wrote:

This is a very simple case where everything went right. Buyer, seller, eBay and PayPal did everything right. The buyer got his money back, the seller got his item back (and relisted it), fees paid to eBay and PayPal were refunded or credited.

The buyer did nothing wrong. eBay did nothing wrong. PayPal did nothing wrong. Nobody to blame.

That's exactly why I'm so surprised. It directly contradicts the policy on cancellations (see below - text in bold). However, I'm not saying the policy is best. What you experienced is best, and is precisely what we sellers would hope to see, but it's not what eBay's policy says they'll do. All very odd.

I'd just like to sort this out so that I'll know what to do should I have a return under the new system.

Can you explain why you were permitted to cancel a transaction after the item had already been shipped? Perhaps there are different (more sensible!) rules around returns on .cafr?

I'll copy the policy section here again for reference in case others are wondering what I'm referring to:

"Cancel a transaction

When you need to cancel a transaction, it's generally a good practice to first contact your buyer to let the buyer know you're canceling the transaction and why.

You can cancel a transaction:

Up to 30 days after the sale.
Even if your buyer has already paid for the item.

You won't be able to cancel a transaction if:

You've shipped the item.
The buyer has already opened a request because they didn't receive the item.
You have already opened an unpaid item case.

If there were multiple items in the purchase, you can only cancel the entire transaction, not individual items from the order."

pierrelebel · ‎09-03-2015

You can cancel a transaction:

Up to 30 days after the sale.
Even if your buyer has already paid for the item.

You won't be able to cancel a transaction if:
- You've shipped the item.
  
  Now, that may be one of the many advantages of using postage stamps when mailing lots. Not only is it much cheaper than using the discounted PayPal postage, eBay does not actually "know" the item has been shipped and will let a seller cancel a transaction (and get a credit for FVF) for an item already mailed!

rose-dee · ‎09-03-2015

@pierrelebel wrote:
Now, that may be one of the many advantages of using postage stamps when mailing lots. Not only is it much cheaper than using the discounted PayPal postage, eBay does not actually "know" the item has been shipped and will let a seller cancel a transaction (and get a credit for FVF) for an item already mailed!

Aha! Thank you. That explains why the cancellation was allowed.

No wonder I was so confused by what you said (on the rare occasions I use stamps rather than Paypal labels, I always manually mark the item as "shipped"). So in this particular transaction, you obviously must not have manually entered the "shipped" status.

The trouble with that though is that the customer won't see on his purchase history that the item has been shipped. I realize you've said you send a note after each sale, confirming shipment (as do I), but I would think it's also important to have the shipped status showing for the buyer's sake on eBay. I wonder if this could cause a problem from the buyer's end in an INR situation? Neither eBay nor Paypal would have a record of what the shipping date actually was in the case of any dispute (well, I suppose eBay can now apparently read our email messages).

As a buyer, I check my purchase history for that reason as it's quick and easy to monitor the shipment date and expected arrival of several items, all in one place. If you're buying more than one item in a week, it's easy to forget who emailed you about which purchase with which shipment and delivery date.

Do you normally manually mark your items as "shipped", i.e. was this situation simply a fortunate anomaly?

pierrelebel · ‎09-03-2015

"So in this particular transaction, you obviously must not have manually entered the "shipped" status. :" "was this situation simply a fortunate anomaly? "

This is the type of assumption that leads you to the wrong conclusion.

Please do not assume anything from my posts other than the words written. I try to be clear, precise and concise.

And yes, I change the status of each transaction to "paid and shipped" daily as the mail goes out.

I do not assume anything. I only know for a fact that eBay allowed the cancellation of this transaction already paid and shipped a week earlier.

I suspect (not assume) that the manual change of status (to "paid and shipped") has limited applications such as advising the buyer. It is not evidence of shipment. Purchasing and paying for a postage label through PayPal, on the other hand, may be perceived by eBay as evidence the goods were shipped, therefore preventing a cancellation request if their policy is followed to the letter.

pjcdn2005 · ‎09-04-2015

@rose-dee wrote:

"Cancel a transaction
When you need to cancel a transaction, it's generally a good practice to first contact your buyer to let the buyer know you're canceling the transaction and why.
You can cancel a transaction:
Up to 30 days after the sale.
Even if your buyer has already paid for the item.
You won't be able to cancel a transaction if:
You've shipped the item.
The buyer has already opened a request because they didn't receive the item.
You have already opened an unpaid item case.
If there were multiple items in the purchase, you can only cancel the entire transaction, not individual items from the order."

If you look at the .com version you will see that mention of the item being shipped has been taken out. They had to change it because of situations like this...when the buyer did not use the return systems flow.

rose-dee · ‎09-04-2015

@pierrelebel wrote:
"So in this particular transaction, you obviously must not have manually entered the "shipped" status. :" "was this situation simply a fortunate anomaly? "

This is the type of assumption that leads you to the wrong conclusion.
Please do not assume anything from my posts other than the words written. I try to be clear, precise and concise.

Pierre, no need to take umbrage. I was asking a question. I was truly curious to know why in your particular case a cancellation would have been allowed. Your previous post was in fact rather vague and could have been misinterpreted by others here as well.

Actually, I think 'pj' has supplied the real answer to this mystery.