Sold an Item, shipping problems, had to refund a lot of money, Item just arrived.

[tomor5857]

Hi everyone!

Last spring I sold an antique here on eBay and the buyer was from China. I sent the piece and then waited and waited, the shipping took forever! eBay had estimated delivery in a matter of weeks and when that passed the buyer requested a refund. My first big mistake, I never contested the refund even though I had explained to the seller many times and allowed eBay to settle the claim. So I refunded the buyer out of pocket which was quite a lot of money, almost $700, and quite a loss since I do not have the item back and I had to still pay eBay fees. I'm a student at university and do this part-time to support myself. Well, surprise surprise the item has arrived! And now I need to know my options. I would like the money back, or even just the piece itself, but as it stands I have nothing to show for this whole ordeal.

How do you all think I should proceed?

Never shipping to China again!!

[msau4301]

Many years ago when I was new to selling here I had a package I had sent to Russian Federation and buyer had requested it sent by ground to save costs (lesson learned the hard way, never use ground!!) I had warned her it would take a lot longer that way and she said she didn't mind waiting, but of course they change their mind when the time arrives and they still don't have their item. I was lucky however and the buyer actually reached out to me first saying she had received the package and how could she pay me back. I sent the invoice through PayPal (as femmefan has suggested) and was paid that way. I had an honest buyer, hopefully yours will be too.

[femmefan1946]

Be very very polite.

Contact the buyer through eBay Messages and let them know that you know that the item has arrived.

Then let them know that you are sure they will be pleased to know that they can reimburse the refund using Paypal's services.

Politely.

Yes, you can do this. EBay is no longer involved with the transaction anyway.

You may need to open a PP account first. Back it with a credit card not just a bank account.

Send the customer your PP contact (it's an email address if you don't already have one).

Again be very polite.

Remember the customer just got the shipment, and he was right about not having received it.

He was not (necessarily) scamming.

If you can encourage him to use Friends and Family to reimburse you, do so, but don't push it. (F&F has no fees, so better for you. The customer does not need to know that.)

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Politely.-- Captain Malcolm Reynolds