ebay now forces buyer to purchase post label to return item

[ordervania]

I purchased a garden tool by mistake, so I opened a return request.

PS: I knew return postage would be my responsibility.

Ebay then showed me a new page that I have never seen before, said return label would cost $23, which was insane since I only paid $45 + free shipping to get it.

The worse thing was, there was no other option available, ebay was forcing me to buy their label, there was no other button or link that allowed me to continue, thus if I wanted to go ahead with the return, I had to click "Confirm" and purchase the damn label.

It was disgusting, and illegal I'm sure.

The customer support was not helpful, the first guy simply had no idea what I was saying, kept telling me "you can upload tracking yourself", "you can choose your own carrier" blah blah blah.

So I tried someone else for luck, the 2nd guy told me to just return the item via the way I wish, then contact them again to share the tracking number.

Firstly it is annoying, WHY do I have to contact customer support again just to upload a tracking #?

Secondly ebay does not share seller's return address on screen any more, it's nowhere to be found in the return detail, so in order to return an item I have to contact customer support twice?? (one to ask for address then again to provide tracking)

Apparently not every one was caught in this strange new "return process", my cousin just returned a speaker last week and everything went just as normal.

Has anyone here experienced this? 

[papermoon.lady]

If you pay with PayPal and register for free returns here Refunded Returns: Free Return Shipping Worldwide for Eligible Online Purchases - PayPal Australia you can avoid such situations in the future.

[ordervania]

I do have a paypal acc but haven't used it for a long time, will check it out later.

I wonder why is ebay doing this? Just to make a tiny little bit more profit out of post label?

By forcing post label on buyer, ebay has violated their own policy, and the law as well (I think).

Worth it? No I think not.

[digital*ghost]

What was the return policy on the listing? Are you an eBay Plus member and if so, was the item a Plus purchase? 

[padi*0409]

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@ordervania wrote:

The customer support was not helpful, the first guy simply had no idea what I was saying, kept telling me "you can upload tracking yourself", "you can choose your own carrier" blah blah blah.

So I tried someone else for luck, the 2nd guy told me to just return the item via the way I wish, then contact them again to share the tracking number.

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That CS rep was correct I believe, all you had to do was buy a postage from AP and upload the tracking to the dispute.

But also make sure you lodge it over the counter at the PO, so that their is a tracking event for the dispute.

[jellybirddesigns]

Shipping is NEVER "free".

The seller has simply combined the shipping cost into the overall price of the listing. Would you feel better if the listing was $22 for the item and $23 for the shipping? It would still have been the same value.

If it cost $23.00 to send it to you, then I'm sure it will cost $23.00 to send it back. What did the label say on the package when you got it?

As an alternative, you could have listed the item for sale yourself, or flogged it on FB Marketplace instead of returning it.

The speaker your cousin returned could have been for an entirely different reason - ie: not working, and there would have been different steps for the buyer and seller to undertake.

[ordervania]

Ebay did NOT give me such option to purchase my own label, they have taken that away.

I couldn't upload tracking, the "add tracking" button was nowhere to be found.

I couldn't even see seller's address in return detail, I had to contact CS just to find out about it.

The ONLY option in front of me, was a "Confirm" button, once I click on that, I will be charged $23 postage.

[ordervania]

I happen to have access to courier as well as eparcel service, I'm sure it won't cost $23 to ship the item back.

On the other hand, I should be free to choose how to return the item, right?

That's what the ebay policy says, and that's how things were, right?

Now they have taken that away and forced me to buy their label.

[ordervania]

Return policy says 30 days return, buyer pays shipping. 

I am not an ebay plus member.

[jellybirddesigns]

As asked previously - what was the postage cost showing on the package you got? How big was the item - was it boxed? What was the weight of the parcel? Postage can jump quite significantly even if it's just a few grams over each threshold. It might well cost $23 or close to that figure, no matter which carrier you choose.

I do agree that you should be able to send back with your choice of carrier as per Ebay's own policies but for some reason it is limiting you to their label. Since there is no way to see the sellers address without a label, it does seem to be a silly system in that you want to use your own choice of carrier, yet cannot do so as you cannot get the sellers address. 

Can you jump out of the screens and go back to the case overview? I'm wondering if there is some weird glitch - can you log into your account on another browser? 

Have you communicated with the seller at all?

I'm also wondering where that figure came from?

Can anyone clarify how Ebay comes up with the postage figure of $23?