Requesting Opinions on "Free" postage and refunding buyers

[svartee]

Postage with an ebay satchel is around $8 by the time you buy the satchel and pay the Click n Send.

If postage is free, and the item is being posted in a satchel, then although the buyer doesn't actually pay a postage amount, the seller is still spending $8 to send the item to the buyer.

So what happens when the buyer wants to return the item for a refund for whatever reason?  The buyer pays return shipping.

Do you think the seller should refund the full purchase amount, or deduct the original $8 they paid to send the item to the buyer?

Hardly seems fair to the seller to be out $8 on the deal.

What would you do?

[donnashuggy]

Yes I refund the total they paid plus their return postage costs.

[*sparklz*]

If the buyer is returning for item for not as described and it is seller error then yes refund the total they paid and a good seller would also pay them the return postage as well.

If they want to return the item for change of mind then they should only expect the refund to be less postage costs. and no return postage reimbursement

[*new2vintage]

The idea behind it is that you add the cost for postage to the amount you want for the item which ebay approves of. Technically postage isn't free for a buyer.

[digital*ghost]

The best thing to do if you don't want to be out P&H on a return for a free-post item is to make it clear in your return policy that a re-stocking fee applies for change of mind returns. On other eBay sites, you're able to set it up automatically (to show on listings whether a restocking fee applies, I mean), with a certain maximum percentage of the sale price allowable (I can't remember the exact figure, but I think it''s in the realm of 15%, give or take), so once the Business policies thing has been properly implemented in Oz, we may get that option, too. 

[*new2vintage]

I can't understand why any seller thinks that they need to actually pay for postage instead of including it in the total amount.

Free postage is an ebay created gimmick but presumably many buyers know they still pay for postage. I think that refunding less than all of the payment attracts negative feedback.

[digital*ghost]

I agree the impression of "free postage" makes it pretty difficult to say well, actually postage was paid and since you want to return the item, I've decided it's no longer free.... Hence why renaming it a "restocking fee" creates a better impression. 

I'm currently using free post on some items I want gone and won't be stocking again, but in general I don't use it for the express reason that it muddies the waters on a whole range of issues, and means everyone but eBay loses out. 

[lane-ends · Accepted solution]

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@*new2vintage wrote:

The idea behind it is that you add the cost for postage to the amount you want for the item which ebay approves of. Technically postage isn't free for a buyer.

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Irrrelevent if turns out to be a no sale. regardless of price seller would be out post cost, with no sale.

I use restocking fee if return for no fault, though sometimes I waive this if they exchange..motivation not to loose sae completely

[calvert9464]

yes i agree ,i advertised an article ,and sold it for one hundred dollars,and in my description i stated buyer pays for postage ,ebay in my same ad stated free postage ,the postage of the article would have cost me a little over twenty dollars to send it to him ,so work that out ,$20 plus ebay fees .on an article that was sold for a $100

that started a war of words between the buyer and myself ,with me being accused by the buyer of being abusive ,which i was not.i refunded his pay pal payment ,and lost my 100% feedback rating ,they then rated my feedback rating from 100% since 2006 to 97.4 per cent ,i complained to ebay and they suggested i contact the buyer again to ask for a revision ,no way that i would ever have any contact with that person again ,i was made to cop it all and lose my feedback rating ,with no help what so ever from ebay ,so as far as i am concerned feed back means nothing at all to me ,and as far as seller support it is a handball back and cop it sweet ,i wonder if anyone else has had the same problems with ebay as a seller ,?i have had over 106 deals all positive,i will not be doing any selling on ebay again ,regards to all ,tom.

[davewil1964]

No you didn't. If you had specified a postage cost then that would have been shown to the buyer and included in their checkout. What you did was try to be cute and not specify postage in the expectation that you could add postage post-sale.

It doesn't work like that.

I have had over 800 'deals', all but 1 positive, so I'm happy to keep on trading here, in full awareness of the rules. The more potential competitors who spit the dummy because they don't know what they're doing the better, IMO.