What is a "Return Label"?

[ginger_ice_cream]

I've opened a Ebay Money Back Guarantee case for an item not as described.

Ebay tells me tht the seller needs me to supply me with a return label (to pay for return postage)

What exactly is a return label?

[lyndal1838]

It is a postage paid label addressed to the seller so you can send the item back without paying the postage yourself.  The seller has already paid for it.

[ginger_ice_cream]

Thanks Lyndal 1838.

So therefore, if all the seller does is reply saying send the item back and I will refund and here is my address, they havent provided a return label? I gather this label has a tracking number etc with it? How does it work anyway, would I have to print it out and take to the post office - does the post office provide a free satchel - is that part of the 'return label'?

[curraone]

The PO will not supply you with a free satchel, it has nothing to do with them.

It all depends on the size and weight of the item, if it is a small item less than 500g I suppose the seller could email you a prepaid label, and you package it up in ordinary brown paper or a small box  or something and take it to the PO.

First though, give the seller a chance to respond.   Some sellers have a return policy in place.   Some sellers will want to see the damaged item.  

This new return/refund policy is very unfair to the seller -  it used to be much easier just to email the seller and discuss a problem, without getting into a dispute process.

[roseworthy11]

from my own personal experience over the last week as a seller trying to do these new returns - please understand that ebay is giving sellers no information on what to do - I have had to bungle through it - I have read on the ebay guidelines that if the seller does not do shipping labels with ebay, which a lot don't, then when the item is returned ebay will organize the refund post amount on top of the pay pal refund, but I am yet to see or hear how that one works - we are all just bungling through it and trying to help each other out .

[roseworthy11]

to be fair on most buyers - Ebay "draws" them into the new return system - one reason I suppose is so that ebay can make money on the return shipping labels - most buyers I think would have no idea that when they click the options ebay shoves under their noses about returning items, it is causing some sellers headaches and grief - and can make it seem like a dispute process - and worse still, a dispute process that leaves sellers with no options

[wildviolet]

Since the new eBay returns system came in, I have found as a buyer that it is no longer possible to send an eBay message to a seller under the old heading of "I have received an item that is not as described" . I have found that a message can only be sent under the one provided heading/option of  "I want to contact the seller" (i.e. when not using the  new "return" button option). When I tried communicating by message only about an item that significantlydid not match the description, the seller's response was she had made a "mistake" and had cancelled the transaction on eBay (done with the process that does not require buyer's acceptance - even though it says in eBay seller's guidelines that this process can't be used if an item has been sent). This was done prior to a refund being received for an item paid for by PayPal. When querying this with an eBay customer service person, I was advised to always communicate any issues using the returns button.....

[lyndal1838]

I was put in the same position tonight for the first time.

I received a cheap item from China which arrived broken.  All I wanted to do was notify the seller that it was broken but had no option but to do it through the Return Item button.

To be honest, I refuse to return an item that cost me $3.93 with free postage.   I would prefer to just throw it in the garbage and cut my losses but I did want to let the seller know that the packing could be better.

[carnabycool]

lyndal, recently I purchased an item from China that did not cost much and in my case the item received was only 5 pieces not the described 6 pieces. 

It was still usable but I wanted to let the seller know that only 5 pieces not 6 were in the package.

So I used the new returns button to tell the seller this, as advised by eBay customer service before I went ahead.

Then without having asked for eBay's help (the optional next step after several days) I received a message telling me the seller had i"approved a refund" and to ask the seller for a returns label.

Around the same time I received a regular eBay message from the seller telling me he had told eBay he had made a mistake with taking this "returns step" because he did not want the item returned.

He said he was refunding me $1 for the missing piece,, that  eBay was sorting out his mistake and told me to ignore the eBay message which instructs  me to send the item back with tracking details by a certain date.

There is a "view return details" button next to the transaction and in this view there are 3 options: Add Tracking details, Contact Seller and "if you change your mind you can cancel this request"...As I didn't make the request myself - the seller did - I am not sure why I am the one being offered the option to change my mind.

[2106greencat]

Before eBay initiated this 'return at sellers cost' idea they really should have researched via AP how to make it easy for both buyer and seller and to check that AP had an online controlled return system they could provide.

When returning via logistics company etc, all the seller does is pay for the return cost, and send the RTS code they received, buyer addresses the parcel and Reply Paid - #code received.

The system in place currently is as ridiculous as it is difficult........

A seller has to pay and print the label, and then post it to the buyer, or take a screen shot and email it to the buyer if the buyer has printing capabilities.

Total rubbish, and most sellers are likely to say  forget it, here's your refund, or a buyer will say forget it, here's your negative.

and maybe that's what eBay want, no more fvf refunds.