Advice on a refund

[lyndalpn-cows]

Hi everyone

Im a newbie seller and need some advice.  I sold a silver plated tea set on ebay and the buyer has informed me today that he would like to send it back.  I'm disappointed as it is lovely and I was excited that it sold, but understand that in the big picture it is worth it to do so.  A bit of advice needed, do I refund the item cost, the postage cost, his postage cost or the whole lot?  As it was a big item, the postage was expensive - about $20 plus a big $5 post box and heaps of packing so I dont really want to refund the postage... but if I have to I have to I guess.

Interestingly, when he bought this he had a feedback rating of zero - I guess everyone's got to buy their first item sometime, but sending your very first purchase back? weird. Anyway, I have explained that I am happy to refund and asked him nicely what the problem was, just so I can get an idea of how he wants to play this.

His email to me so far:

"Hi,
I have got your siver plate yesterday but I'd like to returns.
Im going to send to you back today.
Is that ok?
Sorry about that.
If i send to them today when I getto back to money?"

My response to him:

"Oh, thats disappointing, I'm sorry that you were not happy with it. Can I ask what the problem is?
I will refund the money as soon as it is back to me.
Kind regards
Lyndal"

The item is here if it helps anyone

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/251175411662

Any advice on what I should do? Thanks so much for your expertise guys, this is a new part of the selling game for me!

Lyndal

[putney32]

firstly, do NOT refund anything until you have the set back and in the condition it was sent, and make sure it is exactly what you sent her.

secondly, your auction stated

Returns:7 day money back, buyer pays return postage

so there it is,  however, I would state that I was not willing to accept a return for 'change of mind' ...

if they want a full refund, they should go thru the PayPal dispute, and let PayPal make it clear to them that they will have to return, by a trackable means (ie.Registered Post etc), at their own cost,

if it's not exactly as it was sent, come back here for more info.

[digital*ghost]

If there is nothing wrong with the set, then it would be a change of mind return and I would refund purchase price only (upon receiving it back in the same condition as it was sent).

The best thing to do is work out a return policy and have all the terms in the listing so that buyers know exactly what to expect if they want to return an item, and you also have something written in clear detail to refer to in these kinds of situations. (My own policy is full refund plus return postage costs if an item is faulty or not as described, refund of purchase price only for change of mind, if items are returned in the exact same condition and return postage the responsibility of the buyer).

[cuddles_01au]

How lovely

[phorum_junkie*]

Do nothing until you receive it back, if you indeed do.

I would then refund the item price only as long as it is exactly as described and they have just changed their minds.

If they then open a Paypal dispute a lot will depend on what postage method they used to return it, no point in speculating so come back here if that happens.

[*new2vintage]

Ask if they can send you photo's of any fault/s then decide what to do. Place the buyer's ID on your blocked bidders list also.

[lyndalpn-cows]

Thank you all so much.  I havent yet heard back from him what the problem is, that will give me a much clearer idea how to proceed.  It certainly is exactly as described but who knows?

I will check in and update when I hear some more.  Thanks so much everyone

Lyndal

[***super_nova***]

One more suggestion; I would have stated in the heading " silver plated", not silver.  I know it is in the silverplate category, but you need to spell it out exactly in the listing.  Some people do not search by category, they may search for "silver" and then say that they did not get silver.

[lyndalpn-cows]

It actually says "Silver plate" in the heading and in the description but yes, I will make sure its really clear if I relist it again.

Thanks for the feedback.

[thesoulyearns]

If there is nothing wrong with the set, then it would be a change of mind return and I would refund purchase price only (upon receiving it back in the same condition as it was sent).

The best thing to do is work out a return policy and have all the terms in the listing so that buyers know exactly what to expect if they want to return an item, and you also have something written in clear detail to refer to in these kinds of situations. (My own policy is full refund plus return postage costs if an item is faulty or not as described, refund of purchase price only for change of mind, if items are returned in the exact same condition and return postage the responsibility of the buyer).

x2

eBay has set "returns accepted" so that, by default (e.g. unless you change it), the buyer pays return postage. You could even show the buyer that specific quote (as it was there for them to read in the listing under Return Policy) and they may even decide just to keep it or sell it again themselves, so they're not down by that big postage cost.