Buyer paid for postage now wants to pick up.

[sandyblue9]

I recently sold an item and contacted the seller to ask if they wanted to pick up the item as they live close by. The buyer then later paid for the item including postage without obviously reading my message. Ebay took their fees percentage out of this which included the post. 

The buyer then contacted me to say they wanted to pick up the item but had paid for postage. 

Whose responsibility is it to refund them the money for postage and haven't I now paid more in fees to eBay given they included the post? 

[curraone]

Sometimes the simplest solution may be the answer.   Explain to your buyer that you have paid fees on postage - tell them how much - but you will be happy to give the balance of postage to them in cash when they pick up the item.    If it is a reasonable person, this should work out ok.

[sandyblue9]

Hmmmm, and if they aren't happy with that and want the full postage? How is this my problem when they stuffed up? I accepted an offer which is $5 less than my 'Buy it Now' price. With the almost $6 in fees eBay took and then me having to refund them the remaining $5 in postage, I'm losing out. I'll essentially be pocketing nearly $15 less than my advertised price, or $10 if you want to get technical. 

[brickworksmarket]

Ebay refunds the fees on the postage amount. When you process the refund it will show the amount before you confirm it.

[sugar249]

---

@sandyblue9 wrote:

Hmmmm, and if they aren't happy with that and want the full postage? How is this my problem when they stuffed up? I accepted an offer which is $5 less than my 'Buy it Now' price. With the almost $6 in fees eBay took and then me having to refund them the remaining $5 in postage, I'm losing out. I'll essentially be pocketing nearly $15 less than my advertised price, or $10 if you want to get technical. 

---

You made the decision to accept less than your buy it now price, and you knew there would be Ebay fee's.   The fee on your listed postage would be around $1 ish.

[springyzone]

I'd do as curraone suggests and explain that as they had already paid and ebay had taken a fee for postage, that you could now only refund the balance after fees.

I am guessing you were trying to be helpful by offering pick up but maybe in future either offer pick up as well as postage from the start or else if it is just listed with postage, leave it at that and don't try to make changes that rely on the customer doing something. There is the potential to be left up in the air if they don't get back in time etc

[davewil1964]

If you refund through eBay, eBay will refund your fees on the refund.

ie If postage is $10 and eBay fees on that are $1.34, eBay will refund the buyer $8.66 from your funds and $1.34 from the fees they have collected from you.

[sandyblue9]

I did offer both pick up and postage from the start. When she made the offer, I replied asking her then if she wanted to pick up the item because I saw she lived nearby. 

[sandyblue9]

If I am doing a refund which option do I select though? Because none of them really apply in this case. I've contacted both buyers to ask if they would request a refund and then purchase again without paying for post (I had two of the same items, and the other buyer did the same thing with higher calculated postage). Is this the right thing to do here? Appreciate the help 🙂

[paper-jack]

I always select "postage discount" never had any problems and buyers very happy, especially if they didn't ask for a refund when buying several items.