Buyer wanting to return an item before even receiving it...best way to handle?

[tazzieterror]

Hi there,

I'm a casual seller, and a few days ago sold a brand name SD card to an interstate buyer.  It's a brand new item, still sealed in the manufacturers packaging, and I posted it via registered mail on Tuesday.

On Wednesday afternoon (yesterday), the seller messaged me saying, "If this card doesn't fit a GoPro, don't bother sending it - I'll be returning it".  They've obviously realised they've ordered the wrong item (they need a microSD card, not an SD card) so want to back out of the purchase.

I replied that it had already been posted so was too late for me to "not send".  Didn't say anything else as I wanted to check out my options.

Now, I don't have a returns policy in the listing other than "No reutrns accepted", and haven't had to process a return before, so just wanted to know the best way to handle this?

Obvsiouly I want the item back, unopened and in new condition still.  The selling price included free shipping, but as the buyer is simply changing their mind on the sale, is it resonable to request that I refund them the sale amount less the cost of shipping it to them to begin with (~$5)?  And if so, how do this properly through the eBay refund process?

Looking through the buyer's eBay history, they seem to regularly leave petty feedback comments, and I'd like to avoid having my feedback history marred by an seemingly unreasonable buyer.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Cheers!

[springyzone]

Firstly, don't worry about your feedback. If they write something bad, you have the right of reply & can always leave a factual comment to describe the transaction & what happened.

As you said, this sounds like a change of mind return. You have already posted it so if I were you, I would do nothing unless they contact you again, after they receive it.

If they receive it and don't want it, they will need to contact you to ask about a return. As far as I am aware, you do not have to accept a return at all for change of mind unless you had specifically agreed to that in your ad, and you did not.

If you do decide to accept the return though, it needs to be as a buyer change of mind & they would need to pay for return postage. I would make it clear that a refund for original price would only be given if the item was received in original condition and that return postage costs would not be refunded. They may argue that the item had free shipping & you could add that shipping was included and was paid for but that was for delivery to them & does not include return postage.

Keep everything polite and keep a copy of the messages. It could be that the buyer will try to make it into a not as described claim & you may need to get on the phone to ebay to explain it was exactly as described, just that the buyer made a mistake in what they were after.

Good luck.

[kopenhagen5]

As springy has said and if they come back wanting a refund, lay out the terms as springy suggests and tell the buyer that they can resell it on eBay seeing as you and eBay don't accept returns on buyer errors.

[tazzieterror]

Ok, thank you both for the suggestions.  In the event that I do decide to allow them to return it, does the returns process include the ability to offer the buyer a partial refund (i.e. the total less my cost to ship it to them to begin with), so that I can at least stipulate that to the buyer ("Ok, I'll allow you to return it provided it's still in new condition, and the refund will be for $95, not $100")?

[clarry100]

If you have a restocking fee defined you can also deduct that from any refund you provide if the reason is change of mind.
This allows you to recover outbound postage costs. For change of mind returns the buyer needs to pay the return postage.
Since you have no returns specified it is up to you to choose to accept a return for change of mind.

[4green2000]

tell the buyer soon as it arrives to put on parcel "return to sender" without opening etc. wont cost anyone postage return costs. also maybe tell them not to leave feedback and visa versa.

you will lose original post costs but at least you get the item back new.

[4green2000]

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@4green2000 wrote:

tell the buyer soon as it arrives to put on parcel "return to sender" without opening etc. wont cost anyone postage return costs. also maybe tell them not to leave feedback and visa versa.

you will lose original post costs but at least you get the item back new.

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PS...dont forget to block that buyer from buying from you again.

[pauls1239]

Stick to your guns and as you have "Returns not Accepted" on the listing you do not have to accept a return. The buyer has already stated that he/she is an idiot by comitting to the sale thinking he can just send it back if it doesn't fit.  Ebay will agree with you if you keep calm and don't say anything insulting. If he tries to bully you by threatening negative feedback, Ebay will remove it on application. If he just leaves negative feedback Ebay WILL remove it on appication. Ebay do protect sellers against this sort of thing.

[kopenhagen5]

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@tazzieterror wrote:

Ok, thank you both for the suggestions.  In the event that I do decide to allow them to return it, does the returns process include the ability to offer the buyer a partial refund (i.e. the total less my cost to ship it to them to begin with), so that I can at least stipulate that to the buyer ("Ok, I'll allow you to return it provided it's still in new condition, and the refund will be for $95, not $100")?

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Well what you are hoping for is that they don't come back to you but in the event they do, then hopefully they don't open a request in eBay and give you the opportunity to rectify it. Then you simply wait for the item returned and provided it's in the same condition then refund the agreed amount by going into PayPal and do a part refund.

[tazzieterror]

Thanks everyone, I think I've come to a satisfactory arrangment with the buyer - thanks for all your input!