I dont get this ebay return postage policy

[hotrodvideo]

I dont get this ebay return postage policy. I have a had a case opened ( item defective ) by an international buyer and required to print out a return postage voucher  . Firstly how does that work when that facility does exist with Australia Post? Had he opened a case in via Pay Pal he would have been required to return the item at his expense and supply info to Pay Pal ( just like it has always worked i  have bought some thing from a bussiness)  I this case the return postage is more then the item is worth so was happy to just refund the buyer

[lyndal1838]

If the buyer is overseas you cannot print a return label as the buyer cannot use it.

You need to ask the buyer how much the postage is going to be and send them the amount through paypal.

[jellybirddesigns]

I had a similar situation, however I ended up not paying for the return postage.

When you go through the steps for the return, there is an option to select that you cannot print a return label due to country location.

(I can't recall the specific wording)

In my case, the buyer put through the request.

I first messaged her to say I would accept the return and gave her the return address in the message. I did not mention anything about return postage costs at that point as I figured she would let me know once she had the price.

Secondly, I accepted the return request and went through the steps.

I never heard from her, but the buyer then posted the item some 2 weeks later, without contacting me on the return postage cost.

Once I had it back, I just refunded the original amount and postage.

Never heard from the buyer again.

[justkidzbiz]

Originally you could open a dispute with eBay. Then they brought the PayPal is a must policy, then eBay ditched their refunds dispute and you had to go through Paypal. Now that eBay and Paypal have parted ways eBay have brought in the MBG.

if the buyer had have used Paypal they may have been able to get the return postage costs back from Paypal, I think it's up to a maximum of $40, maybe different in the USA.

[black*poppy]

The MBG process is a mess.

Firstly, Lyndall is right in that you can't send a label for international postage.  There is an option to state that you can't send a return label, as said before.  Don't send money through paypal before they send it back, they might be likely to keep it and not send your item (unless that's what you want, like a sort of compensation).

In theory, if you agree to the postage cost PRIOR to the buyer sending it back, ebay can make the seller pay the return postage cost.  However in truth ebay doesn't have a mechanism to make sellers pay return post. 

It works like this:

An amount has to be agreed prior so that the buyer doesn't use the most unnecessary expensive postage option.

When the item is returned (buyer pays), you get an option to refund the buyer.  This immediately closes the case.  You can only refund the original payment amount through ebay, there's no option to add extra.  Once the case closes there is no reopening it.   

So the seller is then required to go to paypal and repay the agreed return post amount directly to the buyer.  Ebay is not able to enforce this and in my experience if you call ebay to complain when a seller fails to refund, ebay refund the agreed amount out of their own coffers, not the sellers. 

If there is no agreed amount there is no reimbursement.  They check the messages.

For some sellers, whether to refund the return post depends on whether they care/expect negative feedback or not I guess.  I think ebay expects the risk of negative feedback enough to keep sellers in line. Pfft

In Australia the buyer can go through paypal to get the return post reimbursed if they were opted in to the promotion before the transaction. I don't know about other countries'.

It was quite awhile ago that I went though a returns process as a buyer or seller.  It may have changed but doesn't sound like it.