Refunding Ediquette question

[lady_and_the_tramp]

I had several items (BNWT maternity clothing) that were identical but varried in sizes. One was Size L and 2 were XL.  My buyer asked a question re sizing as she wanted to know what the L & XL equaled in Sizes such as Size 14, or Size 16 etc.  Unsure myself I provided the Buyer with a link to the manafacures website that had very detailed info about sizing and I also measured both sizes I had  with a tape measure myself to give exact sizes of the actual items.  These details were all provided clearly so the buyer could make a informed decission.  A week and half later, she eventually hit the Buy It Now button and pourchased the XL, note the Size L had sold to another Buyer days before.  Parcel was sent using Medium size satchel $13.10, and a few days later Buyer contacted me and asked if she returned could she swap the item for the Size L as she didn't relaise the Size XL would be so big.  I replied that I was happy to swap the item for another Size, but unfortuantly I don't have an alternative in the Brand or condition BNWT in the Size she wanted. I offered cheaper items that were in EUC, but another brand & style, but she declined and then asked "where do we go from here"....My policiy states I am happy to refund if products are faulty etc, but I also offered a full refund of the actual product if she would return to me in the same manner I had sent eg: still with tags and in New condition so I could relist them. I reminded her that Pay Pal had a promotion that she could claim the return shipping.   She agreed and the item was returned to me.  I have now just gone to my Ebay sellers account to refund the item price, but it is only allowing me to refund the WHOLE amount including the postage which is NOT what I want to do, I am only wanting to refund the item price.......Do I just refund direct through Pay Pal to do this and will my sellers fees etc be credit back to me?  any suggestions welcomed please

[joethenuts]

springy she has got her goods back,she told the buyer that paypal will pay her back for sending the item back , that might not be true,  what does she do know , 

[bakeandfry]

If the buyer did accept paypals promo, the buyer will have to provide paypal of proof of postage, as far as a refund Ausbargain advice is spot on, plus seller can add a mesage or note with the refund, it should be on record with buyers inboxed emails, im almost positive it shows on buyers brought items that they recived a refund as well. Maybe someone who is more in the know will comment....

[pennyforum14]

I'm just going by what I read about the free returns policy, but I think it states that to claim your free return the return process must be handled through the Paypal or eBay returns system.  Sending a refund as Send Money, even with a covering note, may not cut the mustard.  What's more, since it may be construed as an attempt to avoid the approved eBay/Paypal processes (which in fact it is, albeit for very good reason) would you really want your buyer to bring it to Paypal's attention?

If it were me, I would simply explain to the customer that she would not be eligible for the paypal free returns thing after all, as she did not register before buying.  Tell her that under the circumstances, you would be happy to refund the pruchase price, less fees and excluding the original postage (which you did after all pay out), but that she would need to cover the cost of return postage herself.

[phorum_junkie*]

I think the mistake was even mentioning that Paypal would have paid the return postage. The OP should just have said that they would refund for item price only once they receive the item back with the tags still attached. If they had then done a partial refund of the item price only through Paypal they would not have got a defect.

If it were me and I had said Paypal would cover the return without explaining all the details and jumping through hoops required I would just take the loss and refund in full for the original postage but not the return costs.