Relisting uncollected items

[bettyboopsadaisy]

I have had an item I sold, was paid for and had sent returned to me after it sat at the buyer's PO for two weeks uncollected.

I of course wrote to them explaining the situation and requesting a repayment of the postage cost so that I could resend it to them.

I have heard nothing from them.

I suspect that the most likely explanation is some sort illness or misadventure (personal or family member) that has taken the buyer away from ebay altogether.

My question is how long should a seller wait before such items may be relisted ? Does ebay have a policy about this? I looked but couldn't find anything about this situation.

Afterall, legally the item belongs to the buyer and I don't want to do the wrong thing and get myself into 'hot water' with ebay or the buyer.

[egglesdtp]

I had a similar situation recently, and in the end (can't remember how long I waited) but I refunded the Paypal payment to the buyer, and then relisted.

[phorum_junkie*]

You should not even think of relisting it unless you refund the buyer first,. You can refund just the item price less your fvfs then you are not out of pocket and can relist. If there is some reason you cannot refund, for instance they paid with bank deposit, then you should wait at least a couple of months then if you still have not heard from them re sell and give the money to charity. It would be morally wrong to keep the money you had already been paid.

[bettyboopsadaisy]

Thanks for your 'helpful' response - I feel well and truly lectured to !!!

Quite unnecessary, since my original post indicated that I was keen to do the right thing.

My moral compass is also in good working order - I don't need to be told how to do the 'moral' thing.

[rocket2retro]

You have emailed the buyer & notified them that the item has been returned.The onus is now on them to reply. If they don't respond I'd wait out the time until the transaction is removed from eBay & then relist.

[kopenhagen5]

Or perhaps the card left by Aus Post blew away and they weren't informed to collect.

As suggested if no response, refund the buyer less eBay fees and postage cost then you are free to relist.

Time frames of abandoned goods are only relevant if you can't refund and that is usually 60 or 90 days depending on which state in Aus. 

[dazzledayz]

It's probably as you say, some unexpected event has interfered with the transaction.

Just hang onto the item until you hear from the buyer.

In cases like this (and I've had a few) I just send them an eBay email (the same one) every Sunday night for a month.

(this will ensure you catch them if they are returning to work after a holiday plus you'll have an eBay record of your attempts).

If I still haven't heard I just sit on the item for another 5 months.

You must be very careful about disposal of uncollected goods as the process is very highly controlled and varies from state to state.

Here is a link to the Qld system but your state could be very different:

Qld - Uncollected Goods Rules

You'll notice that in Qld any profit from resale minus costs must go to the Public Trustee.

You'll also notice that the rules are only geared for B&M trading; there is no consideration of onlne sales.

You'll also notice the requirements for advertising (public notices of intended disposal).

This is usually common amongst states.

Often it's a better idea to just hold the item indefinitely as the alternatives are too onerous.

Then there's eBay; they have no good mechanism for dealing with refunds and cancellations as they rely on the buyer notifying them that the refund has been received.

You may not be able to depend on your PayPal records to prove a refund either as certain information seems to be firewalled between the two firms post split.

Good luck with it but as I said earlier, I think the best course of action is to do nothing unfortunately.

(apart from email communication of course)

[kopenhagen5]

Yes but once refunded, it is no longer uncollected goods and the seller owns the goods again.

As you say wait until you hear back from the buyer but I wouldn't wait longer than 1 week.

[dazzledayz]

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@kopenhagen5 wrote:

Yes but once refunded, it is no longer uncollected goods and the seller owns the goods again.

As you say wait until you hear back from the buyer but I wouldn't wait longer than 1 week.

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But as I said, the eBay process involved in a one sided refund is not a particularly good one.

I really don't know what will happen if the buyer never responds to the cancellation request.

Where do we stand if the refund is never indicated as received?

How is the PayPal record viewed by eBay and the State Fair Trading beauracracy?

What happens if the trasaction is via direct deposit?

So many variables and possible legal complications if the buyer is not cooperative or just not available.

At least if we just sit on the sale until it goes stale eBay loses interest but PayPal has its 180 day refund policy to contend with now.

I still think the best bet is to just wait until something happens and communicate repeatedly in the first instance.

[kopenhagen5]

I see your point but if payment was in PayPal and refunded in PayPal a case couldn't be opened or if it is, as soon as the seller informs of a refund, the case will close in sellers favour.

If a cancellation request has no response for 7 days it can be closed by the seller.

However I believe the new system now allows a seller to cancel a transaction without needing the buyer to agree.

(I personally have not done one)

I agree, if the seller is not in hurry to sell the item and from a polite, caring standpoint, I also would give the buyer plenty of time to respond, but don't think the seller is under any eBay policy, legal or moral conditions to do more than refund after no response within a reasonable period of time.