Do you refund on postage if refunding an item sold on eBay?

so3003

... is when sellers charge ludicrous postage costs - for example, £2 for the postage of a DVD that then arrives in an envelope with the "50p" price written in the top corner, and a 47p second class postage stamp attached. Grrrrrr!

steveh2001

so3003 wrote:

... is when sellers charge ludicrous postage costs - for example, £2 for the postage of a DVD that then arrives in an envelope with the "50p" price written in the top corner, and a 47p second class postage stamp attached. Grrrrrr!

I charge £2 for DVDs usually - dont forget its not just postage, its packing, printer ink, selotape, petrol to the post office etc etc etc. And also you agree to the postage costs before you buy, so if you've got a problem with £2, dont buy it!

steveh2001

lovemoneysavingdeals wrote:

I agree with most posts about refunds , to my cost just got my 1st neg feedback . Buyer was very rude abrupt & insulting I offered refund then he leaves me neg feedback saying I refused to refund him . He then sends report via paypal saying i was miselling an item , hes still not replied since i offered refund if item returned. I asked him to withdraw feedback , again more insults wanted me to refund him before return of goods & said I should suffer with neg feedback .
I now only leave feedback after feedback is received . I always refund if buyer unhappy , usually including postage . (except beauty items ). I am always very polite & professional no matter how the buyer is with me.
In fact the more a buyer is rude the more polite I am as they usually back down & realise I am not trying to con them .

Sorry to hear about ur first neg - i know that would annoy me, having managed to keep my 100%. I always leave f/b first, becaue then the buyers done their half of the deal, adds an element of trust i guess. But i can understand switching if they left u a neg

Teresa60

I have just refunded for someone who bought a dress from me, they wanted the refund because it wasnt as they expected. I have refunded them, now reading this I wish I hadnt. But my thinking is, if you go to a shop, buy something without trying it on you would bring it back if you didnt like it and get a refund. Same principle surely?

steveh2001

Teresa60 wrote:

I have just refunded for someone who bought a dress from me, they wanted the refund because it wasnt as they expected. I have refunded them, now reading this I wish I hadnt. But my thinking is, if you go to a shop, buy something without trying it on you would bring it back if you didnt like it and get a refund. Same principle surely?

YEp but were talkign about the postage costs here, as you cant simply take the ebay item back 2 a shop, you've got to post it there and get it sent back.

Personally if its the buyers fault e.g. in your case they got it but its the wrong size, then i woudlnt refund their p&p

If its my fault, e.g. in your case, you'd sent out the wrong size dress, then i would have refunded both return and the original postage

Teresa60

Just to clarify, I hadnt sent out the wrong size dress, it was the only one I had, they just didnt like it when they got it!! But thanks for the reply.

steveh2001

Teresa60 wrote:

Just to clarify, I hadnt sent out the wrong size dress, it was the only one I had, they just didnt like it when they got it!! But thanks for the reply.

Yea i was only using examples

See in that case - i wouldnt have refunded their postage, If its a case of buyer didnt like it they should have read the auction more carefully! Now your out of pocket for the postage

troubrs

My OH bought a magazine for 99p which cost £2,50 postage. When it arrived it was really badly damaged & not in the condition described (it was described as A1 excellent condition, but the cover was torn & creased). The seller said he would refund on return of the magazine but wouldn't refund postage. So my OH would have had to spend £2 to post it back + £2.50 postage to receive it anyway, just to get 99p back! So I think postage should have been refunded. We once sold a dud printer (accidentally, not realising it was not working correctly) & refunded postage, the cost of the printer, plus money for the replacement cartridges the buyer had purchased to try to get it to work (which incidentally they didn't ask for).

steveh2001

I think in both those cases as you say the postage should have been refunded as you (by accident) sold a dud printer, and the guy with the magazine had misdescribed the item. Only times i dont refund postage is if the mistake is not mine, and is the buyers. Although i try not to give reasons for returning the item anway by describing the items very well!

Purplefin

bleugh wrote:

does depend on the reason,
if they 'change their mind' i won't refund at all, its 'tough luck', but if they were very nice then i'd refund less postage

any faults of my own, i refund ALL postage, including their returning opst costs, why should the buyer be out of pocket?

Just a small note - the web sites quoted for PayPal 'warnings' may be out to sell Real merchant credit card services - they look too slick to me. What do others out there think? This is just my personal opinion not an official line.

The best advice for anyone using PayPal is link it to one bank account, but make sure you have another bank account with that bank and keep your balance in PayPal low and transfer any funds in your linked bank account out of it to your other bank account. All transfers out of PayPal are free over £50.

At least this will protect you from unexpected transfers and give you a chance to discuss issues with PayPal before the money has gone out of your PayPal or linked bank account. It's a bit late to start having a conversation when the money has gone!

A note of caution - you must make sure there's enough money in the account to cover any legitimate items you have bought using PayPal.

On the refund postage topic - if the item is faulty I refund the buyers' postage costs and I pay for the postage to send them a new one.