Partial Refunds - yes or no?

***cupcake***_2

Dipping my toe back into ebay waters this week and already got a buyer requesting a partial.

What is the general consensus?

Is this still a way for a buyer to bid high to secure an item then get money back, or is it a way for a seller to keep a buyer happy and to ensure buyer f/b is good?

Hmmn. I don't feel my item is mis-described (I have 2000+ pos f/b over 8 yrs), and I think I'd rather request a return.

Any thoughts?

TIA CC:) xx

chemical.galaxy

Hi - I had a similar question recently and general advice was not to offer partial refunds as this could become habitual!

This was for a new item, nothing wrong with it at all.
So I offered a full refund on return which was rejected.
I got a false positive and my DSR's were hammered (although I did manage to get this removed by Ebay)

In future I will not be giving partial refunds either despite the hassle and headache this buyer caused me!

hermum

I won't-don't give partial refunds, mainly because I'm a hard hearted !!!!!.
I would rather give a full refund on return of the item & if when I got it back if I thought that the buyer was right, my description was crap or something then I would refund the return postage.
There's no way of making sure you get good feedback. All you can do is your best & hope that the buyer is satisfied but there's always people who want 110%, (they obviously missed school that day).

Hammyman

No partials. If they don't like it, tell them they can send it back.

***cupcake***_2

Thank you - that's the way I feel too.

I combined postage for this buyer - do I ask for all items (4) to be returned even though he only wants a partial for 1 (the highest cost one )?

And if they send only 1 back how do I go about refunding postage?

Sorry for all the questions. Ebay seems to be harder than I remember from last summer xx

hermum

I'd give him 1/4 of the postage costs, I'm sure that you will get conflicting answers.

Crowqueen

***cupcake*** wrote: »

Dipping my toe back into ebay waters this week and already got a buyer requesting a partial.

What is the general consensus?

Is this still a way for a buyer to bid high to secure an item then get money back, or is it a way for a seller to keep a buyer happy and to ensure buyer f/b is good?

Hmmn. I don't feel my item is mis-described (I have 2000+ pos f/b over 8 yrs), and I think I'd rather request a return.

Any thoughts?

TIA CC:) xx

Only time I've ever had to do this, I did so unilaterally by refunding a couple of quid because I'd messed up and not noticed until the end of the listing. I'd got £10 for the item so I thought - because I'd listed instructions included (for a tarot deck - it's not hard to get hold of card meanings but some decks are more specific as to what their cards mean - so some people do like having the instructions) and they weren't there. Ironically, I found the instructions just before I posted the item so in the end I refunded for nothing. I never heard from the buyer again but she didn't ask for money off, I volunteered it because I knew I was responsible for the mistake.

I wouldn't do it unless I was 100% sure I was at fault or it wasn't worth me getting the item back (in which case I'd refund everything).

I would personally say that if you part refund, you are admitting responsibility for any fault, so you need to be 100% sure you are in the wrong before you issue one, even just to get rid of someone. I would always ask for them to return the item if I was reasonably sure that the buyer wasn't telling the truth. In terms of plausible scenarios (e.g. broken electronic item, faulty electronic item, electronic item damaged in transit) I'd usually refund the whole thing and tell them to keep it. If it was, say, a book or an item of clothing, I'd ask for it back.

It so, so much depends on the context for me. I very rarely think making any hard and fast rules is useful when dealing on eBay because there are so many different situations that can arise.

If in doubt though always ask for a return and say you will refund return postage to make sure you get it back. You may not hear any more from someone trying it on, and CS are getting more diligent about feedback removal.

***cupcake***_2

Thanks for that. Good to hear others perspectives.

I list at 99p start plus postage as my items are used and I make sure they are described very carefully and photographed honestly.

I feel the buyer is 'trying their luck' with an item they bid high for to win and now they have it want some money back.

I have apologised and stated I knew of no fault and politely requested the return of the item and offered full refund upon receiving it back.. I have also asked for clarification of the problem...........;)

I'll update as and when xx

ThinkingOfLinking

I did one once purely to ensure my ratings would remain high. I sold 2 items to the same buyer who did not ask me about combined postage (I don't offer this as my prices are low enough that I sometimes lose money sending stuff). Anyway...she received the items and loved them and then asked for a partial on the postage. I ended up refunding her 1/3 of the costs as a gesture of goodwill which meant it cost me a few quid to send her items which were over £100 but which she paid the bargainous price of £9 for. I knew she was just trying it on but buyers have all the power so I had no choice.

pitkin2020

If the buyer contacts me with an issue but doesn't mention anything about a refund/return etc then I may offer a partial refund just to resolve the issue quickly. If the buyer contacts me stating they want a partial refund because x, y, z is wrong then I always ask them to return for a full refund, 9 times out of 10 the problem seems to magically resolve it and the buyer doesn't get in touch again.

hermum

pitkin2020 wrote: »

If the buyer contacts me with an issue but doesn't mention anything about a refund/return etc then I may offer a partial refund just to resolve the issue quickly. If the buyer contacts me stating they want a partial refund because x, y, z is wrong then I always ask them to return for a full refund, 9 times out of 10 the problem seems to magically resolve it and the buyer doesn't get in touch again.

I'm still waiting to get a pair of shoes back that the buyer reckoned were 2 different sizes, a 5 & a 7, or something like that.
They asked for a partial refund because, of course that would have made them the same size.
That was months ago.
I offered a full refund & return postage once I'd checked them.
Some people do like to push their luck.