Best way to issue buyer refund

MyOnlyPost

From experience most retailers refund by the method payment was accepted. If it's good enough for Argos it's good enough for you (and more importantly your buyer). The reasons for this are:

1) To avoid fraud. It is not in a sellers interest to accept any payment other than cash and then refund in cash. Most non cash payments are subject to chargeback and could leave a seller out of pocket

2) To recoup charges. When accepting payment by Card or e-Wallet sellers incur a collection cost for the money. When refunding that payment the fees are usually reversed (definitely with paypal).

So the reasons to give your buyer are that he paid by paypal, therefore you need to refund by paypal. Also refunding in cash will cost you money in un recouped fees and leave you open to potential fraud. If the buyer will not move on this you are not obliged to meet him half way to collect the item. Ask him to return the item by trackable means and you will refund him on receipt. Even if you pay for the return postage you limit your losses and avoid losing the money twice.

I still think the meet half way and paypal transfer at the meeting is the best way forward if you can get him to agree to that. If you are worried about no signal see if you can find a cyber-cafe which is half way between you

soolin

I agree with Myonlypost- you refund via paypal and via the original payment made- or not at all. My alarm bells start ringing when I hear a buyer who paid by paypal then expect a cash refund.

Phaedos

Thanks for the help.

So after some arguing I managed to get him to accept paypal refund. However I haven't broached the topic of me wanting to do this at the meet via a cyber cafe/phone yet, I'm really scared that if I !!!! him off too much he will just do a chargeback or instead of meeting me half way will just tell me to pick it up at his house or he'll chargeback.

I don't know wether to just do this refund on the morning of the meet and go on trust from there, that he's coming, he seems like he would honour the argreement from the impression he has given me on the telephone (elderly country gent type) but of course appearances can be deceiving. I just don't want to rock to boat too much and make things worse by now pushing more stipulations on him after it was hard enough to get him to accept paypal refund.

Also I offered the bike second chance to next bidder (after informing him of corrections to advert of course), and this seems to stop me be able to do the refund seller fees thing on ebay. I understand that if the second guy accepts then there'll be nothing to refund, but if he declines I'll still be able to get the refund on fees right?

Phaedos

Which of these fee refund options is applicable to me? http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/credits.html

would the first be right?

hermum

Yes it's the first one, if the buyer agrees to a cancellation.
If your 2nd chance offer is accepted then you will have two lots of fees as ebay will assume that you have sold 2 of the same item.

Phaedos

I've found a mcdonalds just on the retail park opposite where we plan to meet that has free wifi. Would people push that he accepts the refund to be done at the exchange via mcdonalds wifi as oppose to on the morning before we set out say?

As I say, I don't want to rock the boat now, and I'm afraid he'll think I'm trying to con him with this, adding further complications. I do more or less trust him, but then what do I really know other than he sounds OK after 3 phone calls..

Phaedos

Ahhh, another problem: it seems if your balance in Paypal is zero you can't issue a refund. You have to wait 3-5 days it takes for the funds to come from your bank, you can't just instantly take funds from your credit card as normal, nightmere.

I will have to get a friend to send me funds via their credit card to my paypal account, and thus pay the fees in paypal after all despite doing an 'issue refund'. what a joke.

Will the buyer get the refund instantly into his paypal when I click issue refund?