Someone paid for item, not wants to cancel...eBay fees?

shapala

Hi guys. I've now set myself up as a business user on eBay and my very FIRST sell has resulted in an unfortunate case. Someone bought and paid for an item I have for sale. Great!!......2 hours later their other half sent an email asking nicely if they could be refunded as their drunk other half bought it on spur of the moment without realising their finances couldn't stretch to buying it (item cost £159).

I'm willing to refund the person but what happens about the Paypal and eBay fees? How can I get them back? Thanks for any and all help.

soolin

If you refund via the original payment your paypal fees are refunded to you less 20p.

To get the FVFs back on ebay you need to do a mutual cancellation, you cannot get your listing fees back though.

shapala

Thanks soolin ;-)

Ok, so I just login to my Paypal account and 'issue refund'. How do I then initiate a 'mutual cancellation'? Would it be fair to ask for the buyer to pay for my listing fee of £0.40 + £0.20 Paypal fee, or is that being too stingy?

plumface

To start a mutual cancellation:-
Log in to Ebay.
Top right hand corner is the 'customer support' tab
Hover over it and 'resolution centre' appears.
Click on that and simply follow the instructions.

I would hold out on the refund until the buyer agrees to the cancellation request as you then have no 'leverage' in getting your FVF back otherwise.

soolin

plumface wrote: »

To start a mutual cancellation:-
Log in to Ebay.
Top right hand corner is the 'customer support' tab
Hover over it and 'resolution centre' appears.
Click on that and simply follow the instructions.

I would hold out on the refund until the buyer agrees to the cancellation request as you then have no 'leverage' in getting your FVF back otherwise.

You cannot do a mutual until the refund is made.

techspec

soolin wrote: »

You cannot do a mutual until the refund is made.

Same thing happened to me yesterday - and i agreed to a refund AFTER they cancelled the sale.

They promptly cancelled - and THEN i promptly refunded and we exchanged feedback.

But paypal/ebay do have a line in the cancellation request warning buyers to get the refund first.

This is just a way of none-paying bidders to avoid a black mark - they pay and then demand their money back. You cannot then open a case - they should still get a black mark. I still lost the listing fees.

plumface

soolin wrote: »

You cannot do a mutual until the refund is made.

Er....Yes you can!

theonlywayisup

I think I'm right (and I'm sure she will correct me) but I am sure Soolin meant you shouldn't do a mutual until you have done the refund, for the very reason techspec outlines. There is a note telling the buyer not to cancel until they have their refund. Buyers then refuse the cancellation and you are stuck with the fees.

Email first, explaining you are refunding and asking eBay to cancel the transaction. Tell them it doesn't affect any part of the sale, it is just for eBay to refund your selling fees. Explain that eBay will email them and ask them to agree. I usually thank them for their swift help and tell them I hope to do business again.

Then refund, then start the mutual. Click the 'buyer changed mind' option. I normally go into the dispute and add something along the lines of...buyer no longer wishes to purchase, full refund issued, please cancel for reimbursement of fees.

They get the cancellation and can either agree, decline or do nothing. If they do nothing, it times out after 7 days in your favour.

soolin

apologies , my posts tend to be brief when I use the ipad as I only have minutes between keep getting logged out.

The last time I tried to assist someone with doing a mutual when the payment was still not refunded it went right through to the final screen and then would not proceed unless the seller refunded first. maybe that was unique to the seller as she was fairly new.

However, I do believe it is wrong to expect a buyer to agree to a mutual before the money is refunded, it becomes too confrontational and is likely to end with poor feedback. If buyer is entitled to a refund, or even if you suspect buyer will just refuse the packet if you insist on sending it you gain nothing by annoying the buyer.

A mutual allows the buyer to leave feedback whether they agree or not, so a bolshy buyer could refuse the mutual and then that leaves seller with no where to go really.

shapala

Many, many thanks guys.

I sent an email to the buyer telling him I'd cancel the item if he agreed to a mutual and he was more than happy to cancel the transaction. I then refunded him and have since relisted the item.

So we can still exchange feedback despite it being a purchase which didn't go through?

soolin

shapala wrote: »

Many, many thanks guys.

I sent an email to the buyer telling him I'd cancel the item if he agreed to a mutual and he was more than happy to cancel the transaction. I then refunded him and have since relisted the item.

So we can still exchange feedback despite it being a purchase which didn't go through?

Feedback can be left both ways, as a seller you can of course only leave a positive.