Buyer wants postage refund- how much?

bxboards

soolin wrote: »

Hugs and sympathy but that will be no use when sellers lose their account.

A seller won't lose their account for charging the delivery charge that was on this listing.

Remember on the new defect system,P&P low stars will no longer count.

A buyer can be reported for trying to demand money - if you get Dublin on the line, they will read the messages, and in some cases issue buyers who do this with an MCxxx warning.

The item was delivered for the price agreed and no refund should be offered. I'd just tell the buyer to send it back, and list again with 'free P&P' but add 5 to the total price.

I never give into extortionists - once they get a taste for it, other sellers will be victims in the future.

I always take a hard line with buyers who try it on, and I find a polite but firm 'no' works wonders.

mrcol1000

Agree with the posts above about free postage. If you know your item will sell then load the postage costs on to your start price. Then people can't complain about you adding 2p to the stamp price for packaging.
I do not think you should refund. Postage charges are clearly listed. If they are too expensive then don't bid/buy. You shouldn't be blackmailed into refunding.

Saying all that. Your postage charges are quite high for a small parcel though. If you do refund then make sure you block them afterwards. I rarely block people for asking questions but telling me how much postage charges should be will make me block people.

bsms1147

Don't refund.

jon81uk

Last time I had a complaint on postage I did refund as the buyer sent a polite message (would rather they did this than leave dodgy comment and a neg). I thought it would be small parcel (£2.80 to post so I charge £3.20 to allow for the 10% ebay takes and packaging costs). It was small enough to be large latter so only cost £1.49, I refunded £1.50 so I wasn't out of pocket with the 32p eBay had already taken and packaging costs.

If you charged £4.99 for actual cost £2.80 I would refund around £1.50-£1.70 as ebay has alreadfy charged you 50p on the £4.99.

soolin

bxboards wrote: »

A seller won't lose their account for charging the delivery charge that was on this listing.

Remember on the new defect system,P&P low stars will no longer count.

A buyer can be reported for trying to demand money - if you get Dublin on the line, they will read the messages, and in some cases issue buyers who do this with an MCxxx warning.

The item was delivered for the price agreed and no refund should be offered. I'd just tell the buyer to send it back, and list again with 'free P&P' but add 5 to the total price.

I never give into extortionists - once they get a taste for it, other sellers will be victims in the future.

I always take a hard line with buyers who try it on, and I find a polite but firm 'no' works wonders.

My post did not suggest that the p and p star counts in the new defect rules. However it still counts for best match as per my explanation.

I would also caution against suggesting that eBay will protect a new seller against poor feedback and stars where a buyer is unhappy with postage costs.

VictorCharlie

No way would I refund. They knew the postage price when they bid so tough luck to them.


I personally offer free postage on my items though.

bxboards

soolin wrote: »

My post did not suggest that the p and p star counts in the new defect rules. However it still counts for best match as per my explanation.

I would also caution against suggesting that eBay will protect a new seller against poor feedback and stars where a buyer is unhappy with postage costs.

But all the seller needs to do is use 'free' P&P in future and move on. They need 5 defects to even start to worry and a low star won't count for postage in any case.

So advising a seller to refund seems like poor advice in this new world order as their account is in no danger from one rogue buyer.

charlies_mum

OP, only you can decide what to do. If your buyer leaves low stars for P & P, that no longer counts as a defect.


However, if they are unhappy enough to leave a negative, that will count and will sit on your account for 12 months. Another 7 defects in that time period could result in your account being restricted.

soolin

bxboards wrote: »

But all the seller needs to do is use 'free' P&P in future and move on. They need 5 defects to even start to worry and a low star won't count for postage in any case.

So advising a seller to refund seems like poor advice in this new world order as their account is in no danger from one rogue buyer.

I am perhaps guilty of being over concerned about the new defect ratings and am mindful this is a new seller. eBay have said that a single buyer cannot lose a person their account, but 5 in the course of a year can.

I am sure we all Agee that we get some odd buyers who either leave low stars in the 2 categories that do count as a defect, or perhaps accidentally open a case for INR when trying to ask a question. So to try and avoid a defect through a possible neutral , or even a malicious star elsewhere (which as a new seller eBay might not remove) would seem to be a good idea.

Obviously the OP needs to do what she thinks is right, but I am concerned that some people advising her to ignore do not fully understand the dangers that the new defect rate might bring.

jon81uk

charlies_mum wrote: »

OP, only you can decide what to do. If your buyer leaves low stars for P & P, that no longer counts as a defect.


However, if they are unhappy enough to leave a negative, that will count and will sit on your account for 12 months. Another 7 defects in that time period could result in your account being restricted.

As a new seller they may also need to think about the effect a neg would have on feedback percentage. If they only have a feedback score of 9 (for example) then the one negative would push it down to 80%. As a buyer a low percentage can be quite off putting.