Sold item on Ebay, buyer refused delivery

whitty

I sold an clothing item on Ebay, buyer paid and I posted out the following day, I sent it recorded delivery, I had not stated this in my postage just standard 2nd class as I had forgot to change to recorded but the price I had charged covered the cost of recorded. I posted it out 12/1 Royal Mail tried to deliver 14/1 but it has been refused and sent back to me !!

Just wanted peoples opinion, the buyer has not contacted me yet, am I going to have to do a full refund including the postage charge ? I know its only a few pounds but It really winds me up that I should have to be out of pocket when I have done my part as a seller, why buy something then not accept it ? I have the opportunity to send a second chance offer, should I just refund item amount and re sell ?

chompie

I would contact them and ask what has happened?


Maybe just didn't want to accept something he/she wasn't expecting (some people are silly like that)

pinkshoes

I would just ignore until they contact you.

faerielight

I had that recently, where the buyer contacted me saying that they had not received it but 2 days later I received the item back and it had the signature of the postie so she had obviously either refuse it or not gone to collect the item from the post office, it was really frustrating , ebay wouldn't refund me for the postage I paid and I had to relist it.

forgotmyname

faerielight wrote: »

I had that recently, where the buyer contacted me saying that they had not received it but 2 days later I received the item back and it had the signature of the postie so she had obviously either refuse it or not gone to collect the item from the post office, it was really frustrating , ebay wouldn't refund me for the postage I paid and I had to relist it.

It may have been the postal system at fault. I bought a book on ebay ages back. After 4 or 5 days i contacted the seller and he said he posted it right away when i won and paid. Checked the sorting office and no parcel.
He got back and it had been returned to him. I think they are supposed to hold the item for 7 days but this had been returned a lot faster than that.
I was in every day so had not missed the delivery i assume they didnt even try to deliver it.

ali-t

Some people don't accept recorded delivery if they aren't expecting anything as it could be linked to debt or legal issues. In this situation you should have notified the buyer that you we're upgrading it to recorded delivery so they were expecting it.

ballisticbrian

In this situation you should have notified the buyer that you we're upgrading it to recorded delivery so they were expecting it.

You will find that any small business will upgrade you to recorded or some other tracked service over a certain value when buying multiple items and there is no way in the eBay system (other than stating it in your terms) to accomplish this. And there's no way I would contact say 25 customers a day saying "I'm changing the postage method on this" because it would open up a can of worms.

mrcol1000

ballisticbrian wrote: »

You will find that any small business will upgrade you to recorded or some other tracked service over a certain value when buying multiple items and there is no way in the eBay system (other than stating it in your terms) to accomplish this. And there's no way I would contact say 25 customers a day saying "I'm changing the postage method on this" because it would open up a can of worms.

Agree with this. Would rather spend an extra quid upgrading to recorded than have the item not arrive. Have done this in the past lots of times with no problems.

Do not see why any buyer would have a problem with this. I can just about understand when you expect an item by Royal Mail and comes by courier being an issue but not recorded.

theoretica

mrcol1000 wrote: »

Agree with this. Would rather spend an extra quid upgrading to recorded than have the item not arrive. Have done this in the past lots of times with no problems.

Do not see why any buyer would have a problem with this. I can just about understand when you expect an item by Royal Mail and comes by courier being an issue but not recorded.

As a buyer, if I have the option I will choose a seller who does not say they use a signed for/recorded post. Especially for small items which will fit through the letter box. I am out when the post comes and have better uses for my time than an unanticipated trip out to the sorting office.

soolin

mrcol1000 wrote: »

Agree with this. Would rather spend an extra quid upgrading to recorded than have the item not arrive. Have done this in the past lots of times with no problems.

Do not see why any buyer would have a problem with this. I can just about understand when you expect an item by Royal Mail and comes by courier being an issue but not recorded.

Recorded was replaced by signed for last year and is an additional £1.10 per item. It is still just standard mail and is no more or less likely to arrive than basic 1st or 2nd class. It's only advantage is that it has a higher level of insurance against loss.

mrcol1000

soolin wrote: »

Recorded was replaced by signed for last year and is an additional £1.10 per item. It is still just standard mail and is no more or less likely to arrive than basic 1st or 2nd class. It's only advantage is that it has a higher level of insurance against loss.

When I said to make sure the item arrived, I actually meant its harder for the buyer to claim its not arrived, when they have had to sign for it.