who pays return postage?

ex-homelessdude2

sold a wool scarf last week and was delivered 6 days ago.
just received message saying it has holes in it and to get back to them to resolve.

so i offered refund and my return address as its cheap item and not worth hassle.

now they ask me 'to confirm that the full fund includes my return postage (i'll use the recorded service for posting back)'

but this is going to end costing me more in postage than item was sold for.

who is liable for return postage?

and at what cost? (it was £3.90 to send proof of receipt which is fine) but recorded in £7+
should i ask for proof of holes too?
their feedback for other ppl is 4 negs out of 6 so they seem to be a victor mildrew type....the 4 negs are accounts with only 1 neg from this person

thanks

beneficentluge

If it's not the buyer's fault then the seller has to carry the return postage costs usually.

edwink

Why not just refund what they paid including their postage and tell them to keep the scarf.

That way they may not leave you negative feedback because they get to keep the scarf. And you do not have to pay the return postage for it. If the scarf has hole in you won't be able to sell it again so you may as well let them keep it.

I believe if the item is faulty you are liable for the return postage. You would have to add the return cost amount to their refund.

ex-homelessdude2

Why not just refund what they paid including their postage and tell them to keep the scarf.

cos they might be a chancer....plus i think its a given theyre going to leave negative feedback....but im just having a clearout so not too fussed about my feedback

im happy to pay postage but cant find info on ebay as to what type of postage.

think ill ask for proof first

shaun_from_Africa

ex-homelessdude2 wrote: »

and at what cost? (it was £3.90 to send proof of receipt which is fine) but recorded in £7+

£7+, How heavy is it?
You can send a small parcel, 2nd class signed for, up to 2KG in weight for only £3.90

ex-homelessdude2

£3.90 is fine but thats proof of receipt
they want recorded which is tracked and is almost as much as the item cost so i was worried theyre a scammer trying to charge me expensive postage so as i give up and tell them to keep it

mrcol1000

If they open a case for not described then you will get a defect and Ebay will charge you £3 or so for returned tracked postage. Personally I'd only return something tracked as what is to stop the seller claiming it never arrived back? You could always offer to send them a My Hermes label so they can drop it off at a My Hermes parcel shop. It'll only be £2.60 and the buyer has the added security of it being fully tracked.

You can just ignore them and they might just leave you negative feedback instead. They could open a case, ignoring that would mean Ebay would most likely force a refund and they would not need to return the item.

As others have said, if the item is not as described then you are responsible for return postage costs. They would be crazy to return it without some kind of proof you got it back. So really you need to decide how much you want to spend solving this.

Flyonthewall

It's no longer called recorded, it's signed for.

Signed for is fine for returns.

If it's less than 2kg it can go 2nd class signed for as a small parcel which is £3.90. That means you'll sign for it upon return and buyer will have proof of delivery.

If it's less than 1KG it go via myhermes tracked for £2.60 or if it's between 1-2KG then £3.78.

Ebay state items should be sent back tracked so the buyer has proof of delivery and seller can't try and get out of refunding.

They may be hoping that due to the cost you'll refund without a return, but they're not trying to scam you with expensive postage, postage just is stupidly expensive. Nor are they trying to scam you with tracked, it's what ebay states and the buyer can prove delivery if there are any issues.

If you know the item was fine when you sent it then why would it suddenly have loads of holes in? It's not as though something like that can be damaged in delivery unless something sharp kept going through it but then the packaging would be damaged too.

Ask to see a photo of the item. If they are scamming that may put them off. If they send a photo and it looks fine say you'll accept a return but they'll have to pay return postage. If it does have holes then you'll have to accept a return and pay the postage, which sadly isn't cheap but that's not the buyer fault, or you can just refund and let them keep the item.

Only other option would be to offer a partial refund if there are holes, but if they're just trying it on and there are no holes I'd state for them to return at their cost. They may not accept a partial refund though so then you'd have to accept a return/just refund anyway.

ex-homelessdude2

can i pay for myhermes then send them a label?

campdave

Did you send a scarf with holes in?

If so, refund the buyer without them needing to refund.

If not, why are you considering doing anything without any sort of evidence of the holes?

ballisticbrian

Get a photo of the holes. When you've seen it, decide whether you really want a scarf, with holes or not as the case may be, back again. Then, it might just be a clear-out to you, but you must describe items in detail to make sure your items meet peoples expectations.