eBay return & refund question from private seller

ANNA

I am a private seller of my surplus household items.

I have a no returns policy, (except if misdescribed). My buyer based her purchase soley on my photo and did not read the description. She had her phone set to night mode and it changed the colour of my item. She opened a misdescribed return. I have messaged her and I agreed to accept the return (fear of neg. feedback!) provided she paid the postages. I got my item back today so I need to refund my buyer the net purchase price.

What option do I select in the open return case? I don't want to bear eBay seller fees. I don't want the returns case to impact my future sales. There is an option of "Offer a partial refund." ...buyer keeps the item. Or there is ""Ask us to step in and help".

Please advise me.

soolin

For future reference a return case for a change of mind can still be opened by buyer- that way they pay their return postage and ebay will sell them a label. They are however entitled to have their outward postage refunded and usually if a return case is opened the seller just confirms that item has been returned and the sale is then cancelled, buyer gets their refund and ebay return the FVFs to the seller less the 30p standing charge.

If buyer has opened an SNAD then your only option is to refund in full but at that point your FVFs, less 30p will be refunded.

Pollycat

soolin said:

For future reference a return case for a change of mind can still be opened by buyer- that way they pay their return postage and ebay will sell them a label. They are however entitled to have their outward postage refunded and usually if a return case is opened the seller just confirms that item has been returned and the sale is then cancelled, buyer gets their refund and ebay return the FVFs to the seller less the 30p standing charge.

If buyer has opened an SNAD then your only option is to refund in full but at that point your FVFs, less 30p will be refunded.

If, as a private seller, you have a 'no returns' policy and someone raises a SNAD and it is their mistake for not reading the listing fully, can you reject the SNAD?
It doesn't sound fair that a mistake by the buyer should mean a seller's 'no return' policy is over-ruled.

soolin

Pollycat said:

soolin said:

For future reference a return case for a change of mind can still be opened by buyer- that way they pay their return postage and ebay will sell them a label. They are however entitled to have their outward postage refunded and usually if a return case is opened the seller just confirms that item has been returned and the sale is then cancelled, buyer gets their refund and ebay return the FVFs to the seller less the 30p standing charge.

If buyer has opened an SNAD then your only option is to refund in full but at that point your FVFs, less 30p will be refunded.

If, as a private seller, you have a 'no returns' policy and someone raises a SNAD and it is their mistake for not reading the listing fully, can you reject the SNAD?
It doesn't sound fair that a mistake by the buyer should mean a seller's 'no return' policy is over-ruled.

You can appeal and whether you win depends on your listing. I have won more than one SNAD and colour is an easy one for a seller to defend, as long as the colour was shown in the item specifics- not just the description. The most recent one I can think of was a blue item, my item specific said blue - buyer opened a case stating she had received a blue item but the photo showed a green one. I phoned ebay, they checked my item specifics- saw I had sold it as blue and buyer is claiming it isn't 'green' and closed the case in my favour. I would however have lost the case if my item specifics had been blank for colour.

Anecdotally of course private sellers often get SNAD claims open, when in fact it is a buyer change of mind- as buyers think that is the only way to get a refund. I personally have refunds enabled on my private account as offering returns often puts a buyer of returning once they realise they have to pay return tracked postage. 

ANNA

soolin said:

If buyer has opened an SNAD then your only option is to refund in full but at that point your FVFs, less 30p will be refunded.

But eBay is offering me several different options:

Accept the return

You pay for postage and can send our return label or your own. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer.

Give a full refund

You can fully refund the buyer to close this request. The buyer keeps the item.

Offer a partial refund

You have one chance to offer an amount. The buyer keeps the item.

Send the buyer a message

You can reply to the buyer.

Ask us to step in and help

If there's a problem, you can ask us to step in and help.

soolin

ANNA said:

soolin said:

If buyer has opened an SNAD then your only option is to refund in full but at that point your FVFs, less 30p will be refunded.

But eBay is offering me several different options:

Accept the return

You pay for postage and can send our return label or your own. Wait to get the item back before you refund the buyer.

Give a full refund

You can fully refund the buyer to close this request. The buyer keeps the item.

Offer a partial refund

You have one chance to offer an amount. The buyer keeps the item.

Send the buyer a message

You can reply to the buyer.

Ask us to step in and help

If there's a problem, you can ask us to step in and help.

Apologies, I read the first post as though buyer had already agreed to return the item at their cost.

Your only choices are therefore the ones that you have been given to ebay, depending on the time frame (and don't let this time out whatever you do!) it is always worth phoning ebay especially if your item specifics support the fact that your buyer has made a false claim.

If you can't show beyond doubt that buyer is wrong, then you have no choice except to pay ebay to provide a label and get the item returned for a full refund. You can try offering a partial refund and letting them keep the item - but that doesn't stop the clock at all and if buyer doesn't respond you would then need to accept the return.

As I mentioned above, anecdotally buyers occasionally open SNAD claims  where a private seller has no returns policy, as it is the only way they can get a refund.

I cannot stress enough though, watch the escalation date- at the point buyer can report that seller has failed to rectify the issue, then they get a full refund and you lose your FVFs and the item.

ANNA

I have selected the partial refund option and entered the purchase price. It has refunded my seller fees. My buyer agreed to bear the postages. I'm down only 30p. I think I get 80% off seller fees this weekend, so I can relist it then.