What is the procedure when a buyer is not at home 3 times and the parcel is returned to the seller?

ailey

I've never had this happen before so just wondered if someone can enlighten me please. I posted a parcel and the buyer left a note for the courier to leave the parcel behind her bin on her own drive. The courier didn't leave it so tried again a second and third day, each time ignoring the buyer's note of where to leave the parcel. Today the parcel was returned to me. I completed my part of the sale by wrapping and posting the parcel so I'm hoping I don't have to lose the postage cost once the buyer gets her refund. Who actually pays for the postage? Thanks for your help.

savergrant

Is this ebay? Or another platform?
Did the buyer expressly agree to the courier you used? As in was that the postage option they paid for or was it communicated before you sent it?

se2020

Presume this is an ebay sale?
Depends how much effort you want to put into this.

You could message the buyer and ask them to cover the cost of re-sending the item.
If they will then you could offer to send with a service that will allow it to be left in a safe place.

Or you could just swallow the cost and resend it anyway with instructions to leave behind the bin then keep an eye on the tracking and message them to let them know it is there.

Personally,  I'd check the item when I got it back, if it's ok I'd cancel the sale (use problem with buyers address) then block them to stop them buying again.
Sounds harsh but, I've had a couple of problems like this before.
One turned out to be royal mail would not actually leave any parcels in a safe place for that buyer as they had made multiple false claims they were not delivered (although I only found that out as royal mail sent me an email by mistake that should have go to the investigation team)

Other was a buyer that had bought my item as a buy-it-now but then won another the same at auction after I had posted it. Excuse was she only put a low bid on the auction so didn't think she would win but now she had she didn't want mine any more.
This truth didn't come out until it had been returned once and I had posted it again at my own cost.

Unfortunately,  with ebay, if its not 'delivered' the buyer can get a full refund. Even if its the buyer refusing to accept it or collect it from the local depot.

Message the buyer and see how sorry/helpful they are.
Maybe put a bit more effort in if it's something that's particularly slow to sell but if it will be sold again within a week I'd be relisting it. 
Very rare buyers can't get the item After 3 delivery attempts so I'd be suspicious of the reasons why.

ailey

savergrant said:

Is this ebay? Or another platform?
Did the buyer expressly agree to the courier you used? As in was that the postage option they paid for or was it communicated before you sent it?

Yes I had Evri listed as the courier on my Buy it Now listing. I don't think the buyer had any issue with which courier but just that the courier wouldn't leave it where her note instructed.

ailey

se2020 said:

Presume this is an ebay sale?
Depends how much effort you want to put into this.

You could message the buyer and ask them to cover the cost of re-sending the item.
If they will then you could offer to send with a service that will allow it to be left in a safe place.

Or you could just swallow the cost and resend it anyway with instructions to leave behind the bin then keep an eye on the tracking and message them to let them know it is there.

Personally,  I'd check the item when I got it back, if it's ok I'd cancel the sale (use problem with buyers address) then block them to stop them buying again.
Sounds harsh but, I've had a couple of problems like this before.
One turned out to be royal mail would not actually leave any parcels in a safe place for that buyer as they had made multiple false claims they were not delivered (although I only found that out as royal mail sent me an email by mistake that should have go to the investigation team)

Other was a buyer that had bought my item as a buy-it-now but then won another the same at auction after I had posted it. Excuse was she only put a low bid on the auction so didn't think she would win but now she had she didn't want mine any more.
This truth didn't come out until it had been returned once and I had posted it again at my own cost.

Unfortunately,  with ebay, if its not 'delivered' the buyer can get a full refund. Even if its the buyer refusing to accept it or collect it from the local depot.

Message the buyer and see how sorry/helpful they are.
Maybe put a bit more effort in if it's something that's particularly slow to sell but if it will be sold again within a week I'd be relisting it. 
Very rare buyers can't get the item After 3 delivery attempts so I'd be suspicious of the reasons why.

Yes it was an Ebay sale. As far as I know the buyer did still want to receive her purchase. I don't think she'd be happy to pay twice for postage for a low cost item. 

The parcel is still okay as it's not been delivered and not opened. Who pays for the postage if I was to cancel and can I actually cancel with it already have been posted and returned?

The tracking is showing as Delivered but that was to my address although it doesn't say that. 

Just confusing as the buyer has paid for the item and the postage but Evri hasn't completed their part of the deal so neither the buyer nor the seller should be out of pocket but one of us will lose out I suppose.

savergrant

"The tracking is showing as Delivered but that was to my address although it doesn't say that."

Is that the tracking on eBay?
I would imagine it makes it harder for the buyer to claim "item not received"

ailey

savergrant said:

"The tracking is showing as Delivered but that was to my address although it doesn't say that."

Is that the tracking on eBay?
I would imagine it makes it harder for the buyer to claim "item not received"

Yes it's showing as delivered on EBay and also on Evri tracking. I certainly wouldn't do anything wrong but I just want to get the best outcome for both of us but no doubt one of us will be out of pocket through no fault of either of us.

savergrant

Was the label purchased through ebay? If so then they have definitely tried to deliver to the address given to eBay, and presumably left a card with instructions and communicating that they do not agree to the suggested safe place. In your shoes I'd be issuing a refund of the item price. The buyer is going to have difficulty convincing ebay that they haven't received it, and ebay can't see you as responsible for it being returned to you undelivered. If you had purchased the postage outside ebay and got the address wrong or missed an instruction it might be a different story....
That happened to me once where I didn't realise part of the address was a collection code, so when the buyer went to collect it wasn't recorded. Fortunately being a big green bag they managed to find it...eventually.

ailey

No I purchased posted from the Evri website. I saw the tracking on there and they had tried to deliver last week then updated on the tracking it said they'd try the next day. Same thing, not left behind the bin as per her note instructions and the tracking was again updated to say they'd try for the third and last time the following day. As the buyer works, that was the only instructions she left. Might have been better if they could have left it with a neighbour and put a card through to tell her. Royal Mail do that but I don't think Evri do. Would certainly save issues like this if they did. 

It's not a great system to be honest. I ended up refunding the buyer tonight so even though I took the photos, listed the item, wrapped the parcel and walked out to post it, I ended up losing £3.76 postage. Seems very unfair. I know it's not a lot of money but it's just the principle of the situation. I only charged £4.99 for the brand new item so not worth me selling it again as I'd only be getting £1.23 for it so into the cupboard it'll go. I know the buyer wouldn't have been happier either at losing the postage cost but if she had arranged for the parcel to be left with a neighbour then she wouldn't have lost out. I just need to suck it up as they say. Thanks for your replies. Much appreciated!