Refund shipping cost as well?

[Pierlala]

Hello,

I was contacted several times by a very patient buyer on Ebay. She bought a Night Glider from me but sadly it never arrived. It's been over a month since I sent her so she should have been there ages ago. She has been patient and waited several weeks before asking for a refund through Ebay.

However, today I refunded the buyer the full amount she paid incluiding shipping.

My question is. Is it normal to refund shipping as well? I mean, the shipping price is pretty high so I wasn't overly thrilled by it. But I did it without hesitation as I want the customer to be happy.

But now ofcourse I paid the shipping cost myself (as the shipping cost was paid when I sent the Pony to Australia) So now I had to pay the refund the shipping cost myself and Night Glider is lost somewhere

I was just wondering if it's normal to also refund the shipping cost? Or do people usually only refund the item price?

Sorry if the story is a bit confusing and long.

Pier.

[Thunderwing]

Yes, it is normal to refund the shipping as well as the cost of the item, especially on ebay. I won't ship ebay purchases without tracking and insurance. Off ebay, if you agree with the buyer ahead of time for no insurance and tracking, then you can argue that there can be no refunds. But if they file via paypal for item not received, they will still get a refund, it's just a bit shady. (If you don't discuss the no insurance  no refund ahead of time, you'd still be expected to refund).

[MiRaja]

Shipping is always refunded, last I checked. 

The only instance I would say no to refunding shipping is in a case of a flake of a buyer who has changed their mind or had buyer's remorse.  Then I might say they don't get the shipping returned ( I don't sell on ebay anymore ) if I even authorize a return for those situations. 

Anyways, part of selling is taking the chance of losing items and thus losing money.  I don't ever ship anything without insurance overseas, period.  That way, you get all your money back minus insurance costs, in case of a loss like this.  It can be even more expensive and I've had argumentative potential buyers over it, refusing to want to pay the insurance.  I've had to tell them the only way I'll send an item overseas without insurance is if you waive your ability to file for a refund if the item goes missing by sending funds via gift(then they can't open a claim).  No one wants to do that, and they either pony up with the insurance, or they give up on the deal.  To me, the insurance is always worth it, because things always have a way of getting lost when you don't have it.   

[flying_narwhal]

Shipping is always refunded, last I checked. 

The only instance I would say no to refunding shipping is in a case of a flake of a buyer who has changed their mind or had buyer's remorse.  Then I might say they don't get the shipping returned ( I don't sell on ebay anymore ) if I even authorize a return for those situations. 

Anyways, part of selling is taking the chance of losing items and thus losing money.  I don't ever ship anything without insurance overseas, period.  That way, you get all your money back minus insurance costs, in case of a loss like this.  It can be even more expensive and I've had argumentative potential buyers over it, refusing to want to pay the insurance.  I've had to tell them the only way I'll send an item overseas without insurance is if you waive your ability to file for a refund if the item goes missing by sending funds via gift(then they can't open a claim).  No one wants to do that, and they either pony up with the insurance, or they give up on the deal.  To me, the insurance is always worth it, because things always have a way of getting lost when you don't have it. 

^I totally agree with this. Losing money and items is a risk you have to accept when you choose to sell, especially shipping internationally. I will not ship anything of value/breakable internationally without insurance so that in the event something does go missing or is broken I can at least recoup the majority of the funds.

[Galactica]

Oh what a bummer-

Yes, if you didn't have tracking on her (to show that the package was mailed out) than I think you are on the hook for everything.

If you have tracking that shows that you shipped the pony- than ebay seller protection should cover you, shouldn't it?

When people want me to mail things first class without insurance or tracking- I will do that only if they agree to accept the risk of loss if the mail loses the package.  Because it doesn't happen often, but it does happen...

[Pierlala]

I got an update.

The buyer contacted me today and Night Glider has arrived!

It took more then a month but she is finally home. No idea why it took this long.

She said she tried to cancel the refund so I think that is pending now.

What a coinsedence!

[Nella]

Wow, lucky you!

[flying_narwhal]

Glad to hear everything worked out!

[Galactica]

I got an update.

The buyer contacted me today and Night Glider has arrived!

It took more then a month but she is finally home. No idea why it took this long.

She said she tried to cancel the refund so I think that is pending now.

What a coinsedence!

Oh that's great!  Lucky for you the buyer was an honest person

[Pierlala]

Yes, I am so happy to see honest people. Cause I am like that myself. I would have done the same. She could have just kept it and never told me. But she did. I really appericiate that.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Glad to hear it all worked out!

[dragonfly]

Glad it worked out. My take on refund shipping is:
If it's my mistake - defective item, significantly not as described etc I will refund original shipping. If buyer has changed mind, item is as described but didn't meet expectations, etc, I do not refund shipping. Also for free shipping actions in cases where it's not my responsibility that a buyer was unhappy I state in the listing free shipping only applies when buyer keeps the item, otherwise I deduct original shipping from refund.

[Taffeta]

I was going to say, a month is really no time at all when it's going that far; sometimes they do just take a lot longer than they ought to. But I'm so happy she got there. And if the refund doesn't get cancelled, I guess the buyer will just repay you, as she seems a nice person (that helps).

I think the rule of thumb is what people have said. You refund everything, then put in a claim with the local postal service for a lost item. There's usually a period of time you have to wait before they admit it is lost. With the UK post it's 6 weeks, so they obviously expect delays to happen.

Sometimes postal hubs send things to the wrong places. I had one package go to China by mistake, and I've had ones coming to me which take detours via Canada. Usually if they come out of the Illinois hub. Dunno what the people there are doing, but I bet Canadian customs are annoyed with getting all my post...

Probably something similar happened with Night Glider. Who knows, maybe she took a detour to Austria instead of Australia...I had a package go to California instead of Canada once, and it took a lot longer to get to its final location!

[nhal039]

Glad its resolved. Austraila post is so inconsistant its terrible. Not surprised it took 4 weeks to get there. I have had a parcel take sent from nz take 7 weeks to get there sent airmail! I know of a collector there missing 2 parcels at the moment, its not a post i like to deal with.