Fee refund after return due to non-collection denied – who can help?
Summary: max!!_de sold a Lego set to a buyer in Italy, but it was returned to them because the buyer did not pick it up from the DHL shop. eBay refunded the buyer, but charged max!!_de for shipping and transaction fees, despite acknowledging the buyer's fault. max!!_de complained about the fees and eBay's response, seeking advice. Several participants, including petersmodellbahnstuebchen and grohbacher, offered insights, suggesting the issue was due to eBay's policies, especially since the transaction was international. vera@ebay from eBay promised to forward the issue to Italian colleagues for a resolution, but max!!_de expressed frustration over the lack of feedback and questioned selling internationally on eBay. The discussion involved suggestions about understanding eBay's processes and potential losses when selling abroad.
Hi everyone,
I sold a Lego set to Italy. The buyer wasn’t home when delivery was attempted, so the package was then left at the DHL shop. The buyer didn’t pick it up there, so it was sent back to me. The purchase price incl. shipping would be fully refunded to the buyer.
eBay is still charging me shipping costs and a transaction fee. I filed an appeal twice – in the second decision, eBay even explicitly confirmed that the return was made “due to an error by the buyer,” but still refused to refund the fee.
Has anyone here had similar experiences or know how you can still get a fee refund in a case like this? I’d really appreciate any tips. After this experience, I’ll probably not sell anything on eBay anymore.
Thanks everyone!
grohbacher
·1 week agoHello, @max!!_de
Why don’t you get that?
Please read my two comments from "two weeks ago" again (unfortunately EBAY doesn’t allow this to be specified precisely here in terms of time) and draw the consequences from them.
You bought the DHL shipping label from "EBAY.de". I don’t want to defend EBAY here, but neither "EBAY.de" nor "EBAY.it" nor DHL can be blamed for the buyer not having picked up the package. These costs were incurred, that’s just the way it is. If you had bought the shipping label directly from DHL, you also wouldn’t be able to demand a refund there. At most, you could get these wasted costs back from your buyer. "EBAY.de" and "EBAY.it" as well as DHL cannot and may not help with that.
Likewise, the "international sales commission" arose according to the fee schedule (which you automatically accepted).
Both claims are charged by "EBAY.de" and not by "EBAY.it".
Why "vera@ebay" forwarded this matter to "EBAY.it" anyway is beyond me. Only "EBAY.de" can decide about the costs for the shipping label and the sales commission. At most, "EBAY.de" could waive the sales commission as a goodwill gesture.
That the buyer gets back all of their payments (i.e. without deducting the shipping costs) is stated in the "Buyer Protection Policy", which you also automatically accepted when listing the item.
Regards
Manfred
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·1 week ago19.0926 @grohbacher
Hey Manfred,
just as a tip, the date and time can definitely be specified more precisely here. Just hover your mouse over it, then 19.09.26 will be shown with the times 00:52 and 11:59.
Best wishes from the Baltic Sea
Peter
grohbacher
·1 week agoMany thanks @petersmodellbahnstuebchen for your very helpful tip.
Why it’s made so cumbersome like this (surely it also needs more server capacity), is probably EBAY’s secret.
But I could almost swear that this was not the case on my laptop until a few minutes ago. Just like for the past few days, until a few minutes ago, the "unread" notices as well as the "direct reply options" were no longer there and have suddenly appeared.
Just to be on the safe side: I’m using Firefox here and haven’t made any changes in the browser over the last few days (no update, no deleting cookies, etc.).
Regards from the sunny south
Manfred
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·1 week ago@grohbacher
Hi Manfred,
no problem. 😉 I use Chrome and have had this display like this for a while now, at least shortly after the new forum software was introduced here.
Best wishes from the Baltic Sea to the sunny south
Peter
max!!_de
OP1 week ago · EditedI got no response at all, so better not sell to Italy anymore... :-(
Still: I can’t understand why I have to pay extra when the buyer doesn’t pick up the package from their post office branch in time. I can’t really take eBay’s advice seriously that I should coordinate better with the buyer next time. I sent the buyer numerous messages, and he only got in touch when the package was already on its way back. Has anyone had better experiences with Kleinanzeigen, maybe is it fairer there?
perfect-sally
·1 week agoNo statements about other platforms may be made here under any circumstances. And we always advise private sellers that they should by all means not sell abroad.
vera@ebay
·2 weeks agoHello @max!!_de ,
I’m happy to pass that along for you again.
@voli-maus thanks a lot for tagging 😊
Best regards
Vera
max!!_de
OP2 weeks agoI haven’t gotten any feedback from Italy yet.... :-(
voli-maus
·2 weeks agoHi @vera@ebay , could you take another look, please. 🩷
vera@ebay
·2 weeks agoHello @max!!_de ,
Thank you very much for your post.
The case regarding an item not received that your buyer opened is being handled on the Italian eBay site because the buyer purchased through the Italian eBay site. For this reason, the case will be processed and decided according to eBay Italy's policies. I'd be happy to pass the matter on to my colleagues in Italy for you, and you will then receive a corresponding response.
@bootyooty thanks so much for the tag 😊
Kind regards
Vera
max!!_de
OP2 weeks agoIs there also any response from the eBay team on this?
bootyooty
·2 weeks agoWe're checking in with @vera@ebay 🪻
grohbacher
·3 weeks agoHello, @max!!_de
Thanks for your reply and for confirming that this story roughly went exactly as I suspected.
Honestly, be glad that you at least got your item back. From what you read in this forum, in cases like this the seller often loses both the goods and the money; especially when selling abroad.
You have to pay the shipping costs to EBAY in any case, since you were the buyer of the shipping label. You may have a claim for reimbursement against your buyer, which you would possibly have to enforce in court in Italy. But that would already be problematic even in a sale within Germany, since you had offered "free shipping".
It is also possible that you would have a claim to payment of the purchase price again. But that would only work outside EBAY and would also have to be pursued in court in Italy. Good luck with that.
Whether EBAY may have decided too quickly here, we cannot judge.
You can only get the selling fee refunded by EBAY as a goodwill gesture. Get in touch again on Monday. Then one of the helpful mentors can involve an EBAY employee about this.
Have a nice weekend
Manfred
max!!_de
OP3 weeks agoThanks for the feedback!
In my naivety, I had expected that the buyer would be responsible for the postage (he failed to pick up the package at his DHL station) and that eBay would refund the transaction fee, since the purchase didn’t go through.
For the detailed sequence:
I bought the DHL label through eBay, so the tracking was visible immediately
When I saw that the package was being stored at the DHL station because the recipient was absent, I informed the buyer by message
Then I saw in the tracking that the package was being sent back
The buyer then contacted me for the first time and asked for redelivery with another parcel service
I suggested cancelling the purchase instead, which the buyer agreed to
At the same time, he opened a case saying he had not received the item. I then replied that I would refund the purchase price as soon as the package had arrived back with me
When the package arrived back with me, the case was on hold and I couldn’t issue a refund, which I in turn told the seller
The next day, eBay decided to refund the purchase price incl postage. And I received the invoice for postage and transaction fees amounting to €28.
I first thought it was a mistake, but it seems to be systematic.
One great piece of advice from Italian eBay customer service was that in future I should better agree with the buyer when I send the package. Buyer protection and all due respect, but that goes too far for me.
To be honest: then I’m out as a seller on eBay...
Best regards
grohbacher
·3 weeks agoHello, @max!!_de
basically, this matter is clear.
You write:
"eBay is now still charging me shipping costs and a Transaction Fee."
Those are two different claims.
I assume that for shipping you had used a shipping label from EBAY. Of course you have to pay for this shipping label, since with it your package was sent to Italy and EBAY had paid the shipping postage to DHL for that. That is your loss on this sale.
By the "Transactions Fee" you probably mean the 5% selling fee that EBAY charges on an international sale. Normally, this fee is credited back if the seller refunds the buyer the purchase price (at least in part). Apparently the buyer here reported an item not received and then you did not voluntarily refund immediately and probably also did not respond accordingly. The result was surely that EBAY then refunded the buyer the full payment (purchase price and shipping costs) to that buyer. But if EBAY has to step in, no fees are credited back. Please read the help page "Fees for private sellers".
All clear?
Regards
Manfred
petersmodellbahnstuebchen
·3 weeks agoHi @max!!_de
you'll have to wait until Monday before an Ebay employee can take a look at the case. Then get in touch again.
Did you send it to the customer with tracking, and did you respond to the buyer protection case in time? If your customer opens a case for an item not received and you don't respond, Ebay always decides in favor of the buyer.
To make things worse for you, it always comes down to the buyer's site, where you shipped to, making the decision. That's just one of the risks of international shipping.
Best wishes from the Baltic Sea
Peter