Trouble with an Amazon sale, need advice [Update: Success!]

Strell

Strell

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I listed some Wavebirds on Amazon last week. Two days ago - on Sunday - I got a notice that someone had bought one. He had paid and everything was checked out.

Because it sold on Sunday, I didn't ship it out until yesterday. I did so via Fedex with tracking, and even notified the guy it had been shipped.

Today he e-mails me saying that "I bought your Wavebird because mine stopped working, but I just put in some fresh batteries into mine and now it works, so what is your return policy?"

I've already shipped it and he's already paid. Do I tell him he's SOL and that he had a full day to cancel the order (really more since the notification was Sunday around noon)? If I did that, could he file some sort of complaint with Amazon and try to scam me? Or do I do the "nice" thing and let him send it back to me?

This is my first time selling on Amazon, so I'm not sure what I can and cannot expect to happen, and I've seen some horror stories in terms of scamming, so I want to cover my bases as best I can.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks!
 
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I'd probably give him a refund, even though the guy is obviously a moron and deserves no mercy. Less the shipping cost of course, so you're not really losing any money. I'm sure someone else will buy it eventually.

...unless you really need money badly right now. In that case, too bad for him.

Not sure if Amazon has any rules in place for sellers regarding returns, I've never used it. I suppose you should put something in there regarding how you handle returns for next time though.
 
Looked through the policy section, and Amazon basically says that in this situation, I can tell him to ship it back on his own dime and then he can get a refund, so long as it is within the first thirty days.

I guess chances are slim he's going to screw me, so I guess I'll tell him to send it back and hope for the best.

Thanks for the advice everyone. If anyone has any more, feel free to add to the discussion of course.

Edit: So when I do the refund, I should make it partial, and keep what I paid for shipping, yeah?
 
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Yes, keep what you paid for shipping as that's not refundable. Before any refund make sure it still works in case he swapped his broken for yours working.
 
Better yet, tell him to just place a new label exactly on top of yours. You should be able to tell if your packing has been tampered with easily.
 
For me I don't take returns unless it's defective. Give him a partial refund since it's an inconvenience and a "restocking fee". That's what Amazon's marketplace policy is anyways. Some lady bought a Nintendo DS Lite Browser off me and thought she was buying a DS lol. Not even sure how she would've got the browser as a search result, since it's not even on the first page of results for DS Lite. I told her no refund and to read the product listing better next time.

I probably wouldn't refund for the reasons said above, imo.
 
The thing is if the buyer requests a refund amazon will basically make you give them it. They side with the buyer in this case.

I'd just tell them you accept refunds however you charge a re-stocking fee and they have to pay for return postage. Then you can issue refund once you have recieved your item back in the condition you specified.
 
He hasn't responded to an e-mail I sent yet.

Tracking shows it arrived this morning. I'm going to message him again asking if he's going to send it back to me.
 
Small update for those interested:

After e-mailing him on the 7th, he said he was out of town. It should have been delivered, so he should have it. He replied saying he would ship it back on the 11th (yesterday). I haven't heard anything more since then, so I just sent another message off.

Guess we'll see what happens.

In the meantime, I put information in my account regarding returns, citing that it has to be done within 14 days and that fees will be assessed (shipping/handling/restocking).
 
Let's assume the worst at the moment, and that he's going to send me back a dick in a box.

If I withdraw the funds from Amazon into my bank, and then he tries to do a claim of some sort, can Amazon pull them out of my bank account?

Edit: I think I've answered my own question. If I choose to disperse it, Amazon takes their cut. If he was telling me the truth, then I lose some cash because Amazon took their portion, and I'd have to refund everything (except shipping cost). Meanwhile, if he was lying, then he could attempt an A-Z claim, and it seems that I'd be in a losing position to argue that given what I hear about Amazon's handling of such things.

Hmmm. Actually I guess I don't lose too much if I disperse it now, since the shipping cost was kind of high, and I'd just send him a money order with the refund amount minus shipping. That seems to be the best way to protect myself at this point, and then if he screwed me, I've got the cash in my account anyway.

Suggestions?
 
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I'd say no refund if he hasn't sent it off yet; tell him its due to other constraints(since you are an online seller) which when a person says they want a refund then has 5 business to return the item.
 
And we're successful.

He sent it back with new return labels directly on top of mine. I opened it up and made sure it was mine, and it is - still sealed and flawless. Filed the partial refund minus the shipping cost and it looks like we're all set to go.

In the meantime, I added information to my refund policy, stating it has to be back within X days with return labels over the original ones, that refunds might only be issued with money orders, etc. So I think I've got that all in place as well.

So a happy conclusion. Very good to see and know.

Regardless, thanks everyone for the help and advice! I really appreciate it. That's why this community can be so good sometimes.
 
[quote name='Strell']And we're successful.

He sent it back with new return labels directly on top of mine. I opened it up and made sure it was mine, and it is - still sealed and flawless. Filed the partial refund minus the shipping cost and it looks like we're all set to go.

In the meantime, I added information to my refund policy, stating it has to be back within X days with return labels over the original ones, that refunds might only be issued with money orders, etc. So I think I've got that all in place as well.

So a happy conclusion. Very good to see and know.

Regardless, thanks everyone for the help and advice! I really appreciate it. That's why this community can be so good sometimes.[/QUOTE]

The best conclusion of course if they stayed sold and the guy didnt return them, but glad to hear everything worked out for you.
 
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