Delivery not completed due to recipient absent: what happens? | Questions and answers among users

nerevarinez · 2025-03-31T15:32:57.597000Z

Hello everyone and good evening. As per the subject, I have a question regarding a situation like this. I should also mention that it’s the first time (in the years I’ve been shipping) that something like this has happened to me (at most, there have been situations where the recipient was marked absent on the first attempt, but then on the second attempt delivery went through successfully). That said, obviously, after two attempts, as far as I know, the parcel goes into storage, so maybe the issue gets resolved by the buyer picking up the parcel at the nearest pickup point. But since this is now the first time I’ve had two failed delivery attempts due to the recipient being absent, I thought, “let’s take the chance to ask for info about it,” since in fact I’ve always wondered how these things actually play out in cases like this. So the question is: given the two delivery attempts, I think the parcel I sent will definitely, at this point, go into storage. If, even while in storage, the parcel isn’t picked up by the buyer, what should I do once it’s sent back? More than anything, if I have to issue a refund, should I rightly take into account the fact that, in the product price I set, I factored in the Ebay fee and the sponsored listing fee? Specifically, so you can understand, the shipped item had been listed at €130. Of those €130, though, I received exactly €106.73 (reason: -€7.41 transaction fees and -€15.86 general listing fee), from which I also have to subtract the €5.11 for shipping (which in the listing I had marked as “free,” so fine, that was on me, but obviously if I “give it away” and then it doesn’t go through because of you, it’s certainly not my fault!) and so, basically, the actual profit from the order for me was €101.62. In the case of a refund, then (and with data/proof in hand), is it (legally) correct that I refund exactly this amount, right? As I said, all of this could easily be resolved in a completely different way. I’m using this example to understand, in general, how to “handle” unforeseen issues/situations like this. If this really is the situation in which this problem arises, then at least I’ll already be as prepared as possible on how to deal with it. Thanks! P.S. Obviously I’ve already notified the buyer (for now via a written message on WA, as well as on the Ebay chat, asking for updates on the parcel delivery etc., already after the first attempt, that is, on Saturday morning, so as to have concrete proof as well, black on white, of my having informed him).

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Delivery not completed due to recipient absent: what happens? | Questions and answers among users | eBay Italy