Sale completed but I was given the wrong address, do I need to refund?
Summary: The discussion concerns an issue where dohko-libra made a sale but received an incorrect address. They ask whether they need to issue a refund. The other participants chime in, but the discussion does not include specific details or proposed solutions.
In short, I make a sale (by the way, to a new eBay user since I can see that he opened his account in 2025 and has 0 feedback), I ship it, and today I check the tracking to see whether the shipment went through fine and I see that the recipient is listed as unknown, so the package is being returned to sender. I check on Google Maps and I see that, regarding the address provided to me by eBay, the street and ZIP code are correct but the municipality is wrong, even though the province is the same. I took a screenshot of the address provided to me and contacted the buyer, I am waiting for a reply.
I wanted to ask, if he wanted to open a dispute, would I be required to refund? Personally I don't think so because I think it was the buyer who gave eBay the wrong address...
dohko-libra
OP1 year agoThe buyer replied to me and was very understanding, in fact he was also surprised that the address wasn’t valid; according to him he has never had any issues. In fact he says he lives in a hamlet, so now we’ve agreed to resend the package as soon as it comes back to me, but with a more detailed address. He also asked me whether there are any other costs involved, so I hope this second shipment can still be at his expense.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoOn the forum, responses are usually given regarding eBay rules.
Follow the rules because when the item comes back to you, you will have to charge shipping again and you will have to do it outside of eBay.
Or, alternatively, you will have to cancel the sale with the related refund to the buyer.
I don’t remember whether the dispute for item not received allows a partial refund of only the item cost excluding shipping, but going by logic I don’t think so, so a full refund is provided for.
The item not received dispute that the buyer would do well to open could be in your favor or in his favor (there is no absolute certainty about this).
In any case, any arrangements for reshipping are outside the platform.
You would have to get paid by bank transfer, PayPal or other means, and the buyer would have to trust you enough to make this payment in exchange for another shipping attempt.
The return of the package to the sender is not immediate; it could take up to 20 days to get it back.
It could happen that in the meantime the buyer opens a dispute for item not received....
Keep us updated on how the situation develops.
Kind regards
dohko-libra
OP1 year agoForgive me, though, just so I understand better:
I know that if the package doesn’t arrive to the buyer, they open a dispute, and I know that because unfortunately about a year ago it happened to me: I made a shipment by registered mail, and don’t ask me how but the envelope got lost, it was never found again, the buyer filed a claim with eBay and I had to issue a refund (I was then refunded by the post office in turn, but that’s another story).
Now, when the package arrives to me, also seeing the tracking it should arrive in a couple of days, does that mean the buyer hasn’t received it and therefore could open the dispute (even though I see that they could do it starting on the 27th, that is, the day after eBay estimates delivery, so for now I’m calm).
You’re telling me that if I resend the envelope, whether I pay or he pays, it has to be done outside eBay and I’m not following the rules, but to understand: if I don’t do it, do I lose out, right? They would open the claim because the envelope would be back in my hands. So I would be required to resend it.
So what should I do to follow the rules, sorry?
If I cancel the order I have to refund everything including shipping costs, so I’m the one who loses out (I lose the shipping money). I know this because, again, of the episode I mentioned at the beginning.
I don’t think I have much choice, unless eBay protects me because the envelope came back to me, but it seems to me that instead it would side with the buyer.
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoNo one can give you absolute certainty that you would win any possible dispute for an item not received.
There are good chances of winning it, but not absolute certainty.
If it had happened to me, I would have waited for the opening of the item not received dispute and then I would have contacted support, sending proof that I shipped it exactly to the address provided by the buyer.
If you want to avoid unsafe payments outside the eBay platform, you can also tell the buyer that as soon as the envelope comes back to you, you will refund them the cost of the item excluding shipping fees.
You send them a photo of the envelope and show them that you shipped it exactly to the address provided.
After that, if the buyer wants, they correct the address on eBay and make a new purchase.
As things stand, the buyer might also get annoyed by the fact that they have to pay shipping twice, and any payment arrangements outside eBay are not protected.
The buyer can always open a dispute for item not received within 30 days of the estimated arrival date.
It would cost the buyer nothing to open it, even after you have agreed on a payment and reshipment outside eBay; if it goes well for them, they get the full refund back.
This is the general picture of the situation.
Then you can спокойно agree with the buyer, fully aware of what has been written here on the forum.
Kind regards.
ortofantastico
·1 year agoto be precise, on eBay I had written: "The buyer provided an invalid or incorrect address at the time of payment" .. wording that I had taken here https://www.ebay.it/help/policies/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy/ebay-money-back-guarantee-policy?id=4210#not-received
ortofantastico
·1 year agosomething similar happened to me and I was with posta1, what was wrong was the street number 28 2 which wasn't clear whether it was 28 or 282 .. also in my case newly registered user first purchase.. also in my case impossible to deliver.. I offered the buyer a new sale with a big discount, when he opened a dispute I wrote to ebay: "this is an incorrect address provided by the buyer". They agreed with me.
technopartsbay
·1 year agoIn similar cases I have to tell you, unfortunately, that eBay sided with the recipient because the sender was not able to prove that the address was the one provided by eBay.
In other words, the address on the receipt is not a "copy" of the one on the envelope because, since there is no photo of it, it could differ in some details (e.g. deliveries "at, i.e. c/o", stairways and/or floor, etc.): it was rewritten and therefore it is different.
dohko-libra
OP1 year agoI understand, but if the envelope is returned to the sender as it should in my case, could I then take a photo later and still have proof that the address was the same, right?
dohko-libra
OP1 year agoI forgot to add that I shipped it by post, I’m a private seller, I’ve always done it this way and so far everything has gone fine, the envelope was a registered book rate mailing so I have all the documentation, as said I took a screenshot of the address provided to me by eBay, I took a photo of the registered receipt, obviously I can’t take a photo of the envelope but the address on it is the same, I also just took a screenshot of Google Maps showing the correct address and I made all of this clear to the buyer, who still hasn’t replied and I seem to have understood that they reply after a long time since they’re new on eBay. So if they open a dispute, eBay can see all the photos I mentioned from our messages and in any case I would contact eBay immediately. I don’t think canceling the order and doing it again would be good because I’d lose the shipping costs (by canceling the order I’d have to refund the full amount), maybe if they reply I could resend the package, as long as it’s at their expense of course, the mistake is theirs, I’m only worried about whether I’m in the right in the event of a dispute. But how long would the buyer have to open a dispute?
daxsisko
·1 year agofirst of all, the destination address entered on eBay is entered by the user himself in his account and therefore, as a rule, if it is wrong it is the buyer's fault....
the problem can still arise if the buyer opens a dispute: in this case, for a beginner, if there are doubts (and to avoid mistakes....) it is better to deal directly with eBay support
PS: in any case, in general, the carrier's tracking applies ...... if you also have the registered-mail copy (so with the relative postmark, full address and matching tracking code even better.....) you can always scan it and "add" it to the file of any dispute.....
as for the timing...... it also depends on how the buyer paid: so, if he opens an eBay dispute the deadline is within 30 calendar days after the expected or actual delivery/pickup date
this however does not rule out that the buyer may then open a claim through the payment method used (and here of course the timing varies depending on the procedure.....)
arcobaleno2022
·1 year agoUsing tracking, see which branch your shipment is at and call during office hours with the code handy (if it's BRT courier, the BRT Code is enough) and tell them the exact municipality so it will be removed from storage and sent to the correct address; if you bought the label through Packlink (eBay shipping), open a ticket on their console from the section for this exact shipment and tell them the exact municipality; they will take care of notifying the courier for redelivery.
Regards
heavenwelkin
·1 year agoGood morning dohko-libra
Usually if you shipped EXACTLY to the address provided by eBay and this is correctly shown IN FULL on the shipping label (not cut off, not incomplete) then the case is in your favor.
If the buyer opens a dispute for item not received, contact eBay immediately and point out that you shipped exactly to the provided address.
Do not let the dispute expire without having personally contacted eBay support because the dispute process is usually automated.
Best regards
ibba_it
·1 year agoBetter to cancel the order and possibly place it again with the correct address, it saves wasting time on both sides
mocer-75
·1 year agoIn theory no, of course you have to prove with tracking or paper documentation that delivery was impossible (aka don’t trust eBay’s APIs). Fairness would suggest refunding the buyer excluding shipping costs, or else resending it after payment of an additional shipping label at the buyer’s expense.