How do I refund a Ebay buyer for shipping over-payment?

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peterp1

Addicted Member
I sold an item on eBay where the calculated shipping rate was too high (nearly $60 vs $10 actual cost) because the item weight was wrong. The buyer has already paid. When I click "offer refund", enter $50 as the refund amount, and then enter "shipping discount" as the reason, eBay deducts $25 from the item price and $25 from shipping, which is not correct and does not make sense since I selected "shipping discount".

Is there any way to get the refund to apply to just the shipping amount and leave the item price alone? Or does it not matter how the refund is applied? I guess my concern is that eBay logging the adjusted item and shipping rate wrong will be an issue if there is a return, or maybe in how my fees for the excess are refunded.

I rarely sell on eBay, so sorry if this is a stupid question.
 
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peterp1 said:
I sold an item on eBay where the calculated shipping rate was too high (nearly $60 vs $10 actual cost) because the item weight was wrong. The buyer has already paid. When I click "offer refund", enter $50 as the refund amount, and then enter "shipping discount" as the reason, eBay deducts $25 from the item price and $25 from shipping, which is not correct and does not make sense since I selected "shipping discount".

Is there any way to get the refund to apply to just the shipping amount and leave the item price alone? Or does it not matter how the refund is applied? I guess my concern is that eBay logging the adjusted item and shipping rate wrong will be an issue if there is a return, or maybe in how my fees for the excess are refunded.

I rarely sell on eBay, so sorry if this is a stupid question.
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Is this through Paypal?
Just go there and send a refund through them.
 
kwayde said:
Is this through Paypal?
Just go there and send a refund through them.
Click to expand...

I think if I do it in PayPal, then I’ll be screwed if if the buyer returns the item (eBay will show $110 due when he only paid $60 after PayPal refund). Also, that won’t refund me the eBay fees I am paying for the excess amount, which are nearly double what they would be after the refund.
 
usedto said:
Refund through ebay. You will get a partial credit on your fees.
Click to expand...

That’s what I’m trying to do, but it is deducting $25 from the item amount and $25 from the shipping amount, instead of deducting $50 from the shipping cost, even though I'm specifying “refund discount” as the reason on the refund pull-down menu.
 
You need to pencil it out.

The buyer didn't pay the shipping - you did, and got reimbursed. If you give a $25 refund, it doesn't matter where it comes out , you still end up with the same amount.
 
usedto said:
You need to pencil it out.

The buyer didn't pay the shipping - you did, and got reimbursed. If you give a $25 refund, it doesn't matter where it comes out , you still end up with the same amount.
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I'm going to give a $50 refund, so it is applying to $25 to shipping and $25 to reduction in price of the item. I guess the eBay fee refund is the same regardless of where it is taken from, so from that standpoint it doesn't matter.

If the buyer were to return the item, the it would make a difference. The "sold price" would be $25 less than he paid for the item (so he would get less than he should in a return scenario). I guess eBay's incorrect processing advantages me as the seller refunding $25 less, but I'd much rather that the fair thing happens (to both buyer and seller) regardless of circumstances.

It's hard for me to believe eBay is so dumb as to deduct it from both item price and shipping when I specifically click "shipping discount"!! :wtf:
 
Okay, thanks for the feedback @EastPoint and @usedto, I'll just issue it as is.

I absolutely despise eBay selling, but doing a major cleanup of stuff and have no choice.

In the process of trying to get a "shipping only" refund, I clicked a link in a help email that changed my account to usingb "seller hub", which is a mess as far as I can tell. I had to watch a few YouTube videos a before I found one that matched current eBay website to switch back to the normal selling window. I guess seller hub may be good for a power seller, but seems like more people want to figure out how to get out of if it from my searching (a few people described seller hub as being in jail :)).

Also just had a buyer for a 3080 graphics card buy it now, then immediately (withing seconds) ask to cancel because it was a mistake. The buyer had 0 ratings and his ID was created today, so almost certainly a scam, though not sure of what the scam is. That forced a relisting, so I lost the 15 "watchers" from before. This time I listed at a too high a price and allowed offers, so I can see the feedback of the buyer before I accept. Only had to do this on "hot" items (graphics cards and iPhone sales), never had issues on other listings.
 
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kwayde said:
Is this through Paypal?
Just go there and send a refund through them.
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Managed Payments....has to be. Ebay does not use PayPal to pay sellers.......one reason a lot of people told them to take a powder.
 
E2 said:
Managed Payments....has to be. Ebay does not use PayPal to pay sellers.......one reason a lot of people told them to take a powder.
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Which is a really stupid reason.

If you want to play the "game", open a new account with the bank you currently use. Tie your eBay and Paypal account to it, and keep the minimum balance in it to keep it free. Whenever you get a substantial payment, just go online and transfer the funds to your regular account.

Simple.
 
usedto said:
Which is a really stupid reason.

If you want to play the "game", open a new account with the bank you currently use. Tie your eBay and Paypal account to it, and keep the minimum balance in it to keep it free. Whenever you get a substantial payment, just go online and transfer the funds to your regular account.

Simple.
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What does any of that have to do with refunding $50? I have been playing the game for 18 years. You get the payment right to your bank account, created for Ebay, or existing. So you are going to get a payment to your account from managed payments, than move it to another separate account you use? EVERYBODY had their PayPal account tied to their bank account before the change to managed payments. That's how Ebay worked before managed payments. (I only took US Postal Money Orders once upon a time) Ebay could take money out of your PayPal account, and your bank account to cover a return if you didn't refund, and have the funds in PayPal. If you want to work it that way great, but it does not answer this persons question, no matter how stupid you think it is.
 
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