Can I return a personalised item because it didn't arrive in time?

[WeAreEternal]

I bought a personalised backpack for a child's birthday present, I ordered it nearly a month ago but it never arrived.
A week before the party I sent the seller an email asking where the backpack was, they said it had been posted a week before and asked me to wait a few more days.
The day before the party I emailed again and said it hasn't arrived and I was now going to have to rush out and buy a replacement gift, which I did do.
The seller said they would do a replacement and send it out, I explained that the party started at 9am and we would have to leave earlier so there was no way it would arrive in time. I received no reply.

Yesterday the replacement backpack arrived.

I had to buy another gift for the child so I have no use for this backpack, can I return it?
I'm annoyed that they sent another one despite me telling them not to, as now I'm going to have to pay to return it.

On their auction it clearly states returns on personalised items are only accepted if they are faulty.

This backpack wasn't cheap and i really do have no use for it.
So can I return it?

Did it state the estimated delivery time on the listing and their dispatch time?
have you got the correspondence to prove you asked them not to send another one?
I would open a case with eBay and then it is upto the seller to prove they sent it out within a reasonable time

Can you keep it and give it to the child next year? Would it still be suitable?
Otherwise you could do what moonegirl suggested but it would be PITA.

Yes on their auction it says it will take 3-7 days for delivery and they marked it as dispatched 5 days after I paid.

All the emails were sent through eBay so yes there is a record.

The parcel I received yesterday was only posted on 30/05 (by the post mark), so it was definitely a replacement and not the original.

It was a gift for a child is DS's class at school, I don't know if he will be invited to a party next year, and it is an unusual name so very unlikely I will be able to gift it to anyone else.
Which is why I want to return it.

If you open a not as described case you can tick a box to say item arrived too late. Return tracked so Hermes may be cheaper than RM.

I didn't know there was an option for it, thanks butterfly.

I'm going to send the seller a message and ask to return it, hopefully they will reply. If not I will open a dispute.

don't hang around - you don't want to run out of time and leave it too late.

I just wanted to update.

I sent the seller a message and said that I would like to return the item as it didn't arrive in time.
They asked why u couldn't still give it anyway and I explained that it was for a child I didn't really know and we already bought a replacement gift.
It took a few messages back and forth but eventually they seemed to understand.
They appologised and said they would send me a refund and said not to bother returning as they wouldn't have any use for it either.
So now ami am just waiting for the money to be refunded.

Thanks for all of your help.

So now ami am just waiting for the money to be refunded.

Sounds good. Make sure you keep an eye on this and if a refund doesn't appear, do open a case before the deadline (which must now be close).

The money is now back in my PayPal account so I am going to accept the cancelation request that the sent a few days ago and leave positive feedback.

Thank you for the helpful advice.