Advice please re refunding a buyer

[SeaWitchly]

Buyer messaged me today to say her item had arrived but that it was damaged. It was a hair accessory and from the photo buyer provided it seemed that a couple of feathers had fallen off in transit even though I had packaged item carefully with tissue paper.

I am now wondering what to do re return/refund...

I guess I could -

1] offer to refund her the cost of the item and postage and let her keep the item.
2] offer to partial refund and let her keep the item
3] request that she open a 'not as described' case with ebay and I believe they then send her a returns label which I pay for in addition to the sellers fees. I suppose I could then open a case with Royal Mail for compensation as the item was perfect when it was sent... But I wonder how likely it will be that RM will actually refund and not try and claim that it was packaged inappropriately or was damaged prior to/after postage.

What would all you more experienced ebayers suggest? I have not had a return or damaged item before so this is all new to me!

And is it best that I get buyer to open a return case with ebay rather than just go ahead and refund her straight away?

I would offer option 2 - whether it's been done purposely or not it's unlikely that you'll sell it on if the feathers are the feature

Thanks happy... so would you just refund her the cost of the item but not the cost of the postage? And do you think that i should ask the buyer to open a case via ebay or is it best to just resolve it between the two of us?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I would open a case with eBay just to cover your own back - explain to them as you have done here.
I think it depends how much the item cost and if it's still useable - if it was a low price I would refund cost but not for the postage as she's still able to use the item.

Yes, if there will be any form of refund issued then always ask the buyer to open a case. This saves you a whole lot of admin hassle, makes sure that you are refunded any fees hat you are due and also closes the matter if a partial refund is issued.

Back to your OP...... it's entirely up to you. I guess it would depend on how much did you sell the item for? Can it be easily repaired? Would you be willing to pay £3 to have returned to youso you could repair it and re sell it?

If it was a low value item personally I would just refund the buyer in full and tell her to keep it. Offering a partial refund would also be an acceptable solution IMO however.

Offering to refund without postage would be considered a partial refund, so be aware that the buyer doesn't have to accept this.

But it does seem a fair offer, as long as the item can be repaired.

Thank you so much for all your help. It has been very useful!
I have asked buyer to open a returns case with ebay and have offered her a full return for item and postage as it appears that item is too damaged to be wearable [and to be fair in hindsight I probably should have packaged in a box to avoid this happening]. So I am chalking it up to a learning experience and am just lucky in a way that the item only sold for 99p with £3.95 postage [although it was probably closer to £20 when I originally bought it and it has never been worn]. But not a biggy really.
Thanks to you all for your advice!

If it's too damaged to be worn, why do you want t back (and to pay £3 for the privilege?!)? Just refund the buyer and tell them to bin it.

Thanks Lottie, that is exactly what I have done