eBay return nightmare

[MESSING2]

Hi, hope someone can advise (or at least just listen to me vent 😄)

I sold a fairly niche item on eBay a few days ago, which I thought was in decemt condition. It is relatively bulky/heavy (6-7kg) but was able to send relatively cheapy with Evri as it was within their restrictions, so postage was around £6. Item was sold for around £40.

On receiving the item, the buyer sent me a message saying it wasn't as described, enclosing some photos to back him up. To be fair, there were some details I'd missed as a layperson and not someone knowledgeable about the item.

The buyer asked for a full refund inc. postage, which I promptly sorted out, along with an apology about the item not being quite as described. He also asked for a postage label in order to return the item. I told him I was happy for him to just keep the item, as on his account it seemed it wasn't worth anywhere near as much as hed paid for it and I'd probably struggle to sell it elsewhere. He refused to keep it, saying he just wanted to send it back to me.

I purchased an Evri label and sent it to him. I thought that would be the end of the matter but instead got another message saying he'd tried 4 different Evri collection locations and none of them would take the parcel as it was too big. He now wanted a Parcelforce label instead. I expressed surprise that Evri wouldn't take it, given that I'd used them in the first place. I can only imagine he has used a huge box to package the item in, which means it's over the accepted dimensions.

I have just looked at Parcelforce and prices are £40+ to send the item back to me.

Now, I totally accept that the buyer wasn't happy with the description of the item and had the right to a full refund, but it seems unreasonable that I am now having to pay more than the cost of the item to have it sent back to me, when I have offered for him to keep it for free (or dispose of it if he really doesn't want it). It would have been fine for him to send it back to me with Evri as that was only £6 - but for whatever reason he has been incapable of doing that.

Can anyone offer any nuggets of wisdom on this?! eBay of course are useless so I won't be contacting them.

I'm a fairly experienced ebayer (over 20 years), occasional seller, and in this situation I certainly wouldn't pay the Parcelforce cost! I'd tell him the exact dimensions allowed by Evri, and say if he can't manage that then you're sorry but you can't do any more than that.

He might leave you negative feedback - but might do so anyway regardless, and you can always leave a polite reply explaining.

Have you tried speaking to eBay? I know in some instances they will issue the buyer with a free returns label, but I'm not sure of the process for this. I would definitely seek advice from them and provide evidence that you have tried to be helpful and have offered a return and postage label.

Tell him you’ve sent a label if he can’t return it then it’s not your problem. He can put it in the bin if he doesn’t want it. I would block all further communication from him

Send another message through ebay that you have refunded the item cost, and the postage cost, but are happy for him to keep the item, sorry it was not to your liking blah blah.
Ebay will not open a dispute on his behalf if he has been refunded.
I had a situation where the buyer said something was faulty, I refunded the item and the postage costs but he decided to send it back by a more expensive service.
He hassled me for the difference but as there was nothing wrong with the item anyway I ignored it. Ebay did not intervene.

Thanks all. I have just sent him another message reiterating that I'm happy for him to keep the item (and state clearly in eBay messages that I've agreed this, so he's not worried about any comeback afterwards) as the Parcelforce return cost is too high to justify it being sent back.

I'm hoping he'll be reasonable and accept this (and I don't see why he wouldn't? I'd be delighted in his position after a full refund and offer to keep the item for free.)

If he is bonkers enough to not accept then I may just ignore any further messages and swallow the bad feedback 😄

Result - the buyer has agreed to just keep the item. Phew.