Refunds from stealth Amazon with VCC, anyone?

[subzero3001]

I have never been in this situation yet but what will happen if:

Your money is already in your bank acct then a buyer requests a refund. You grant the refund but Amazon cannot charge the VCC because has either zero balance or is not good anymore.

What happens then?

They wait until you have positive balance or they close down your account when they realize was a VCC?

I always keep the money on Amazon Marketplace until they send it to my bank every 2 weeks so I avoid being on zero balance and unable to cover refunds. On most of my accts I have only $400-$500 at most.

Thank you for reading and good luck to everyone.

[Axcend]

They will ask you to update your credit card and I just handle refunds by mail

[subzero3001]

Thanx Axcend!

[Axcend]

I handle all my refunds by mail. Just priority mail the cash to them. It's gotten me 5 star feedback everytime. I've heard stories of credit cards not going through, then after updating the information accounts being shut down. But I've just read of that once in awhile, and its not generally been confirmed. I just try to draw the least amount of attention to my accounts

[ovidiu]

Yes, but if you handle refunds through the mail, you don't get a refund for your fees. And if you take it out of the check, you'll have pissed buyers. Something to think about on higher priced items in categories where Amazon gouges on fees (like software).

[amazonian]

It is against Amazon TOS to handle refunds outside of Amazon.

[lakeman]

Handling refunds my mail is not a good idea unless you're willing to take the risk of loosing double the cost of the item. The buyer can easily open a chargeback up with amazon after you mail them cash. Not a good idea.

[ovidiu]

I think it can be a good idea on small items like books or CD's, so you don't run up your return rate. Not a good idea on big items, obviously.

[Recherché]

You've already granted the refund right? So the above scenarios don't apply if you've refunded through amazon already. It would leave you with a negative account balance.

It has happened several times to me on different accounts as Amazon emailed me next disbursement cycle stating credit card is declined. All is good as I simply made more sales to cover negative charges. After of which I have never been suspended or forced to update card. When I do get back into positive, I immediately request disbursement. No issues.