Forum

Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Hey people, been stealth for a good 8 months now and everything is going well as I've always had spare funds coming in to pay fees or do refunds if needed.

However a buyer has returned his item unexpectedly and I need to refund £114, what's the best way to do this? Received the item back today so need to refund asap.

Any help/guiding would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance :)

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

DO NOT use VCC to refund. This thread will be useful to read however :-)

http://www.aspkin.com/forums/uk-ebay...using-vcc.html

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

I assume you have your bank account attached to the paypal account - which is the obvious way you were pulling funds out of it until now.
Just use that as your source of funding when processing the refund.

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

I'm surprised at you Slokor.

An account seller giving advice like that :doh:

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

NO do not allow paypal to take funds out of your real bank account, despite what Slokor suggested there, he/she was having a blip there!, you need to sell few more items to get enough balance in your paypal, presumably you do sell other items that are in the region of £114 as well, and as you said you are doing well and usually do have funds available to deal with refunds, etc., if you let PayPal access your ban account, they will see your real name and realise your are operating a stealth account.

You will be aware of the ongoing difficult situation with ID documents in the UK since Christmas, or at least you will be aware of it now if you have been reading around the forum a little this morning! It has become a real issue, so anything that causes PayPal to question who we are is bad news and you really cannot afford to cause that to happen at this time, time to put your opening sentences in this post into effect, and get things sold to get the funds available for the refund, this is definately your best option if you can do it, lower a couple of your prices if need be to attract buyers.

Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

You can't refund with a VCC, only real way is from PayPal balance so as it was said, you need sales, hopefully you don't have holds if not that will delay the process

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Really , I would have thought that would have blown the account, it does not always destroy an account but way too risky to take the chance.

would be far better off (if it gets to this) making the vcc the funding source and letting the paypal go in to the red until sales come though to cover it.

I also noticed that it goes into the red for a while before paypal try and take any funds to cover the debit amount.

sales , sales , sales.

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Very true....
I perhaps think Slokor was meaning as a one off because several people have said that a one have been ok.
PLEASE NOTE i am not condoning this as a good idea at all but think Slokor was perhaps suggestibg that as a last ditch attempt if you cannot do anything else.

My suggestion would be to try and make up those funds quickly by selling, im afraid. How long have you got to process this refund? Whats the deadline?

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Some pretty shocking advice being given out by some in this thread. :doh:

I think Querki the following info would be useful:

How much are you short of the refund? Do you need the whole £114?

Do you still have 21 day holds on your paypal?

How many sales do you average a day/week?

What is their average value?

How many listings do you have left free this month?

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Thanks everyone for the help in the replies.

Yeah I still need to refund the full £114. Looks like I'll have to do some quick sales within the next few days. What can I say to the buyer in the meantime as obviously it's not fair them waiting, I'd be annoyed too if this was me.

I can list 50 items each month and have no 21 day holds. Sales this last 31 days is £951.

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Just communicate with your buyer. Inform them that you are awaiting funds to be released but it will take several days before PP will release them. I find that as long as you communicate with a buyer and make them realize that they are important and a top priority that they will normally be willing to work with you and wait. It really shouldn't be that big of a deal. Just tell them you'll refund the moment your funds are released. Take all the others advice and sell in the meantime to you can build up the funds to refund. Good luck!

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Good suggestion ruinedbypaypal, as long as things have not gone too far along with a refund this would definately be worth trying out

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

You may just have to take a loss on profit and sell some items a bit cheaper (3-5% off, maybe even 10%) to get some quick sales in order to cover the refund.

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

The following is a method I have used many times with no problems for me but it is completely up to you what you do, it also presumes you have sold 10 items before which it sounds like you have.

List a £100 giftcard, ideally M+S, Debenhams or such desirable stores. Do a 1 or 3 day buy it now and target the price between £80 -£84 with free p+p, do not leave the offer option on. It may take 8-14 hours for the listing to show 'live' but within 2 or 3 hours of it doing so you can basically gaurantee it will sell. Put it as 3 day dispatch with 2nd class postage to buy you some breathing time.

Yes you take a hit for £20 or so, and obviously you still have to have the cash available to buy the card and send it, but it is a way to get out of jail. If you use your imagination I am sure you can think of ways to get the whole amount you are looking for, but only do it if you physically have the cash at hand to go out and purchase said items to send and research the items thouroghly to see what the sale prices have been and then go below it.

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

Are listing gift cards risky? Im.asking because i genuinely dont know.

If they are not, then you have definately proposed a good option realdeals. And as long as OP honours the gift card sales, i agree it bides them some time :thumb:

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

They are, to a certain extent.

If I remember correctly, in the past I have had a message come up on the account saying I was limited to £100 of giftcard sales that month. So the section is fairly well protected and 'looked after'.

Personally I have never had even the slightest issue doing this. A 'one off' really shouldn't be a problem, and it is a really good time to list as an 'unwanted christmas gift'.

Just to reiterate, I am not saying the OP should do this. it is his free will and choice. I am just putting the idea out that I have used many times with no after effects. I would personally if I was the OP want to get money into my paypal a.s.a.p, and to do that sometimes you need to be a little creative. I would certainly rather lose £30 or £40 than a stealth account.

Re: Refunding a buyer with no funds in PayPal
 

I definately took your post as saying that its OP,s choice so you certainly havent ""advised"" it and that its only a suggestion
I guess like anything else, we take our own risks and then have noone to blame but ourselves
If im ever caught short, its a plausible option as a one off but if it went pear shaped, then of course id have noone to blame but myself.

Hope OP can solve it the best they can. Message seller first. Do think Kings comment of lowering some listing prices is a good idea also. :-)