How Much Refund

I need some advice on how to handle this issue. I received the following negative feedback from a new "buyer" to HipStamp.

# 148 Carmine Mint No Gum Abraham Lincoln SCV-290.00
I emailed the seller almost a week ago to cancel, which was the very next day, and never received a responce, now I will not use hipstamp any longer.
02/02/2023 15:16:07

The first correspondence I received on this issue via HipStamp was sent 12 minutes after the negative feedback was posted:

return02/02/2023 15:28:50
I need info on returning the stamp I just received (Scott # 148) for refund. Please only use my email address, I emailed you last weekend asking you to c ancel no response

Eight minutes later he also sent me a direct email message, stating the same thing, which I responded to as follows at 5:40 PM.

I never saw your emails. Your first two went directly to spam. You should use the "contact seller" located with either the order or stamp when communicating. This would have prevented me from mailing the stamp. You need to make sure that you want a stamp before buying it. PayPal fees of $3.17 are not refundable. Return stamp to John Eckhardt, PO Box 251, Bat Cave, NC 28710. A refund will be issued upon receipt.

Interesting fact is that the stamp was "purchased" on 1/30 at 2:06 PM. This was a Monday, yet he states he notified me the preceding weekend that he didn't want it. In the feedback he claims he emailed me "almost a week ago" to cancel a stamp that he only "purchased" 3 days earlier. He did attempt to notify me at 7:30 AM on 1/31 via direct email, but that went to my spam folder. Hopefully he stays true to his word and doesn't "use" HipStamp any longer as we don't need people this "mixed up" on the site. He only has two positive feedbacks and unfortunately one of those is from me.

I did receive the stamp back today. My question to everyone is how much should I refund. Can I keep the PayPal fees of $3.17 plus the $3.64 I spent for mailing with tracking? Do I need to pay him for the $1.20 he paid to return the stamp to me which could have been done for 60 cents without tracking?

I will ask HipStamp to return their fees and to remove both his negative feedback and my positive feedback, but don't know if they will do that without me returning all of his money. Also, I don't know if buyer would have PayPal claim for full amount even though he canceled the order because he changed his mind.

Your thoughts would be appreciated.
John

Comments

  • 7 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • Be careful is my advice. I had a customer claim that they did not receive their shipment. Material "lost". I promised to refund or replace the material if it did not show up in the now expanded time frame that the USPS delivers the mail. The customer filed a refund claim via their financial institution through Paypal. I promptly paid the full amount(no netting of actual fees of delivery) because that is the way I do business.

    I just received an email from Paypal saying that they were charging me an additional $15 "dispute fee". So I lose my material. Pay the non refundable Paypal fees, plus the postage and now get "rewarded" with this charge.

    Ugh.

    Bob
  • edited February 2023 1 LikesVote Down
    John,

    Actually you state in your own return policy this Your satisfaction is guaranteed. Full refund upon receipt. Hipstamp terms and conditions require you to honor YOUR own policy. As you did get the stamp back according to your return policy a full refund is what you need to send the customer. .Second Hipstamp also DOES NOT allow you to charge a restocking fee. (Which on that point you would need to get clarification from Hipstamp if those fees would be viewed
    as being part of a restocking fee)


    Bob,

    The only time Paypal will charge you those fees are if it goes into a dispute. If the seller is proactive and it never gets into a dispute they will not charge you those fees for a refund.
  • Thanks Michael. I have never had a "dispute" before and was proactive with the buyer. My point was that a partial refund could get the buyer to file a dispute with Paypal which will cost John the Paypal initial fee PLUS the dispute fee.

    Bob
  • Bob,

    Paypal doesn't always charge a dispute fee. I think they will charge it if the dispute was started via the credit card co. If the dispute starts on Paypal they usually don't charge that fee if the seller is proactive with the dispute. (IE if you have to go through the entire process with Paypal and they find for the buyer.)
  • Michael

    I paid the claim immediately through Paypal. I do believe that the buyer filed the claim through their "financial institution"... which might or might not be a credit card company. As I said never had this problem before but this penalty charge is evidently outlined in the Paypal TOS agreement.

    As I said earlier, I didn't make my point directly but it remains. Don't absorb the fee(full refund) and the buyer can file a claim and you can get dinged with this extra charge. Pennywise, pound foolish.

    Bob
  • I would just absorb the fee. It's not a lot of money, and not worth the headache or hassle. BUT never do business with this individual again.
  • I did absorb the fee. HipStamp did eliminate both his negative feedback and my positive feedback to him; however they did not remove him from site. Unfortunately we can't block buyers, therefore he could pull the same stunt again costing me or someone else unnecessary fees and aggravation.
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