Partial Refunds
eBay have announced today that from late March, sellers using managed payments will have more flexibility to resolve return requests by making it possible to offer a partial refund even when eBay auto-accepted the return. This can help you save money on postage costs if you don’t want items returned.
There are circumstances where you’ll have an eBay label auto-generated and charged to your account for auto-accepted returns and a partial refund could save the cost of the label. It’s worth noting, that even if a label has been generated, it’s only charged to your account on the first scan, so if you can avoid the buyer actually returning the item then you won’t have to pay for a label.
With this update, sellers using managed payments will be able to offer a partial refund to buyers even if eBay automatically accepted a buyer’s return request. You can make the offer as long as the buyer hasn’t posted the item. Once the buyer posts the item, you won’t be able to offer a partial refund using the new Refund Options button.
How do partial refunds work?
From late March, when you receive a return request you’ll see a new button in the Return flows titled Refund Options. This links to a screen where you have the option to offer a partial refund or full refund to the buyer. Once your buyer accepts the offer, the return request will then close. eBay do point out that you should not expect the item back once your buyer has accepted a partial refund offer.
This update will not affect the ability of eligible sellers to issue a partial refund if an item is returned to the seller in a different condition than the original. And of course if you have no desire to offer partial refunds then you can simply carry on operating as you are today.
Updates to how you manage post-sale issues
From late April 2021, eBay will begin introducing an improved way to manage post-sale requests and cases. Soon you’ll be able to handle all post-sales issues from one centralised and easy-to-manage location in Seller Hub.
When you manage or close post-sale issues from late April on, you’ll no longer have to take an extra step and go to the Resolution Centre. You’ll be able to view and manage all returns, Item not received requests, cancellations, payment disputes as well as eBay Money Back Guarantee claims from Seller Hub.