Item came back marked "Unknown Address", now buyer MIA, what to do?

[Aussie2B]

So the title about says it all, but I sold a game, mailed it off, didn't hear from the buyer after a couple months, and had assumed it arrived with no problems. But then the thing shows up at my house, marked as undeliverable due to the address being "unknown". I wrote it down exactly as I was given, and my handwriting is clear. I contacted the buyer, but it's been almost two weeks with no response. When the buyer purchased the item, he/she was a brand new eBay member with 0 feedback, and the only feedback on there now is still the positive I left back in May after shipping the game off. Should I just refund the value of the item and hope that the buyer will actually reclaim the funds and not appear out of nowhere and make a stink about not getting the item or not getting a full refund? I'd rather not refund the shipping fee, considering I already wasted my time and money on the envelope, shipping the item, and eBay fees, and the failed delivery doesn't appear to be my fault in any way.

What would you guys do?

[Jaruff]

So the title about says it all, but I sold a game, mailed it off, didn't hear from the buyer after a couple months, and had assumed it arrived with no problems. But then the thing shows up at my house, marked as undeliverable due to the address being "unknown". I wrote it down exactly as I was given, and my handwriting is clear. I contacted the buyer, but it's been almost two weeks with no response. When the buyer purchased the item, he/she was a brand new eBay member with 0 feedback, and the only feedback on there now is still the positive I left back in May after shipping the game off. Should I just refund the value of the item and hope that the buyer will actually reclaim the funds and not appear out of nowhere and make a stink about not getting the item or not getting a full refund? I'd rather not refund the shipping fee, considering I already wasted my time and money on the envelope, shipping the item, and eBay fees, and the failed delivery doesn't appear to be my fault in any way.

What would you guys do?

Do nothing. Depending on when you sold the game in May, the 45-day grace period for filing claims is probably passed by now. They can't do anything about it.

Pocket the money and resell the game. Not your fault that the buyer failed to contact you in a timely period.

[Bojay1997]

Do nothing. Depending on when you sold the game in May, the 45-day grace period for filing claims is probably passed by now. They can't do anything about it.

Pocket the money and resell the game. Not your fault that the buyer failed to contact you in a timely period.

I have to agree with this. You made a good faith effort to deliver it and you tried contacting the buyer. You've done all you can do.

[wingzrow]

Free game, just sell it again. If the buyer ever contacts you, if and then, you can refund the purchase.

[slapdash]

Reminds me of a skit (Dana Carvey show?) where these two guys would do things like pull into a drive-through, order food, pay for it, and then drive off cackling.

I'd hold onto it a while, just in case the buyer DOES contact you still, but all in all you DID put in the effort and so I think it would be fair to sell it... again.

[Aussie2B]

Hah, yeah, it is a goofy situation. It's not the first time I've gotten a package back marked "Unknown Address" when selling on eBay, but the buyers were always eager to resolve the situation.

Thanks for the advice, everyone. Yeah, I think a wait-and-see approach is best. I mean, with the way this person has disappeared, there's no way for me to know if the PayPal account will ever be used again either. The last thing I want to do is refund the payment and have the money just sit in PayPal's coffers for all eternity. I'd be happy to mail the game to a new address or refund the sale price (well, as happy as I can be with a transaction that's not going smoothly), but I need to know what would work for the buyer before doing that. I'm in no rush to sell, so I'll just hang onto the game for awhile. If I still haven't heard from the buyer when I decide to list it again, then tough luck if the buyer reappears and still wants the game. Then a refund will be the only option.

[Videogamerdaryll]

I got a package back “Undeliverable” months ago..it had sat in the buyers post office for who knows how long but when I got it back it was almost two months past the Ebay sale delivery time..
I was surprised the buyer didn’t ask about it in all that time,it was a videogame..
So I sent an ebay message to the buyer that I received the package back undeliverable.what would they like to do...expecting to be shipping it right out I left it packed...Now due to the cost of shipping and the price of item sold I don’t offer to reship at my cost..it’s not my fault that they didn’t get it,I did my part..this can go on and on.
I got no response from that buyer,looking on ebay I notice they had no activity for awhile ,my transaction was their last..I waited a week and sent another message,.no response..
So now I’m siting on a game that I feel guilty about as the buyer didn’t get it.the packages is still packed ...I may relist the game but I don’t need to..Maybe the buyer will pop out of the woodwork someday..What has me curious,what happened to these people..


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I don’t offer to reship at my cost..Say I sell a game for $6.00 on ebay with free ship.if it cost me $3 to ship then the game sold for $3.00 less ebay and paypal fees..if I was to ship it again I’d had taken a total loss and be in the negative..with returned Undeliverable etc packages if the buyer wants a reship they have to pay me to reship.it’s a tough thing as most buyers don’t want to and that’s sad to stick the seller with that cost when the seller did their job..Sometimes however when I explain my loss the buyer pay to reship.or will accept a refund for the item itself.

I don’t offer to reship at my cost..it’s not my fault that they didn’t get it,I did my part..this could go on and on as I have had it happen before with a buyer who lived two towns away from me-they refused a refund so I shipped it again and it came back to me again.....If I was to keep shipping back to this person at my cost It would of kept costing me money past the sale worth,I totally lost on that item sale as I wanted to be nice and help the “old Lady” who bought an item from me for her grandson..
What happened with that is I delivered it to her at a store in her town that she selected(that I knew of) ,,go figure she didn’t even say thank you when I delivered it...

[Aussie2B]

I'm bumping this up just to share the ongoing silliness of trying to find this game a new home.

I never did hear back from the original buyer all this time, so I finally got around to relisting this game. Another buyer with 0 feedback bought it at the BIN price. A day or so goes by with no payment, so I send an invoice. I wait a while longer, then I finally contact the buyer today, after a week has passed, to ask when I can expect to receive payment. I get a response pretty quickly, and it's just rich:

"Whomever you are trying to contact has been providing my email address as his/her own. I do not know this person and I have contacted ebay to have my email address removed from the account of this user but they have refused my request."

Keep in mind that I received this response not just in my email but in the eBay messenger, so clearly this person was signed in to that account when sending that message, haha.

Man, what's up with this game? It's like it's cursed and just does not want to leave my hands. And I'm selling it for under 20 bucks, so it's not like it's a noteworthy, valuable item that attracts people dicking around. Getting rid of this game is proving to be about as difficult as getting rid of this cat, haha:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bETCusT5kNM

[Cornelius]

I feel your pain. I had a cursed GPS that I sold at least 4 times before it finally found a new home. It sucks to have something you thought was dealt with keep coming back to you.