buyer wants a refund

what do you do when the buyer wants a refund, and you’re not so sure they deserve one?  Do you go back and forth badgering about who did what wrong, wasting both your and their time?

I’ve found that refunds can be solved, very very quickly.

1.  You need to have a value in your head of what the effect to your sales will be for each negative and neutral feedback is.

2.  If total potential amount of the refund is less than that value, then you can quickly resolve the situation.

Ask the buyer what refund amount they would be happy with.  Often it is less than you think.

Example – you feel a negative feedback is worth $100 of negative worth to your sales.

A buyer doesn’t receive an item that is worth $18 total (includes shipping).  They won’t take no for an answer even though you state in your listing that you don’t offer refunds on lost items.  (we all get these types of byers occasionally)

Whether or not they truly deserve it, you ask them how much they want in a refund.  They say $10.

Refund sent, their happy, they leave a positive, your happy that the situation is over with.

So questions to keep in mind – how much do you value your time at?  and How much is preventing a negative feedback worth to you?

More to come on this later