This may be an unknown feature for most users, but PayPal will refund shipping costs associated with returns. This is a great, consumer-first feature, and can be especially useful as COVID-19 has pushed online shopping to the forefront of public perception.
Returning a product online is always a frustrating process. Even if all goes well, it can be difficult to know how to return an item if you can’t walk into the store. This is sometimes so cumbersome that platforms like Amazon often choose to just refund people without bothering to set a return timeline. Returning online purchases has become more complicated during the pandemic as the virus has affected shipping pipelines, and that doesn’t even take into account the obvious health risks.
While it doesn’t eliminate the hassles of shipping issues, PayPal’s U.S. Return Shipping Refund can still be helpful. The service will reimburse up to $30 in profit-related shipping costs per transaction. Users are eligible for 12 cashbacks per calendar year and only for transactions paid in full with PayPal coins. It’s only a small financial relief, but if it dampens the prospect of shipping goods back to online retailers, it’s welcome.
How to Use PayPal Return Shipping
It’s an affordable option, but it comes with some caveats. First, visit the Return Shipping Rates website and enable the feature. It only works after agreeing to the terms there. It then needs to meet all the requirements to get a refund from the original retailer. Since this is a refund, PayPal members must first go through the entire return process with the merchant, then submit a refund request within 30 days of the item’s return. To request that we return an item, please sign in to PayPal. This will open the Summary page with a list of options at the top. Use the menu to navigate to the Events page and find deals again. Below that item, there will be an option to “Request a refund for return shipping”.
Requesting a refund creates a checklist that PayPal needs to verify a refund. This includes the return date, the reason for the return, the item shipped, and of course the shipping costs. It will also ask for a receipt or other proof that shipping has been paid. All of this is PayPal’s attempt to prevent people from cheating the system, so it’s a lot of work for the user to do.
After completing these steps, the refund will be added directly to your PayPal balance. This feature will also only refund if the original seller returns the item are you sure Free returns are provided, so keep that in mind.
Source: PayPal