Sounds like it was not your fault in any way- you sent it safely, it wasn't returned due to damaged package but due to the fault of the receiver. Let them know what happened and why, and let them know if their quote for shipping has changed since the first time- because yep, they ought to be paying it.

Yup, you did your job, not your fault the receiver didn't do theirs. If they want repairs and/or for it to be resent the burden is on them. I would in no way offer to cover cost except if the damage was very minor (at your discretion).
They'll probably kick up a fuss so be prepared to weather that storm. Be firm but polite.

I would say the recipient should fight the shipping service for the refund, it was their job to return the parcel safely. And yeah, I get that shipping services are pretty unfriendly/unhelpful when it comes to covering lost/damage shipments.

But the sender is not at fault for the inaction of the recipient which caused the parcel to be returned, and should not be liable for fulfilling a refund in whole or in part.

If the shipping service offers a refund it should go in whole to the recipient if the sender has been paid in full for services rendered (and shipping costs). Otherwise, remove balance owed and send the remainder to the recipient.

At this point it's 110% the client's problem. The onus was on them to understand the customs fees associated with their own country, and they should have paid said fees in a timely manner or worked something out with their own customs officers. Whatever damage the suit has taken at this point is not your problem. If it becomes lost, then it should be up to the client to chase up their own insurance claim provided USPS will allow them to.

If it makes it back to you and they want repairs it should be up to your discretion as to if you want to give any for free, but you are certainly not obligated to.

I had a US seller send something to me in the UK, after paying customs and it was delivered, it turned out that it had gotten trashed in the post.

When I brought up the issue with the seller they flat out refused to do an insurance claim saying I had to do it. However when I looked into it, I (the buyer) could not make the claim. If it's an international service, only the seller who bought the insurance could make the claim. (I think if it was a domestic service then I could have made a claim as that seems to work differently)

This is because postal insurance protects the seller, not the buyer. It's the seller's responsibility to get the item packed properly and delivered with the correct postal service. If the item then going missing or is damaged in the post and the seller is required to send a replacement, that's where the insurance comes in to cover the seller's loss.

So in this case, if it was an international delivery then Beastcub, you will most likely have to make the insurance claim. It can take several months for the claim to be processed to be prepared for a wait :(But paying customs and charges is usually the buyers responsibility so that can't be held against you.

To be honest I don't know as the added complication of loss during return didn't happen in my case. While it would seem logical that the parcel would be covered during it's time in the postal system whether it was being delivered or returned, I think it's definitely a case of checking the fine print of the insurance to see exactly what is covered and what might void it. You would have to see if the item is still covered in the case that delivery failed and if the reason for return has any affect on the insurance.

I only know in my case of an international postal damage claim, only the person who bought the insurance could make the claim. Also as part of the claim there were things like the insurance receipt being required, which as the buyer I didn't have. So simply fobbing off a buyer by telling them it's their problem and they have to make the insurance claim themselves isn't a good way of handling it as they may not actually be able to make the claim!

This is a slight tangent, but since there is often confusion about who's responsible for what and why, I thought I'd pop in with a clarification about shipping from the US. I'm a former USPS mail carrier. :)

The reason why the sender has to file an insurance claim is because the person who directly hands money to the US Postal Service is who the USPS considers their customer. There's an unofficial employee motto: "Honor the sender." It doesn't matter where the money originally came from; whoever actually has proof they handed the money to the USPS in exchange for a service is the customer of the USPS, -not- the recipient of the item. (Sometimes the clerks may not check up on who sent what and will give refunds to whoever walks in with a valid tracking number or shipping order, but that's not really how they're supposed to handle it.)

For example, if you order a package from Amazon that ships USPS, you're Amazon's customer--but Amazon is the USPS's customer. That's why you're supposed to contact Amazon about refunds for damaged/missing goods rather than the USPS. You go after Amazon for what you paid them, and Amazon goes after the USPS for what they're owed. This works for ALL things shipped through USPS, letters, periodicals, parcels, etc.

If you buy stamps from your mail carrier, for another example, you are the USPS's customer until that transaction is complete. But if you're just receiving mail in your box, as is the case most of the time for people day to day, you're not the customer--the senders are the customers because they paid the USPS directly for shipping services.

I hope this makes sense--waiting on dinner and blood sugar is kinda low!

Thanks for the clarification!

I would amend what I've already said then to, as the sender, file and fight for the refund then send it along to the recipient, minus balanced owed, if any.

Looks to be the same in the UK. When I received something faulty and had to post it back, it went missing in the post. As I was the one who bought the stamps for the return postage, I was the one who had to make a compensation claim rather than the original seller. So it does seem that whoever buys the postage/service is the one who does the claim.

Also thought I'd bring this up as no one has yet. If you are selling and classed as a business, you do have certain distance selling responsibilities according to your countries laws & regulations. While a lot of it doesn't apply to a private seller, if you use a service such as Etsy, Ebay, Paypal etc, you are bound to their buyer protection/seller responsibilities too.

In particular most of these services have it as the seller must pack an item correctly, use the appropriate postal service and to refund or replace the item in the case of it going missing or being damaged in the postal system. (This is why I said above that the insurance is to protect the seller against loss from having to refund/replace...)

I think you may get around some of this by say, being paid via bank transfer rather than paypal so you're not bound by paypal's rules. So if you haven't done so already, it might be worth doing some research into this to see what effects you as a distance seller in your line of work to get a bit more clarity.

As for whether or not the buyer doing something that causes an item to be returned has any bearing on damage/loss claims, it would probably be best to get in contact with the postal/insurance company and ask them directly.

I've had people never pick up items from customs on multiple occassions... I sure don't understand why this happens. The excuse has been given that customs never contacted them about picking up the package, but tracking clearly showed the box was in customs and they needed to go get it- shouldn't my customers have called around to figure out where the office is? So now I'm having int'l customers tell me their phone number so I can write it on the customs form and hopefully an agent will call them and instruct them on how to pick it up and pay customs fees.

I agree that damage on the return trip is not your fault. I would take pictures of the box, take pictures of the damaged areas of the costume, come up with an estimate for repairs and ask your client what they would like to do, be it pay for repairs and shipping, or just pay for shipping and ship as-is (optional third choice: cancel the commission and resell their costume- of course everyone's ToS is different about this sort of thing so your mileage may vary).

On Etsy where my specific instances has happened though, there's a "track shipment" button that'll show detailed tracking info. Even told one guy his package was available for pickup and he never picked it up or anything, it got sent back to me almost a year later. O_o It is super strange.

To US to Canada, and Canada to US the postal services will tell you where your tracking is. I've shipped a package to Canada before and saw it arrive in customs, get paid, and then end up delivered. On the flip side I ordered a hoodie from a Canadian maker and was able to track it.

Was the parcel insured in any way? If so, the shipping service (UPS, USPS, FedEx) should pay the insured amount. You'll have to show proof of the damaged goods when filing a claim, but they should pay up.

If it was not insured, then though it wasn't your fault the suit got damaged, there's no way for you to get reimbursed. If the purchaser failed to pick up the parcel and it got sent back to you, I would calculate a refund rate based on the portion that is non-refundable (time/labor/materials), and damage from shipping. Although it wasn't the recipient's fault it got damaged in shipping, it was their responsibility to pick up the suit and pay customs fees, and by being sent back, you could argue their negligence resulted in damage that would not have resulted if it didn't go through a second overseas journey.

You should give them a partial refund, since they did not receive the suit, but you do not owe them a complete refund, as you did the work and the suit got damaged in return transit.

Probably very late to ask now but how did it go?

I just had my 3rd shipment overseas arrive in the country (Germany) and sit in customs. Client receives letter in the mail saying its ready to be picked up... But they have to pay import fees (in this case, 300€). My client said that I'M in charge of the fees when they managed to pay upfront for the fursuit and shipping but not customs, I refused and said they could send it back and I'd refund them. Ultimately they paid and enjoy the fursuit.

I edited my TOS and auction descriptions to avoid this in the future but I'm very confused about why the import fee was far, FAR more than I thought. When I shipped to Denmark there was no fee and when I shipped to the UK there was a ~50£ fee.