Item arrived after refund

[usedhomesales]

Hey,

so i purchased something on the 7th of december as a christmas gift, it was sent by the seller on the 8th first class, due on the 9th. i waited an extra week but it didn't arrive, i contacted the seller and we went through resolving it, he sent me the Royal Mail reference number, so i called Royal Mail yesterday, which is 12 days after it was due. Royal Mail told me on the phone that if it hadn't arived by the 21st which is also yesterday that they would consider it missing in their system, so i asked for a refund as Royal Mail declaired it missing and the seller obliged straight away, he told me he's going to Royal Mail to claim for a lost package. All was fine but the item arrived today, so i'm not sure what to do in this instance. i already purchased a second one which i had to get special delivery and pay more for, just so it would arrive before christmas.

what should i do?

Thanks.

[m25jet · Accepted solution]

If you have already purchased a replacement item in the meantime and the seller refunded you in full before the item arrived that you purchased from him then I would advise you to return the item to the seller.  That way he doesn't lose out financially as he gets the item back (eventually - there are a lot of postal delays at the moment) and he can then sell it on to somebody else.  However, it would be worth sending the seller an e-mail via eBay Messages to let him know that you have received the item and are returning it to him given that you have already received a refund and had purchased a replacement item in the meantime.  At least that way the seller will realise that you're not a scammer, as a scammer would not have done the right thing and returned the item to the seller.