Return/Refund/sellers final value fees problem

[goodkingsenselessness]

Hi all,

Im having a problem with a return. Buyer asked to return an item for a full refund, to which I agreed. The case process on My ebay was showing as 'started'. The item arrived this morning, but the envelope did not have a printed ebay label on it, nor did the ebay case show as 'dispatched'. I was expecting 'dispatched' button to be  ticked and green so I could then mark the item as received, and finally send the refund via ebay. 

So I messaged the buyer and asked if it was possible for him to mark the item as dispatched, so I could then mark it as received. But instead he has closed the case! So now I do not have an ebay refund button within this case to return the money. The case details still does not show the item as dispatched, and the refund button has now faded to a pale grey (ie plainly abandoned).

I have the returned item so the seller is due his refund, which I want to give him.  Do you think there is any way I can reclaim my seller fees when I do refund him? (Im guessing not).  And also, is there any risk in refunding him directly via Paypal? Will I get an ebay strike if I refund him via Paypal? I dont see now how I can refund him via the proper ebay channel.

Thanks.

[goodkingsenselessness]

Thanks John,

I tried asking seller to send out the request but doesnt seem to be able to. I couldnt see a way to send a request to him either. However he did suggest I subtract the ebay fvf from the total and send him the rest. So there didnt seem any other way to do it through ebay so Ive done that and sent it via Paypal.

Thanks again for your help.