Seller does not follow through and transaction cannot be completed.

[snuci]

An item was listed with Freight shipping.  As a buyer, I contacted him for a quote and received a quote before bidding.  In the end, I won the auction but I cannot pay because the seller has not included shipping in a final PayPal invoice.  I have heard nothitng from the seller in over a month (Maybe he was on vacation?).   Sadly, this item does not come up on eBay often and certainly not in Canada so I tried to be very patient.

I couldn't pay and lost hope that this transaction was going to finish but I can't seem to report the seller in any way through the resolution center because I have not paid.  I thought the whole idea was that the completed auction was a contract between the buyer and seller? Without this, (giving an extreme case) it seems I can bid on whatever I want and not follow through.

Is there a way to report this?  If my only course is to leave negative feedback, can I remove this listing from my Purchases list so I don't see the reminders that I still have to pay (for which I can't)?

Sadly, I've lost faith in the eBay system. 

[pierrelebel]

Since this item is important to you, have you considered calling the seller to find out exactly what the situation is? 

[snuci]

Thank you for your reply.  I don't know where to find contact information for this person.  If you can help, that would be great.

As it appears the person is avoiding me, what are my options if the communication doesn't happen?

Thanks again.

[lady.stark]

Advanced search -> Find contact information -> I think you then have to enter the username of the seller and the item number. Good luck!

[i*m-still-here]

Even though patience is a virtue, there situations when it's better not to be so timid.

This is one of them.

I thought I'd comment on this because it's a very common problem for buyers here.

I've found that when I'm persistent, the sellers do eventually come though and send an invoice with the cost of shipping so I can pay, but often the shipping cost is higher than we agreed to prior to my bid.

It's very difficult or impossible to report sellers until and unless you have paid for an item unless you call ebay.

However, a  phone call to ebay usually results in them sending the seller a firm suggestion to fill in the shipping charges and I've found that this gets results.

I have yet to find a way to get these failed transactions removed from my list of purchases.

NFB will probably get the seller's attention, and you may get a replu from the seller explaining that he/she was in the hospital or had a death in the family (that kind of thing).

However, IMO NFB hurts buyers at least as much as it hurts sellers but perhaps you don't care.

I've found that I can usually complete the transaction if I really want to, but in your case it's been over a month and time is running out.

Good Luck