Once you click on "Buy It Now", is it too late to back out?

[newtype14]

Hi, I'm new to eBay and I need clarifications about "Buy It Now", which I'll call BIN from now on.

I heard that once you click on BIN, you are in a binding contract with the seller and you are forced to pay, even if you don't confirm that you indeed want to buy the item. I told myself that this can't possibly be true because there would be too many situations where someone would accidently click on it or simply not know this. Is it true?

I googled around and read that once you click on BIN, you are then taken to a page that lets you review your purchase and then you have to click on a "Commit To Buy" button and THAT is when it's too late to back out. However, I have also read that the page with the "Commit To Buy" button doesn't always appear after you click on BIN; instead you are asked to pay with your PayPal. I think I've also read that the page doesn't appear on eBay.ca, only on eBay.com. I don't know if that last thing is true, but what happens if there is indeed no "Commit To Buy" button and you are asked to pay?

Finally, I read something from a seller's page that just confuses me even more.

http://stores.ebay.ca/eKnight-Media/Terms.html

From that page:

Selecting "Buy It Now" acknowledges that you agree to our terms and accept our postal charges. There is NO shopping cart where you can still back out.

• Cancellation fee is $3 per item or ebay final value fee whichever is higher.
• A Non-Paying Bidder claim will be filed when you fail to meet your obligation to send payment.

Is that poorly-worded or is it really too late the moment you click on BIN?

Thanks for reading.

[lady.stark]

If you click on BIN on eBay.ca, you will have a confirmation page where you have to Commit to Buy.

If you click on BIN on eBay.com, some items will have the Commit to Buy button and other will have the Pay Now. BUT the item is not bought unless you pay for it. That means others can still buy it before you. So no, you are not obligated to purchase it if it's a mistake.

The only time when you HAVE to pay is if you Commit to Buy.

[afantiques]

Selecting "Buy It Now" acknowledges that you agree to our terms and accept our postal charges. There is NO shopping cart where you can still back out.

• Cancellation fee is $3 per item or ebay final value fee whichever is higher.
• A Non-Paying Bidder claim will be filed when you fail to meet your obligation to send payment.

Is that poorly-worded or is it really too late the moment you click on BIN?

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Complete rubbish, a seller to avoid, I'd say, if they think this is a good idea.

[newtype14]

Thank you, but I'm still confused when I read eBay's Unpaid Item Policy.  http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/unpaid-item.html

If you've placed a winning bid or clicked the Buy It Now button in a listing, you've committed to purchasing that item. If you don't pay for it, even if you've changed your mind, you violate the unpaid item policy.

It seems to me that if you click on BIN, you have to pay, especially when it takes you straight to the Pay It Now page. Otherwise, the seller loses money and will open an Unpaid Item Case on you.

[afantiques]

That policy  page is out of date. There was a big fuss recently when the BIN process was changed to include the 'commit to buy' screen; clearly the old policy pages are not updated often.

In general is is best to treat the 'buy' button as just that, rather than havering around, but with items sold through the GSP it is an important last chance to see exactly what you are being asked to pay and to back out if you want to, with no feathers ruffled.

I suspect the change to the BIN process may have been a precursor of the introduction of the GSP.

[pierrelebel]

"but I'm still confused"

In general terms, when you place a bid for listings offering the "auction format" or click the Buy-it-Now link when purchasing "fixed price" listings, you are committing yourself to purchase and pay for the item at the price stated and accepting the conditions of the listing.

What happens if you do not complete your transaction?  Nothing, except eBay keeps track of those failed transactions and may eventually suspend a member with too many such instances.

On a worst case basis, a seller may start legal action against the non-paying buyer.  However, let's be realistic, unless the damages are very substantial, the costs of starting legal action do not warrant the trouble and expenses.

Take a look at: http://www.ebay.com/gds/The-Winning-Bidder-Didnt-Pay-Now-What-/10000000001887627/g.html

[pierrelebel]

also:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070613094751AAe0BVX

[newtype14]

Thanks everyone. To make sure that I'm not getting some negative feedback from a seller, I won't click on the BIN button unless I'm 100% sure.

[afantiques]

Sellers cannot give negative FB

[pocomocomputing]

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@pierrelebel wrote:

also:  http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070613094751AAe0BVX

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This link is 6 years old and the Best Answer states that the seller can give negative feedback to a buyer if you do not pay. Some of the content is appropriate about lawsuits but that one statement makes the link a bad reference to give to a new eBayer in my opinion. The line below is copied from that link Best Answer.

The worst that will happen is the seller will file a non paying bidder against you and give you negative feedback.

As the OP states in a later post, he is afraid of getting negative feedback which a seller can no longer give.

[newtype14]

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@afantiques wrote:

Sellers cannot give negative FB

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Oh yeah, you're right. Instead, if they complain to eBay, eBay gives you a strike. That happened to my sister after she backed out of a buy, but she can't remember if she had clicked on Commit to Buy or not. She backed out because on the product's page, it was stated that the shipping to Canada was free, but once she got on the checkout page, it was somehow no longer free and it was even very expensive. The seller kept telling her that she couldn't back out and had to pay, but she never did. Seller filed a complaint and my sister got a strike, which seems unfair to me because the seller lied, but my sister didn't fight it. Can shipping fees really change like that? How so?