Seller reneged and cancelled my winning bid/order

[jcldc2007]

I just had a negative experience using eBay where I won a bid and I paid the seller promptly for my order, and he then turns around and emails me that my winning bid was too low (there was no reserve price placed by the seller). He stated unless I added another $XXX he would not ship me my order but would refund me my money. When I said no, he refunded me the cash and then instantly reposted the item on eBay.

In my view, such a policy should not be acceptable.

If the seller reneged on an order, the individual should be financially penalised for doing so (an amount proportional to the value of the item sold) and the funds should be given to the counterparty as compensation (only after proper arbitration).

Likewise, such a policy should be in place if a buyer reneged on their obligation if they don't pay for the item that s/he had purchased.

By permitting people to get away with such an unprofessional and unacceptable practice tarnishes eBay's credibility and it puts a sour taste in one's mouth. I am genuinely thinking twice about buying anything else from eBay because of my experience today. It's genuinely not worth the headache. 

I have just filed a complaint with eBay about this matter, and I hope they indeed take against the seller as promised. It's totally not acceptable out of principle and outright fairness. 

I hope eBay's customer service (and others) reads this post and does something about such a negative practice since they will lose credibility from people like me. 

[cumos55 · Accepted solution]

Seller has a default on his record.... 

Payment refunded....Transaction cancelled without buyer's agreement ...and seller has been reported to eBay

Things happen... this is only one seller... Do not get flustered over one seller

Seller can be in a bigger problem if this has been done before....  and then again and again....

But ... if this is a first time... this will be a wake up  call ! ! ! 

[jcldc2007]

I understand where you are coming from but such questionable behaviors should be strongly disallowed by eBay unless it wishes to lose users' trust (like mine and many others).

To make sure that eBay attracts serious buyers and sellers, enforceable systems need to be in place to financially penalise wrongdoers in the hope they think twice about pulling such unacceptable stunts.

Without proper regulatory compliance, oversight and enforcement little trust can typically be had. Way too many examples exist to validate my statement... Where to begin...?

[cumos55]

Too many defaults and the seller is removed from eBay...

These are ... transaction defect rates....  look on your Dashboard to see what is not acceptable.

eBay has rules... 

[jcldc2007]

Are you employed by eBay? I think you could be... Based on how you are trying to downplay what transpired.

Without trust from both sides, the seller and buyer, there can be no eBay. Rules are only as good as the effectiveness of their compliance, oversight and enforcement as I noted in my last comment.

I genuinely hope eBay will take the necessary course of action to penalise the seller that I dealt with as they promised. I'll know if they indeed did or not.

[reallynicestamps]

EBay does take action against sellers who cancel sales.

Only two reasons are allowed: Problem with Address (which is anything from an overseas address that the seller has not given an shipping price for to a buyer who wants the purchase shipped to an address not on her Paypal account)  and Buyer Request.

Since the seller did not use either of those, he got a DEFECT.

the seller ...should be financially penalised

He is.

Defects mean higher selling fees (up to 14% of selling price), restrictions on the number and value of future listings, loss of some perks like Top Rated Seller status, and if the behaviour is repeated, closing of the selling account.

Feedback is not used by eBay to assess seller accounts. But do leave appropriate feedback to warn future customers. The most effective feedback is calm and factual.

"Paid 15/6/19 cancelled sale 16/6/19 Payment refunded Not happy" for example.

buyer reneged on their obligation if they don't pay for the item that s/he had purchased.

Sellers can open an Unpaid Item Dispute if the buyer does not pay within 96 hours (less if the seller is in the USA).

Buyers who lose Disputes get a Strike and many if not most sellers have automatic Blocks against bidders who have Strikes. Too many Strikes and a buyer's account may be closed.

[jcldc2007]

I sense that you and "cumos55" are employed by eBay based on how you're replying to my responses. Nevertheless, out of principle, I genuinely hope that eBay takes visible action against the seller that I dealt with. 

[ypdc_dennis]

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@jcldc2007 wrote:

I sense that you and "cumos55" are employed by eBay based on how you're replying to my responses. Nevertheless, out of principle, I genuinely hope that eBay takes visible action against the seller that I dealt with. 

---

Both of those people are longtime sellers on eBay.  eBay employees are clearly indicated when they post in the forums.

Hopefully, all your of messages with the Seller were through the ebay message system -- that way the Seller's unprofessional stupidity can be clearly seen by the ebay service rep that looks at your complaint.

eBay for the most part will not take visible action -- too many lawyers out there waiting to sue eBay. The exception is when a Seller is made NARU (Not A Registered User) for problems.

-..-

[cumos55]

I have been selling on eBay since January 2003. I have adjusted to eBay's rules and make adjustments with each change in the rules..... over the past 16 years

Continued success on eBay is knowing what NOT to do.

What this seller has done is something that should never be done... by anyone who sells on eBay.

Much of what not to do has been learned by reading discussions where either a buyer or seller

has encountered a problem,  and has learned what eBay will do in relation to eBay policy.

eBay policy is available under ... Help and Contact... at the upper left corner of this page.

We sound like eBay because we have been here long enough to know eBay's rules as they apply to all sellers on eBay........

[ypdc_dennis]

Assuming it was the item that was bid up to $570us

and then relisted with starting auction price of $250 with a Buy-It-Now price of $650

I'd have to say that seller is new (became a seller in the last 30 days) and has no clue on how to sell properly. And with their feedback now at minus 1, then I predict their second auction will not do as well as the first time around.

I also note the Seller's item is supposedly in Tbilisi, Georgia -- that's not the USA state -- Tbilisi is the capital of Georgia, a country north of Iran and next door to Turkey.  So the shipping cost given looks too cheap if going from there to Canada.

...

I'm not an ebay employee, but I have buying and selling here long enough to know where to look for info.  Clicked on your posting ID, looked at negative feedback given, looked at the seller who got it and found his one item for sale.

-..-

[jcldc2007]

It was definitely an interesting learning experience. My eyes are a bit more open but at the end of the day no true harm was committed. Nevertheless, I hope that eBay keeps on making it tougher for those pulling such inexcusable stunts since it ultimately harms eBay's credibility as a whole and the eBay community who play fairly. A few bad apples...

Thanks everyone for your input.

[jcldc2007]

I am glad to see that there are dedicated members within the eBay community, like yourself and the others who commented, who take on such an important responsibility by responding to people like me who have legitimate concerns.

As I just noted in a different post, it was an interesting learning experience. My eyes are a bit more open but at the end of the day no true harm was committed. Nevertheless, I hope that eBay keeps on making it tougher for those pulling such inexcusable stunts since it ultimately harms eBay's credibility as a whole and the eBay community who play fairly. A few bad apples...

Thanks everyone for your input.

[4386jim]

Hi cumos55,

You stated

"Seller has a default on his record.... 

Payment refunded....Transaction cancelled without buyer's agreement ...and seller has been reported to eBay".

I have also had a winning bid refunded.

- Is seller reported to eBay automatically?

- Is there somewhere I can make an complaint?

- How do I make sure the record states that it was cancelled without the buyer's agreement?

The seller stated that they had to go out of town and would be gone for 2 weeks and couldn't ship. They never asked if I would mind a delay in shipping. (not a problem). After posting feedback I noticed this is the second time the seller has cancelled.

[femmefan1946]

- Is seller reported to eBay automatically?

Not a report as such, but it ends up on his Selling Account record.

- Is there somewhere I can make an complaint?

You can leave feedback.

EBay has its own system for dealing with sellers who have Defects.

• His fees can rise to 14%
• The number and value of his listings can be reduced.
• Too many Defects and the selling account may be closed.

We see complaints on the dotCOM Sellers' Board often enough to know this happens.

- How do I make sure the record states that it was cancelled without the buyer's agreement?

If you got a notice that the cancellation was "at Buyer's request" and it was not, you should be able to respond to the notice. If not the Security Centre is at the bottom of this page.

But frankly, given the seller's naivete about selling at auction, his location, and his low feedback, the chances of this ever being a successful transaction are somewhere between nil and zip.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

@femmefan1946 

Curious to know if there is any way for a SELLER to check and see if there have been false claims applied to their account. Similar to checking one's credit rating? At least the option to review, afterall it is supposed to be your own account. How often has a seller called CS and been told a claim would be removed in 7 days and it still shows?

-Lotz

[brokr8395]

I also experienced an eBay auction win, only to have it cancelled and my money refunded. I had to dig for information as to why this happened. Apparently the seller couldn't locate the item in their warehouse and assumed it had been thrown out or lost. I went through the whole auction process right up to the last second of bidding. I actually had to move money in order to make the buy. I demand retribution.

[mrdutch1001]

You have responded to a thread from 2019; perhaps it would have been better to start your own thread if you wanted to draw attention to your plight...

"I demand retribution."

If there was a problem, such as not being able to locate the item that constitutes as an out of stock situation for the seller for which that seller may or may not be penalized by eBay; but sometimes cancelling the sale is what is necessary and then the seller must refund the buyer if payment has been made....

No it is not a good thing, but it happens and it is an unfortunate situation but what else do you expect from the seller?

You were fully REFUNDED and that is the best scenario under the circumstances but really it is all you are entitled to> Nothing else!

[flipistics]

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@brokr8395 wrote:
I also experienced an eBay auction win, only to have it cancelled and my money refunded. I had to dig for information as to why this happened. Apparently the seller couldn't locate the item in their warehouse and assumed it had been thrown out or lost. I went through the whole auction process right up to the last second of bidding. I actually had to move money in order to make the buy. I demand retribution.

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When a seller has to cancel an order for that reason, it hurts their account. If you really want to, you can make sure the reason they selected for cancelling was the actual reason. If they selected something like problem with address or buyer requested cancellation, you can notify eBay of it. Unless you see the seller relist the item immediately or were really rude to you or something, I personally wouldn't bother. Mistakes happen.

For whatever it's worth, it's not just an eBay thing. I've had multiple big name companies cancel part of my orders before because they oversold their inventory.