Cancelling a sale *need advice please*

[needsmorerobots]

Can a sale be cancelled on my end if the buyer let it be known they can't afford the item right now, but refuse to cancel the sale on their end?

I've looked at the reasons Ebay offers to cancel and none apply to my situation.

I have a 4 business day grace period set-up. If an item isn't paid for or they do not request a cancellation, Ebay steps in and cancels for me. Afterwards, I step in and ban the person from making purchases from my store.

I'd rather not ban since I've spoken to the person via PM, but any request I send to them to cancel their purchase is ignored.

[needsmorerobots]

P.S. I started the bans after the number of people making purchases, then never communicating (or most importantly paying) more than doubled last year.

[recped · Accepted solution]

Buyers cannot cancel an order they can only ask the seller to cancel.

The reason you should use is Buyer Requested, there are no negative impacts on you for doing this.

You could just ignore the buyer and let the non-payment thing play out. Personally if a buyer asks me to cancel, no matter what the reason I do it. You never know when you might get an unstable person who could cause you some issues down the road.

[msau4301]

As recped has said I have used Buyer Requested several times when someone has reached out and asked to cancel. If I recall there may be a time limit on this though, I thought it was within 24 hours to choose this. Most times someone changes their mind (usually decides they can't afford) right away so should work if this is the case, but you don't mention how long ago the sale was. If Buyer Requested is not showing as one of the reasons maybe too much time has passed in which case you can just cancel with "have not been paid" as reason once the 4 days has past.

You don't have to block them if you don't want since they at least communicated to you to begin with. Myself I block any non-payer who never reached out and just didn't pay, did not communicate. There is also a place you can block not by user name but if they have caused a number of cancellations in the past (month, 6 months, etc.) That option is in the Block Buyers section and I think it does help for some buyers who make a habit of changing their minds.  As a side note, I have had less non-payment issues the past year than other years.

[38e_avenue]

Don’t create problems where there are none. Wait 4 days and the problem will resolve itself. You don't need to ban the buyer. 

[needsmorerobots]

Further information to clarify.

He buys and then contacts me immediately to tell me he doesn't have money to pay.

He then requests for me to hold the item for a little over 2 weeks. I told him I would not, but buyer doesn't take no for an answer. I tell him to request a cancellation on his end which the buyer ignores twice.

I let the buyer know I've had the item for some time and it will most likely be listed and he can make an offer then.

He won't accept the explanation and keeps asking for a hold with yet another "no" reply from me before he tries even more reasoning. At this point I stop replying to him.

At some point in this conversation, I inform him what does happen to his attempted purchase after 4 buisness days when Ebay cancels.

He made no verbal request for me to cancel the sale.

And to clarify again, I block people (sorry, not ban) from buying from my store who purchase an item, never pay and never respond or communicate. These incidents more then doubled last year for me.

[recped]

I told you previous the only way a buyer can request a cancellation is a) within 60 minutes of purchase they can submit a formal request thriough eBay or b) contact the seller and ask them to cancel if it's more than 1 hour.

If I didn't hear anything from a buyer who hasn't paid I would let the non-payer process do it's thing,. When a buyer contacts me and asks for a cancellation they will get one. I am not here to get in fights with buyers.

FYI - Many years ago a buyer asked me to cancel their order "I just can't afford it right now" (2 cd's at $100 each). I cancelled, a few months later they bought them again, paid and left me a nice feedback.

[needsmorerobots]

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@recped wrote:

Buyers cannot cancel an order they can only ask the seller to cancel.

The reason you should use is Buyer Requested, there are no negative impacts on you for doing this.

You could just ignore the buyer and let the non-payment thing play out. Personally if a buyer asks me to cancel, no matter what the reason I do it. You never know when you might get an unstable person who could cause you some issues down the road.

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The buyer never asked to cancel. The buyers intention is that I hold it from sale for two weeks until the buyer can afford to purchase. And the buyer is not taking no for an answer.

I am currently stuck. Any of the reasons I could cancel on my end provided by Ebay does not apply or will leave me with a mark against my account.

I'd rather not wait 4 business days after buyer told me they have no money to pay for the item and wants me to hold it for 2 weeks.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You can cancel due to problem with address or buyer asked to cancel.

The buyer will not get penalized either way.

If you still have an issue and you have either Twitter or Facebook - contact an account called AskEbay and direct message them. Tell them the buyer asked to cancel, and you can't figure out how to do it. They may be able to manually do it from their end, or walk you through it. 

[needsmorerobots]

Disregard please.

I'll just wait it out the 4 days.

There is little else to do.

It appears Ebay needs an extra option for cancelling in my opinion.

[reallynicestamps]

Let eBay give him the Strike for an Unpaid Item does seem the best.

And because he was demanding that you wait for payment and not cooperating with your solution, I would Block him too.

With the UID, he cannot leave feedback.

With the Block, he cannot buy again. He is an unwanted customer.

I have actually cancelled for a polite customer, relisted specifically for him, and got nice FB, and a repeat customer.  So it can go well.

This one won't.

[flipistics]

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@recped wrote:

I told you previous the only way a buyer can request a cancellation is a) within 60 minutes of purchase they can submit a formal request thriough eBay or b) contact the seller and ask them to cancel if it's more than 1 hour.

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Didn't eBay change that a few months ago to allow the buyer to request cancellation up until the time the package is marked as shipped?

[recped]

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@flipistics wrote:

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@recped wrote:

I told you previous the only way a buyer can request a cancellation is a) within 60 minutes of purchase they can submit a formal request through eBay or b) contact the seller and ask them to cancel if it's more than 1 hour.

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Didn't eBay change that a few months ago to allow the buyer to request cancellation up until the time the package is marked as shipped?

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Sure they can request a seller to cancel up to the time the order is marked as shipped but it's still up to the seller to comply or not. Under the old and new policies a buyer cannot unilaterally cancel an order, the best they can do is ask.

https://www.ebay.ca/help/buying/buyers-can-cancel-order/buyers-can-cancel-order?id=4004

Here is what can happen if a seller refuses to cancel the buyer could pay and then upon receipt request a return. Usually this means the buyer will open a Not As Described  claim which they will win and the seller will have to pay the return shipping.

There are occasions when standing up for your principles only leads to even greater loses, it make no sense to do this when you can simply make it all go away...no harm, no foul.

Those that play hardball end up losing their money, not getting a fee refund AND the buyer gets to keep the item.