Unpaid Item - Buyer Sends a Message to Cancel Transaction

[teenytrinkets]

A day before I can open an unpaid item dispute, my buyer sends me a message asking me to cancel the transaction.

If I cancel the transaction, is there still a risk she can leave negative feedback?  Do I get my seller fees back?

Is it safer just to wait until tomorrow and open the unpaid item dispute? 

[esclyons]

if you click on cancel the transaction, at buyers request, you are fine.. if you open an unpaid item case you have to wait another 4 days after that for it to close..   They can still leave feedback i believe, but if is anything negative you can have it removed..You also get your fees back right away ..

[randall-prue]

That is the question I came here to ask. I filed NPB (non-paying bidder) because the bidder clearly changed his mind and also has a lot of negative feedback for shady dealings as a seller. I prefer to go through a bit of pain to see his account terminated. He is collecting all kinds of strikes.

He requested that I cancel the transaction but only because I asked him to pay, so clearly his problem is lack of funds. He had no valid reason to cancel. I did read that for a transaction cancelled, the buyer cannot leave feedback.

I came here to ask whether he can leave feedback when he has not paid, and the transaction has now been cancelled and fees refunded by eBay. I have also heard that under circumstances like these, eBay would remove any negative feedback.

I think the important question is whether we want to endure a bit of pain to help to remove bad bidders, sparing everyone a bit of pain, making eBay a better place for all of us.

(I am formerly rainbow-farm and canadian-zippos; I see some familiar faces here).

[teenytrinkets]

I agree with waiting a bit longer to go through the unpaid item process.  This person waited 3 days to ask me to cancel and gave a lame reason.  Obvious buyers remorse! 

I am also a bit nervous just cancelling, too because she has some previous bad feedback about leaving a seller a bad feedback.  And I've read that cancelling a transaction can impact your seller performance.

But, I am afraid I will p*ss her off by ignoring her request to cancel, and filing and unpaid item dispute instead.  Not exactly my style with buyers - I try to be pretty reasonable and make everyone happy.  But, I'm feeling a bit cranky at the moment.  I've had a lot of non-paying buyers in the past several months...I'm not feeling too generous...

[pjcdn2005 · Accepted solution]

If a buyer asks to cancel before an unpaid item case has been opened, I always cancel.  If I don't hear from them, then I file for an unpaid item. Either way, I get my fees back. I've never gotten a negative feedback for cancelling and it's never occurred to me that I would get one since I was only doing what the buyer asked me to do.  There is no defect given for a seller cancelling at a buyers request.

If you cancel the transaction as requested, it's unlikely that the buyer is going to leave you negative feedback but if for some reason they do,  there is a chance that ebay would remove it assuming that there isn't a seller caused reason for them wanting to cancel.

If you file an unpaid item case, it's possible that the buyer will be upset that you didn't cancel and then will decide to pay for the item.  It's also possible that they will then return the item as not as described since they had earlier indicated that they didn't want it any longer.  That situation will end up costing you money and the buyer can leave whatever feedback they choose to leave.

[reallynicestamps]

because she has some previous bad feedback about leaving a seller a bad feedback.

A seller left her a false positive about being left bad feedback?

Your customer was allowed to do that, and it has no impact on the seller's account.

Obviously it does have some impact on the seller's future buyers because who wants to deal with a vengeful seller?

If your buyer had reported the false positive, it would have been removed and the seller given a Defect on his selling account.

You can look at the feedback she has left for others to see for yourself if it seems out of line.

But basically, if a buyer asks to cancel, do it. She won't pay.

If you have already started the UID you cannot change it, and she had four full days to pay.  Continue the UID, get your fees back and eBay will put a Strike on her buying account.

You can also go to your Seller Preferences/Buyer Requirements and put an automatic Block on deadbeat bidders with Strikes. 

If she has been leaving negs, there's a good chance she already has a few of those.

[momcqueen]

Like pj, if a buyer asks to cancel before an unpaid item case has been opened at Day Four, I cancel. 

If I don't hear from them, then I file for an unpaid item.

Either way, we get our fees back.

With Unpaid, the buyer cannot leave feedback but with Cancelled they can. I think the likelihood of getting a negative feedback for cancellation is low (unless there has been acrimony) and that the likelihood of getting it removed with a call to Customer Service is high.