I cancelled an order less than 2 minutes after placed, Seller refused to cancel.

[neonstarz77]

This is a buy it now item. I later discovered after all this, that this seller just dropships from Amazon prime and charges a markup and sells on Ebay. Every listing is just generic Amazon dropshipping stuff. They are a mass seller.

I made a mistake in ordering something. After double checking details of what I need, I cancelled it. It was probably less than 2 minutes more like 60 seconds that it took me to cancel.

3 hours later I get a message from the seller that they are going to process my order and will send me a tracking number. I immediately responded to stop and to cancel the order.

I get a message today that the seller refuses to cancel. No tracking number has been put in yet either.

What is my recourse? I do not want to pay to ship something back because I told them to cancel and not ship it in the first place. I can't even dispute this yet because it still shows "awaiting shipment" for the item.

[ebooksdiva]

Sellers are not required to cancel. If you felt the seller was drop shipping why didn't you just hit the back buton and scroll away? 

Now your only option, since the seller won't cancel, is to return it when you receive it. 

Make sure you open an return case. 

[mingotoy]

Many years ago, I learned what a drop shipper was when I bought something on ebay and I got it a week later in a box from walmart.com.  I did not even know that you could buy online from Walmart@ Of course, I found it cheaper at walmart.com.  So I learned what a drop shipper was.  That was the last item that I bought here without checking first if it's cheaper elsewhere.  Graciously accept the package.  Think of the extra $ that you paid as a fine to never ever buy anything anywhere without doing a Google search to see if it's cheaper elsewhere.   Learn by your mistake.  Do NOT buy anything here or online if you can NOT commit to the sale. On the plus side, this seller earned a few (I hope) bucks in this tough economy.

Learning to find items cheaper at other sites is another reason why Ebay sales are down....

[wastingtime101]

Hey @neonstarz77. As has already been said, buyers can request to cancel, but sellers are not required to accept the cancellation. Sorry that's a frustrating situation for you.

eBay's official word on this can be found here:

"If the seller declines your cancellation request, or if they've already shipped your item, you'll need to wait until you receive the item and then start a return request."

[neonstarz77]

Well no wonder Ebay is going downhill. It can't compete in the market of regular online sellers when you can't cancel an item before shipment like you can on amazon, walmart or any other online retailer. Again, this is not an auction item or one of a kind item.

I've been on Ebay as a buyer and seller since 1999.  So yes I know the ins and outs. I just should not be responsible for return shipping when I specifically asked the seller not to ship it in the first place. It is not as if they shipped it out and then I cancelled. They haven't even shipped it yet or processed anything. Its been 3 days. And again I cancelled this within 2 minutes after clicking buy.

So yes I know in the future not to buy from Ebay. I guess after 20 years I should just move on. 

[calicorecordsandcds]

First mistake was going for super low price from the mass seller.  They do not care about customers at all. So now what do you do.

1) Stop whatever you are doing right now and call Ebay Customer Support or more to the point have them call you.  Give them all the information explain what is going on and get this on record.  In the future if you have an issue like this again immediately contact Customer Support if the seller is not cooperating.

2) When Item arrives if the seller does not offer free returns that is fine pay to ship it back hopefully it will be a media mail item.  Ebay may possibly step in due to the stuff you have listed here and eat the cost for you.  I have seen it happen it is rare but, maybe.  The seller should have honored the return if it is in his policy which I hope your read.

3) When you get the item treat it with kid gloves and make note if there is any package damage.  Do not open it simple request return and get help from Customer Support while doing it.

how to avoid a rinse and repeat of this in future:

1)  ALWAYS READ EVERYTHING.  Yes I scream only because so many people don't.  This includes the super low price mass sellers.  Make sure you know where they are shipping from and return policy.  I make is simple with free returns but many sellers do not.  Also reading means the seller reviews mainly the negatives.  I would almost bet this seller you are talking about has almost or over 100 negs in the last month most mass sellers do because to them you are simply a number and they don't care.  A common denominator for negs on mass sellers is shipping speed and not giving refunds or suddenly just cancelling items for no reason those tend to be the top three.

2) Only buy from people who offer free returns or are top rated........top rated sellers tend to care very much about their customers almost always.

I hope this helps, wish you the best of luck

v/r

gunz

[wastingtime101]

---

@neonstarz77 wrote:

So yes I know in the future not to buy from Ebay.

---

My takeaway was to not purchase from that seller. Why write off eBay as a whole?

As an eBay seller I cancel any order the buyer asks to cancel as long as the package hasn't shipped and isn't in the carrier's hands.

Some sellers are unable to cancel once that payment is sent because they have large warehouse systems and things are automatically set in motion when you click the buy button.

That doesn't seem to apply here. You're sure the seller is drop-shipping and not using Amazon FBA to store and ship their inventory?

Because it's against both eBay and Prime policies to wait for an order to come in on eBay then place an order on Amazon using your personal prime account. If the seller is breaking policy they can be reported to both sites.

But be sure about it before reporting, because there's always the possibility that the seller owns their inventory then pays Amazon to store and ship it for them. If that's the case, it's possible that when you purchased on eBay the order went through the seller's FBA account and they really couldn't cancel.

If you were able to realize in as little as 2 minutes that you made a mistake I would say:

1. mistakes happen, we all make them, deal with it and move on - not worth getting upset over in the grand scheme of things

2. be a little more careful before you submit an order, on any venue

[yuzuha]

---

@neonstarz77 wrote:

Well no wonder Ebay is going downhill. It can't compete in the market of regular online sellers when you can't cancel an item before shipment like you can on amazon, walmart or any other online retailer. Again, this is not an auction item or one of a kind item.

---

I've ordered from multiple online retailers that did not allow you to cancel once the order had already been processed. It is YOUR responsibility to make sure that the item you are purchasing is what you want/need before you ever click the "Buy" button.

[ms.rodriguez*]

This is NOT Amazon.  It's not fair to cancel.   If you want to cancel anytime, then buy on Amazon.  I wish Ebay were more like it was in the beginning with vintage items and not this new crap that is found in every store in the country.   Ebay was founded on commitment once you hit the bid button.  People forgot about commitment and binding contracts. People bid w/o reading.  I have never cancelled or stiffed a seller.  Mistakes, I made plenty.   My second selling account was made to sell off all the mistakes that I did bidding on the main account.  Back in 1998, photos were not required at all to sell. So I bought several diecast cars and they had too many scratches or were the wrong color. I won multiples of the same item a few times.  I didn't realize I was bidding on several identical items.  Anyway, thanks to those many mistakes, I have 2 selling accounts.

Today's buyer does not read. They look at a few tiny photos on their phone while they are watching tv or working or worse, driving and will buy.  Then they realize their error later on.  As a seller, I will cancel an order at a buyer's request but that gets them on my block buyer lists on both accounts.   People need to read and make a commitment when they hit the buy button or they can go to Amazon.

[nenu-5410]

---

@neonstarz77 wrote:

I later discovered after all this, that this seller just dropships from Amazon prime and charges a markup and sells on Ebay. Every listing is just generic Amazon dropshipping stuff. 

---

When you see a GIFT RECEIPT in you're order, it confirms you're seller is using their Prime account to drop ships. 

While you may not get immediate salivation seeing eBay take down you're seller @neonstarz77 you should no that eBay is already washing them, and can identify what their doing.

[reallynicestamps]

It's foolish for a seller not to cancel an item when the buyer asks. After all, the buyer has said he doesn't want it and will not pay for it.

Now the seller has to wait for four days until the transaction is automatically cancelled and he can relist the item.

Since it was such a short period of time between ordering and cancelling, I'm guessing you did not pay.

If you didn't, the transaction is over.

You will get a Strike for non-payment and eBay does allow sellers to Block non-paying bidders with Strikes, but that just means you won't be able to buy from those sellers.

But if the seller was reselling from AZ listings, he won't last long on eBay anyway. That kind of "retail arbitrage" is forbidden here.  You can report him for that if you like, but he does have the right to refuse a cancellation request, however stupid it is to do so.

[neonstarz77]

The order had not already been processed. Again I cancelled within a minute or so of clicking the button. The seller hadn't done anything at that point. In fact, 3 days later the seller still hasn't issued a tracking number or shipped anything.

I know you sellers are angry. Fine. I used to sell on ebay too years ago and stopped due to scam buyers. But if I was a seller in this situation it wouldn't even be a question of just cancelling the order,  if I hadn't packed and shipped it. This seller maybe made like $1 profit off this sale.  It is unreasonable to go ahead and ship something when you know the person doesn't want it and is going to return ask for a refund anyway.

[neonstarz77]

It was a buy it now item. I paid for the purchase already through paypal. 

[mudshark61369]

@neonstarz77,

  " I later discovered after all this, that this seller just dropships from Amazon prime and charges a markup and sells on Ebay. Every listing is just generic Amazon dropshipping stuff. They are a mass seller". 

There are many high volume ebay sellers who use have Amazon selling accounts and list their items on both sites. They use Amazon's Fulfilled By Amazon (FBA) for the shipping, which is allowed by ebay because it would be the same as drop shipping from any other product source supplier.  There is a markup because they are paying fees to both companies. 

"3 hours later I get a message from the seller that they are going to process my order and will send me a tracking number. I immediately responded to stop and to cancel the order.  I get a message today that the seller refuses to cancel. No tracking number has been put in yet either".

Was the message from the seller, or was it an eBay generated message?  Not being able to cancel on ebay even within a few minutes of making a purchase, is because eBay does not sell anything, cancellation requests have to be forwarded to a seller, who may not receive the message for a few days. I do not know what the process is when you buy from an ebay seller using FBA, but if they transmit the order to Amazon, before receiving a cancellation request, they may not be able to cancel it.

If you receive a GIFT receipt with the item then the seller is breaking Amazon's Prime rules and that should be reported to them.  If you receive just a monetary receipt, they did not buy using their Prime account. 

[tigercatt-16]

I’m strictly a buyer the “you sellers are angry” routine doesn’t work on me.

This happens on other merchant’s websites as well. I’ve bought things from JCPenney, Kohl’s, and an online pet store recently and they popped up a warning that once you submit your order they won’t cancel it but you are welcome to return or exchange.

I think this is becoming common.