Seller cancelled sale and resold at a higher price to another buyer

[vintagehitman]

Hi all, 

Looking for some advice here please. 

I recently purchased a lot of action figures under "buy it now" for a price I was very happy with. Today I have received a refund notice and a message from the seller telling me that because another (unscrupulous) eBay buyer contacted them after they'd already sold the goods to me and offered them more money, they've cancelled and refunded my purchase. I can see under "completed items" that they've since resold the item for triple what I originally paid. 

I've left the seller a quite strong message letting them know what I think of their ethics, but I guess my only recourse is to report to eBay and leave negative feedback. Are eBay likely to take any further action against the seller?

[slyders_finds]

Highly unlikely Ebay will care. Really surprised the Seller told you that. Is there more to the story than what you are telling us? 

[noja-27]

Report the seller to eBay with evidence and leave negative feedback; eBay may take action based on their policies.

[lakefor94]

Yes, report the seller. EBay is not likely to do anything unless the seller garners a plethora of complaints.

[noja-27]

It's possible there could be more to the story, but based on the information provided, reporting the seller to eBay and leaving negative feedback are appropriate steps to take. eBay's response may vary depending on their policies and the evidence provided.

[vintagehitman]

I'm very surprised they told me that as well!

It's as straightforward as that. I actually purchased a second item after my initial purchase and they messaged me to let me know they'd combine the shipping and we had a brief conversation about the items. There was nothing to indicate that there would be a problem shipping either item. 

Truth be told they did undervalue the first item they had sold me, which can happen from time-to-time with folks who aren't collectors, but I don't see how that is my problem. They listed a price and I met it. 

[lakefor94]

"Truth be told they did undervalue the first item they had sold me, which can happen from time-to-time with folks who aren't collectors, but I don't see how that is my problem. They listed a price and I met it."

No one is going to make a seller ship something, not eBay or anyone else.

What reason did the seller use for the cancellation when they filed the cancellation?

[noja-27]

Isn't it doubtful that eBay will intervene? I'm quite surprised the seller admitted this to you. Could there be additional details to this situation that haven't been disclosed?

[vintagehitman]

No, I appreciate there's nothing that can be done to force them to ship the items. 

They used "seller cancellation/out of stock."

[vintagehitman]

No, I've answered this above. The story is pretty straightforward. The seller admitted that they'd undervalued the item after receiving a heads up from the new buyer. With that information now in hand they were no longer happy with the value of our transaction from the day before. 

[lakefor94]

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@vintagehitman wrote:

No, I appreciate there's nothing that can be done to force them to ship the items. 

They used "seller cancellation/out of stock."

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Most sellers can only use the out of stock cancellation a few times and then their account falls to below standard and then they get charged an additional 6% in final value fees. 

Too many out of stock cancellations will get their account suspended. 

If a seller uses the reason of "buyer requested cancellation"  or "problem with address", then they do not obtain a transaction defect.

Jfyi.....

[woodland_gnome]

The seller automatically gets a "defect" when s/he cancels the transaction for the "out of stock etc." reason (which is a catchall for any seller-side reason, the other reasons on the form all blame the buyer). That is the primary tool eBay uses to weed out bad sellers, downgrading the selling status of those who get too many relative to their sales volume (as opposed to having to pay employees to actually investigate to see how likely it was that the seller had a legitimate reason to cancel vs. deliberate policy violations).

You may leave appropriate (calm, factual--if the seller said that x was the reason say "seller said 'x. . .'" so people don't think you are just jumping to conclusions) feedback to warn future buyers/bidders. If the usual links have vanished, go to anyone's Feedback Profile (doesn't matter who, click on the feedback score in parentheses behind the username) then scroll down to below the last comment on that page to find a "Leave feedback" link that doesn't vanish (it brings you to a list of items you can leave feedback for).

Theoretically you could sue the seller for breach of the contract of sale (for the difference between the auction price and what you ended up having to pay for a replacement), but that is almost never practical.

[soh.maryl]

Depending on the reason the seller used for cancelling your transaction, the seller may have earned himself a defect.  If, for instance, he used the reason "out of stock", that's a defect.  Sellers are supposed to keep better control on their inventory.  If, however, he stated "buyer requested", you can contact eBay and report him.  

[stevescho]

This practice wouldn't happen if the seller was required to forfeit the difference between selling to you and the next buyer. But that's not eBay policy. They could also kick that second buyer out of eBay. Doubt that too.

[12345jamesstamps]

I wouldn't leave negative feedback. I would not leave any feedback.

You both buy and sell.

What if this seller thought of buying something from you and not leaving you a satisfactory feedback.

I suggest just buying from someone else.

I wouldn't even leave emails for the seller to read.