ebay refund to buyer

Question

Placed ad to sell ancient instrument for pick only. The buyer paid for it without reading the fact that it was a pick up item. I sent numerous emails to ebay informing them to refund his payment. I never heard back. They kept sending me notices that I needed to update my banking info. I didn't want to give my personal banking and SS# to ebay but gave them my debit card to be credited in case of a sale. They never responded but continued to send update notices. This has been going on since Nov 19, 2025. They finally sent me a notice that I had a policy violation. They never responded to resolve purportedly a simple problem. I'm totally disappointed with not being able to make contact with ebay (email, chat, phone). Ebay seems to have typical corporate support services, none!! Shameful!

Mike

mr_lincoln · Answer

Hi @perma1culture

Thanks for posting but the simple fact is eBay and other online sales venues require a place to send money from sales as well as report sales to the IRS if they reach a certain level. You can either sign up to sell correctly or not, your choice but you will not get paid without registering the way the venue, eBay in this case, requires.

If you want to continue trying to sell on eBay here is a help page on what to do: Getting paid for items you've sold | eBay

If you don't want to get paid the way eBay pays and you have outstanding sales then you need to educate yourself on your state's Escheatment process so that sometime in the future when eBay hands your money over to your state you can get it through the legal process.