Ebay wants me to refund seller of item they have returned when I never received payment

Question

Ebay wants me to refund buyer who never paid me. Ebay withheld payment until item was acknowledged received by buyer. He never acknowledged and just returned the item Ebay now wants me to refund funds I never received. How does this work!!!

gosimus · Answer

@n722sr < Ebay now wants me to refund funds I never received > The way eBay is set up is that they're holding your funds that the buyer paid. You refund the buyer up front, and then get reimbursed when eBay releases the payment funds to you. I was playing a slot machine in Las Vegas one night. As long as I played only one dollar per spin, I edged ahead gradually, like averaging nine losses for every ten wins. I tried to hurry up the process by playing five dollars per spin. Then, I started losing gradually, like ten losses for every nine wins. I went back to the one dollar per spin and, playing for a very long time, ran the machine out of money. When a tech came over to reload the machine, I learned that the money you put in goes into a separate bin from the money that comes out. I played all night, I mean literally all night until dawn, and when I cashed out I had won $280. I visualize eBay in a similar manner. The money you receive goes in one pocket. The money you pay comes out of another pocket.

eburtonlab · Answer

@n722sr

Ordinarily eBay holds funds until after tracking shows delivery to the buyer, so if the item has been returned to you, you will have to refund the buyer using your backup payment method. When the payment hold ends, you will retain the funds the buyer provided.