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How to report a Seller's violation of eBay Policy
I suspect seller cancelled a confirmed purchase only to sell the item at a higher price. I can't figure out how to report the potential violation. I think that is because there is no way to do so because the seller deleted the listing and gave me a total refund. But I have evidence of highly suspicious behavior (including deletion of the original listing).
8 comments
house*of*paws
Mentor1 year agoHi @denza_325
Sellers aren't able to completely 'delete' a listing. You should still be able to see it in the seller's 'Sold' items for 90 days. [All listings are removed after 90 days because of the amount of computer space they take.]
If the listing completely disappeared before that time, it means that eBay removed the listing... likely because of some policy violation.
That said, if a seller cancels a transaction using the reason, 'Out of stock or damaged' ... they are essentially reporting themselves to eBay, and eBay will put a 'defect' on their account automatically. There's no need for the buyer to report them.
denza_325
OP1 year agoThanks @house*of*paws. Please read my other reply if you missed it. I remain doubtful that eBay would have scrutinized the transaction without my complaint. Even with my complaint, I am pessimistic. I will not even be informed of the disposition. There isn't any transparency.
house*of*paws
Mentor1 year ago@denza_325
You are probably correct that eBay probably won’t scrutinize the transaction either way. It doesn’t have the time nor the will to do that.
eBay considers it wrong for a seller to cancel a transaction for any reason because it disappoints the buyer. It doesn’t consider one reason to be more worthy of punishment than another.
And eBay will NOT tell us what disciplinary action, if any, it takes in response to a complaint.
I‘ve just had a seller cancel an order … after I accepted an offer they extended. I’m very disappointed … but I plan to move on. This stuff happens.
denza_325
OP1 year agoThanks for the other information. I'm curious your source.
I'm okay with honest mistakes. I'm not okay when people misuse the platform.
house*of*paws
Mentor1 year ago@denza_325
My source for what specifically? [I’m happy to oblige.]
I’ve been volunteering answering questions here for almost 20 years … and gain my information from reading Community posts, reading eBay policies, and my own experiences buying on eBay.
The posts often inform us of changes in eBay’s policies before they’ve been put in writing.
denza_325
OP1 year agoThanks. Here is additional information I submitted in my complaint to eBay:
I am reporting a suspicious cancellation that I believe violates multiple eBay seller policies. I accepted a seller’s private offer for $382.49 and completed the purchase on May 11. I received a confirmation from eBay with an estimated delivery date. The following day, the seller canceled my order, citing "item out of stock or damaged."
However, several facts suggest the cancellation was not legitimate:
The listing became inaccessible immediately after cancellation, flashing for a split second before redirecting to "similar items." This is not standard behavior for sold or canceled listings.
I had to record my screen and extract a still frame to view the listing.
The snapshot shows me as the buyer with the correct purchase time, but the price is listed as $449.99—not the $382.49 I paid. This suggests the seller reused, altered, or relisted the original item after canceling my order.
When I asked the seller why the order was canceled, they gave vague and inconsistent responses:
This raises concern that the seller canceled my eBay purchase in order to sell the same item at a higher price elsewhere.
📄 Policies Potentially Violated:
Canceling an Order as a Seller
Seller Performance Standards Policy
Misuse of eBay Features or Policies
Abuse of the eBay Buyer Experience Policy
🚫 Policy Clarification:
Even if the seller claims the item was sold elsewhere (as they suggest), eBay policy is clear: the item must be removed from eBay before it is sold on another platform. Allowing my eBay purchase to go through, then canceling it to honor a sale elsewhere, is a direct violation of both cancellation and inventory management rules.
This seller has a long history of transactions and should know how to manage inventory across platforms. The vague explanation, altered listing behavior, and price mismatch all strongly suggest this was an intentional act, not an honest error.
denza_325
OP1 year agoMy reply to your reply is the rationale for my complaint. My initial post was really about HOW DOES A BUYER NOTIFY EBAY when suspicious seller behavior occurs. While I appreciate your reply, it concerned the legitimacy of my complaint rather than how a buyer can submit a complaint under these specific circumstances. In a communication I had with eBay, my complaint is completely justified based on the evidence. It is extremely unlikely that the seller made an honest mistake. But even if it was, it was in clear violation of multiple policies.
In any case, right now, my main question and difficulty concerns how challenging it is to report buyer suspicions. of seller behaviors. Once the seller provided me a full refund, there was nothing I could do with the normal online resolution process. What I suspect the seller did is extremely devious, making it extremely difficult to lodge a complaint. I suspect most buyers simply accept the seller's cancelation and refund. And if they are suspicious, it takes so much time effort to investigate what happened that they decide it isn't worth it. And if the potential buyer makes it that far, they then experience the tremendous time and effort required to actually get eBay to hear your complaint.
In short, it is extremely likely that the seller cancelled my purchase because a higher offer was made by a different buyer. The seller then tried to cover his tracks. But fortunately eBay has access to more data than the I (the buyer) (e.g., exact time stamps of transactions, access to the original seller listing, the actual sale price).
People are familiar with "shill bidding." This situations strongly appears to involve a combination of cancellation-for-profit, off-platform diversion, and post-sale listing manipulation.
This is extremely disturbing and erodes buyer confidence that the eBay is properly monitoring and investigating improper behavior. I predict that even if there is evidence of a pattern of this behavior by the seller, their consequences will be a minor "slap on the wrist" with the seller being told, "don't do it again." But there is too much money involved ... both for the unscrupulous sellers and to eBay.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoIf they only cancelled your purchase and did not relist the item at a higher price at this time, you don't really have anything to report. The item could have been lost or damaged or otherwise unavailable to be delivered to you. What reason did they choose when they cancelled the order? That would be specified in the message sent to you.