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Seller did not send item (refund issued).
I recently won auction that nobody else bid on. I was really happy about this and paid the seller within an hour or so post auction. Two weeks post auction the seller still had not contacted me or issued a shipping date. At this point I contacted the seller and asked for an update. The seller responded and indicated that the recent winter storm had impacted their ability to get the item out, and said he would need a “few days” to get the item shipped. I thanked the seller for the reply, and asked him to keep me posted on developments. After several more weeks without any communication from the seller, I once again contacted the seller indicating that it was over a month since the auction ended and I asked for a concrete date when my item was going to ship. The seller replied “I am dependent on couriers but am told that they can ship Saturday. I will post you when they take it.” Well, Saturday came and went and on the following day I received a refund through PayPal without any explanation from the seller.
My intuition is that the seller was not happy with the auction results (I won the auction at a favorable price point) and was never going to deliver the item. My question is would this type of scenario be considered a type of fraud or maleficence on the seller’s part? Also, I was not able to provide direct feedback on the transaction as the seller never issued a ship date, so I’m a bit frustrated with this outcome.
At this juncture I am not looking to contact the seller or ask for relief from eBay. I would however appreciate any feedback or advice on my experience as to any further action on my part.
Thank you,
clarkstonlori
Lewis Center, OH
Sequence of events
01/14/26 Auction end
01/28/26 contact seller asking for a status on item/shipping date
02/02/26 Seller response “Give me a couple days to reach courier service please thank you”
02/19/26 Contact seller asking for an update
02/19/26 Reply from seller “I am dependent on couriers but am told that they can ship Saturday (02/21). I will post you when they take it.”
02/21 (Saturday) No shipping date issued by seller
02/22: Seller issues refund w/o comment
eastlaneave
Mentor6 months ago@clarkstonlori
I'm sorry that happened. A seller is suppose to accept the price they received in the Auction.
Should something like this happen again, please seek help here or from eBay sooner. Your seller did refund, but eBay only offers protection for 30 days after the original expected delivery date.
I don't know the 'reason' the seller used when they issued your refund.
If the seller properly reported "Out Of Stock" they already got a black mark on they account.
Since they waited over 30 days, it's possible the seller just issued it as a courtesy refund.
I would have advised you to file an Item Not Received case which would have alerted eBay to the problem immediately.
1) Please report the seller here: https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022
-- Click "Report a seller"
Choose "Suspicious Seller"
Choose "Seller doesn’t want to complete the sale"
Briefly explain the threat in the message using simple terms.