I'm afraid I have confused the issue here.
I'm afraid I have confused the issue here. I am saying the 2 contracts are not equal. I did NOT make an offer on this particular auction, I bid on the auction. The time ran out and I was the winner. I paid immediately, as I always do. Seller did not send. I asked about it and along came a refund. I never asked for or wanted a refund. I want the product I won. The seller should be just as obligated to ship as I am obligated to pay when I DO make an offer, although this was not an offer situation. I am saying the obligation here is unequal and unfair. I skipped 2 auctions yesterday because of it.
18 comments
mudshark61369
·2 years ago@mi_9021,
"I did NOT make an offer on this particular auction, I bid on the auction The time ran out and I was the winner".
First you need to get your terms straight. You did not "Bid" on an auction, you used Buy It Now on a fixed price listing, where you could have made an offer. As soon as you committed to buy the plates, that ended the listing.
"seller never notified me about anything. Ebay sent email about refund".
You may have received a notification about the refund in your regular email, depending on how you have set up your communication preferences. However, in your eBay messages a reason should have been given as to why the seller chose to refund your payment. If they chose Buyer requested cancellation, or Problem with address, they can be reported for using an inappropriate reason for cancellation, to avoid paying ebay the fees for the transaction. Any of the other reasons ebay gives a seller to use for cancelling and refunding, will give them an account defect and cost them the final value fees for the transaction.
"This was a set of handmade dinner plates, one of a kind, so no excuses here. I think they discovered that shipping was higher than they anticipated and just went silent. I have shipped nearly 7000 packages from my etsy shop and if I miscalculate shipping, I just have to eat it and do better next time".
As an experienced seller, if you noticed that the shipping cost was low for what was being sent, why didn't you ask the seller about it, before committing to buy? Could it be that you were too busy calculating your possible profits from the purchase to care how much the seller may lose?
I too sell on this site, and if I miscalculate shipping, which hasn't happened in over 20 years, I would eat the cost and complete the transaction.
However, if you had checked the seller's feedback profile page you would have seen this was their first sale of an item this heavy, out of the 5 previous sales they had made. All of their other feedback was for buying, so you could have cut them a break. After all the learning curve for selling on ebay is much steeper than it is on other sites. I wonder is someone who leaves feedback saying they will use part of something they bought to make something they will sell on another site, could cut it as a seller on this site.
mi_9021
OP2 years agoThank you, I appreciate your taking the time to answer my question. I just rechecked all my ebay messages and there's nothing from the seller. Nothing ever came from them in email either. It would be nice to hear something. If they had contacted me, maybe we could have worked it out. I got nothing but crickets.
How would I know anything about their shipping capabilities? They chose the shipping price, I only guessed that it could be the reason afterwards, after all, they never contacted me. The plates were for my personal use, not resale. I'm a retired potter and stoneware keeps food hot longer.
I am a cat store. I buy craft Laurel Burch jewelry and add a cat. Plan to launch the collection in a couple of weeks on etsy. Not interested in selling on ebay as I already have a long-standing cat lover customer base.
From what you have told me, I don't think I'll be buying from any more newcomers. Thanks for letting me know I need to check the sellers out myself.
soh.maryl
·2 years agoDid you open an item not received case?
albertabrightalberta
·2 years ago@mi_9021
What is the reason the seller used when they canceled the order? Did they choose OOS or broken?
mi_9021
OP2 years agoDon't know, seller never notified me about anything. Ebay sent email about refund.
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoIt should say why it was canceled and refunded. If the seller chose a "buyer requested" reason, you can report the seller.
There's no doubt the seller was wrong, should have calculated shipping costs before listing and should have followed through on the sale but you can't force it.
Move on. Life's too short to stress about something you can't change.
mi_9021
OP2 years agoSeller never contacted me. Ebay sent email saying I get a refund instead.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoI am sorry the purchase did not work out between seller and buyer.
Seller might get a "ding" in his account for choosing not to go through the sale.
But using the words "thief" and "ripped off" should not be, in my opinion, in feedback.
Two wrongs don't make a right...just my opinion.
house*of*paws
·2 years agoHi @mi_9021
Nothing can be said to be ‘equal’ between buyers and sellers when eBay accepts buyers stated reasons for returns automatically … despite what sellers offer as proof to the contrary. [I’m a buyer only BTW.]
It DOES feel unfair when a seller fails to ship a prepaid order … but eBay has no legal way to force a seller to ship. [Neither can it force a buyer to pay.]
eBay can only penalize members who don’t play by the rules … and your seller was penalized for cancelling, which I’m very sorry happened.
mi_9021
OP2 years agoThank you. It sure stopped me buying right in my tracks!
ed8108
·2 years agoNot good for business
I suspect Ebay may one day elect to increase penalties to help reduce the frequency of inappropriate seller cancellations
soh.maryl
·2 years agoThat would probably be a good thing. But how would eBay go about requiring proof of the inappropriateness of any cancellation?
albertabrightalberta
·2 years agoWhether it was an auction, BIN or BO, you've expressed your disappointment in leaving what you considered to be appropriate feedback for the seller.
And being able to leave feedback, it shows that you did pay for the item.
12345jamesstamps
·2 years agoI could be wrong but it doesn't look like an auction.
It was a best offer or buy it.
I assume we may not hear both sides to the story.
It's possible you purchased an item.
And seller had a reason to cancel the transaction.
kathiec
·2 years agoIf you've been refunded there's nothing else you can do. Ebay has no way to force a seller to ship. As for the obligations argument, there are as many or more buyers who fail to pay for purchases as there are sellers who don't ship. Ebay also has no way to compel them to pay.
buyselljack2016
·2 years ago@mi_9021
eBay cannot make a seller ship any more than they can make a buyer pay (yes, I know you paid)
You have been refunded. The best you can do is move on to another seller for hopefully better results.
You left your feedback. It's over.
Nothing eBay can do. Nothing other buyers/sellers her on the boards can do other than to say sorry this happened to you. You are not the 1st, and won't be the last to have this happen.
If the seller cancelled/refunded as "out of stock" they will get a "ding" on their account from eBay.
ETA: that was BIN listing. Hard to tell why the seller chose not to complete the transaction. Very small seller.
mi_9021
OP2 years agoThis was a set of handmade dinner plates, one of a kind, so no excuses here. I think they discovered that shipping was higher than they anticipated and just went silent. I have shipped nearly 7000 packages from my etsy shop and if I miscalculate shipping, I just have to eat it and do better next time. Sellers on ebay should be held to the same standard. In the last 2 months, I have spent just over $2K for pottery and jewelry, about half to rework and sell. Haven't spent 1 dime since I got cheated this way. Why waste my time and energy when the whole thing could disappear and spoil my auction win?
eburtonlab
·2 years agoOld thread is here:
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Ask-a-Mentor/unwanted-refund/td-p/34385378
eBay cannot force a seller to ship anything; the most eBay can do is get the buyer's money back and possibly place limits on the seller's account if the seller is reported for cancelling for an inappropriate reason.