Buyer ordered the wrong size, but opened a SNAD return instead of cancelling - now BBE is impacted. What is the solution?
Summary: engine-part shared a concern regarding a buyer who mistakenly ordered the wrong size on eBay but opened a SNAD (Significantly Not As Described) return rather than cancelling the order. This action negatively affected their seller metrics. Other participants suggested possible solutions, such as asking the buyer to close the SNAD request, though it might not reverse the metric impact. jonathanbrightlight mentioned that there might not be an option for review of BBE metrics but suggested reaching out to the Export Community for more assistance. mam98031 expressed hope that eBay would consider the situation given that the item was never shipped. Suggestions for escalation and resolution were sought, but a definitive solution was not reached.
Hi eBay Sellers,
I would really appreciate some advice from experienced sellers or eBay staff regarding a BBE issue.
A buyer placed an order for the wrong size. The item had not been shipped yet, so we contacted the buyer and explained that since the size was incorrect, they should cancel the order.
We specifically did not want to cancel it ourselves because a seller-initiated cancellation can affect the Seller Fulfilled Cancellation / BBE metrics.
However, instead of submitting a cancellation request, the buyer opened a return request under SNAD (Item Not as Described), even though the item had not even been shipped and the problem was simply that the buyer had ordered the wrong size.
Now this transaction is showing as impacting our BBE metrics.
We contacted eBay Customer Support and explained the complete situation. However, we were told that because this is related to BBE, Customer Support cannot remove or correct the impact.
This seems unfair because:
The buyer ordered the wrong size.
The item was never shipped.
We asked the buyer to cancel the order rather than cancelling it ourselves.
The buyer chose to open a SNAD/return request instead of cancelling.
There was no seller error regarding the item or listing.
My questions are:
Is there any way to have this BBE impact reviewed and removed based on the buyer's message history?
Can eBay manually review the transaction and see that the buyer ordered the wrong size?
Is there a specific department or escalation process for BBE cases where the buyer selected an incorrect return reason?
If Customer Support says they cannot remove BBE, who can actually review these cases?
What should sellers do in the future when a buyer tells us they ordered the wrong size but refuses/doesn't use the official cancellation process?
If anyone has experienced the same situation and successfully had the BBE impact removed, please share exactly how you escalated it and what department/channel you used.
@eBay Staff - Could someone please review this case and advise whether this BBE impact can be escalated/reviewed?
Thanks in advance.
rfmtm
·Sep 8, 2026 at 10:45 PMHow does buyer think he is going to return something he did not receive yet?
Contact ebay by chat (type in AGENT) or callback here:
https://www.ebay.com/help/eua?id=5275&mkpid
Send a private message for further help here:
https://www.instagram.com/ebayforsellers/
mam98031
·Sep 8, 2026 at 9:55 PMOne would hope that Ebay would work with you on this as the item had NOT even shipped, so a SNAD claim is inappropriate at best. It is like you said, should have been a Cancellation requested by the buyer.
jonathanbrightlight
·Sep 8, 2026 at 1:31 PMMy understanding was always that there was no option for review of BBE metrics. However, I do remember one post not too long ago where the seller did say they got something removed, though it was a different situation.
I would suggest you go over to the Export Community (since the members here are mostly in the US and not affected by the BBE policy, and I've been told that there are actual eBay staff members that will respond and work with you on those boards, which doesn't really happen here). That's at https://export-community.ebay.com/
dhbookds
·Sep 8, 2026 at 11:58 AMI'm not totally awake............don't understand how you knew the buyer ordered the wrong size?
engine-part
OPSep 8, 2026 at 2:06 PMAs buyer want the custom size… he shared in eBay message that he need special size after making order…
shire123
·Sep 8, 2026 at 11:28 AMHave the buyer close out the SNAD request.
engine-part
OPSep 8, 2026 at 2:07 PMHe was asking for refund so we have ro refund buyer to close the return
stainlessenginecovers
·Sep 8, 2026 at 2:16 PM@shire123
"Have the buyer close out the SNAD request"
Won't change a thing.
Once it's opened it effects metrics for ALL types of sellers (not just international sellers)
fullers_uk
·Sep 8, 2026 at 9:59 AMIf its still possible cancel, reason address problem and block.
engine-part
OPSep 8, 2026 at 10:08 AMBuyer already raised Return Request…
So cancel option disappeared… N raise request of SNAD