Selling multiples of an item, Ebay didn't subtract correctly
Summary: by_george_ive_got_it experienced an issue on eBay where a listing error led to a customer expecting two binder folders instead of one, due to previous sale complications. They initially refunded the first buyer who changed their mind but didn't update the remaining quantity. stephenmorgan suggested contacting the second buyer to offer cancellation, while christworks clarified eBay's process regarding cancellations and inventory adjustments. Further input from stephenmorgan and babyers88 highlighted the need for manual inventory updates. by_george_ive_got_it acknowledged their misunderstanding of eBay's policy. inhawaii noted that inventory issues are typically the seller's responsibility.
Hey... So I had a couple of identical binder folders for sale. I sold one and the buyer immediately cancelled the order upon receipt. Rather than mess with a return over a $12 item, I refunded the buyer and checked the box to just let him keep the folder. A week later I received notice that the remaining folder had been sold. However, Ebay had indicated there were TWO folders for sale, when clearly the first one had been sold already. Now this second buyer wants two folders because Ebay (in error) said they both available.
How would you handle this? Message the buyer and offer to cancel the transaction if he doesn't want just one folder? Is there an advantage to having the buyer cancel the order instead of canceling it on my end? I don't want negative feedback for an error that was Ebay's, not mine.
inhawaii
·Aug 7, 2026 at 8:40 AMI've been on ebay over 25 years.
Any inventory discrepancy i've ever had was MY fault, not ebay's.
babyers88
·Aug 7, 2026 at 5:55 AMcancellations/returns or anything else on multiple quantity listings are not "updated" by ebay, you have to go back in and manually adjust your quantity, they are also ineligible to relist for free.
your post is also not clear at all as to what actually happened.
christworks
·Aug 7, 2026 at 5:38 AM · Edited@by_george_ive_got_it I want to make sure I'm understanding what happened correctly. Buyer #1 placed their order and you shipped it. Buyer #1 then sent a cancellation request OR they opened a return? Buyers cannot directly cancel an order. They can requst you cancel it, but you do not have to agree to that. The action you look (re: refunded without the buyer sending the item back) sounds more like the buyer opened a return. But you used the word cancel, which is why I'm looking for clarification.
@stephenmorgan Maybe you know, but can a buyer even ask to cancel an order after it has been delivered?
If in fact the buyer asked to cancel and the OP cancelled the order, then refunded the order, eBay may have added the sold item back to the listing since all of that took place outside of a return. The listing would still say 3 sold, as I think on multi quantity listings a sale that was cancelled or refunded still shows up as a sale in the listing, just like it does when you look at comps.
Sorry to the OP that this does not address what you should do. @stephenmorgan already did a good job at that. I'm trying to nail down on why this happened.
stephenmorgan
·Aug 7, 2026 at 6:25 AM · EditedThey could ask to cancel but since they already received the item it is a too late to cancel. They would need to return the item for a refund.
As the seller stated "I refunded the buyer and checked the box to just let him keep the folder." By doing this the quantity should not have been readjusted.
It is possible that maybe at some point there were three available for sale and one sold leaving a balance of two. When the listing automatically relisted the original balance of three was repopulated into the listing. So with the new listing one sold leaving a balance of two.
eBay warns about repopulating to the original quantities when relisting a Multi Quantity or Variation Listing. It is a tip they give you. They suggest that if you use auto relist it will not happen. But it happens with auto relist also. I have had it happen many times. I found four a few days ago that were sold months ago.
https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/multiquantity-listings-listings-variations?id=4150&st=3&pos=2&query=Multi-quantity%20listings%20and%20listings%20with%20variations&intent=muliti&lucenceai=lucenceai&docId=HELP1059
Of course it is possible a quantity of three was entered in error when the listing was created.
by_george_ive_got_it
OPAug 7, 2026 at 5:51 PMI suppose I wasn't clear enough. They opened a return because they changed their mind after it was shipped. I had two for sale originally.
I didn't know I needed to change the quantity manually if I let them keep it. I suppose that was my ignorance of policy. Thanks for the response.
stephenmorgan
·Aug 7, 2026 at 4:24 AM · EditedYour listing shows that you had three binders. If you sold one then you would of had two left.
Offer to cancel if they are not ok with just receiving just one.
You could refund for the one you do not have or if they had not paid yet you could send them an Invoice and deduct the amount for the one you do not have. There is a block on the invoice to add a note so you can explain what happened.
by_george_ive_got_it
OPAug 7, 2026 at 5:54 PMThank you for the kind response. I appreciate that a lot. I never changed it to three available because I never had three available.. I do know I checked after I sold the first one and it said one available right after the sale.
Lesson learned.. check daily on a return until everything is final. :)