Refunded instead of cancelling an order that I didn't ship and Ebay refunded using available funds

[jasons_collection]

Hi, so I ran across a complicated issue where a buyer purchased an item of mine that I priced wrong. Because of this, I refunded the buyer immediately and communicated this to him, and all seemed good. However, I acknowledge that I should have *cancelled* the order instead of choosing the "Send Refund" option as it would have issued the refund anyway and was the correct way to go about the cancellation/refund process. But I can't cancel the order now that I've issued a full refund. The problem is that eBay used the money I made from a separate transaction (in available funds) to pay for the refund. Now I have the original payment the buyer made just sitting in the on-hold section. That's my money, but it's telling me to ship the item and for it to deliver before eBay releases the funds. But it refunded using a different sale so of course I won't ship it out, that's the money I'M owed because they used money from a separate sale to refund the buyer. It says the estimated release of the funds is the 19th of August but that's under the presumption (maybe, maybe not) that it gets delivered as the message implies as much, but maybe I'm wrong. How am I going to receive the money? What do I do? Do I just wait and hope once that day comes it will resolve itself? Someone help please! I'm not sure what to do.

[wooden_flower]

eBay still would have used the available funds if you had cancelled the transaction - eBay always expects the seller to fund the refund. No one likes this, but it is how the system works.  If you have no available funds, eBay will charge your credit card or bank account for the refund - whichever you have designated for paying seller costs.

As long as you refunded through the system, the hold on the original payment will be released, and the fees reversed.  This probably takes overnight, although I have no firsthand experience with it.  If the refunded payment hasn't finished processing yet, then you have to wait for that. (You didn't mention any dates.)

[jasons_collection]

Okay. Thanks for the response. It's been a little over a day so far. I did refund through the system so maybe it's a question of waiting. The refund went through yesterday, now I need the funds from the original sale to release. Will they release regardless of delivery, because obviously I can't send it over as I already refunded? It says the 19th of August it is to release, but I can't be sure if that's under the presumption of delivery or not. I would severely hope not. I also hope in the meanwhile I won't be penalized for not shipping it.

[wooden_flower]

The original payment takes 2 business days to process. It should get released after that.

[rfmtm]

Once the refund clears the buyer's account, which can take some time, you want to go back and cancel the transaction.

[janet9988]

You will need to cancel as out of stock.

[jasons_collection · Accepted solution]

Update: Fortunately, the issue resolved itself and I received my money back. I guess it was a matter of waiting. At least now I know, to avoid uncertainty, that I should not choose "Send Refund" before shipping and instead just cancel the order. Either way, the money came through so it's all good. Thanks for everyone's input!