Seller no longer wants to sell the item after I have already paid

[richvero]

I bid on an item and won it.  So I sent over paypal and the following day the seller messaged me saying he no longer wants to sell the item.  I asked for a refund he told me it would take 21 days.  I opened a case with PayPal because eBay said I needed to request a refund on PayPal's site.  Now the seller is telling me he can't send me a refund because I have a case open.  Am I being scammed?  If I close the PayPal case I will no longer be able to dispute the transaction.  So I'm keeping it open.  What can I do?  With COVID you can't even talk to anyone now.  This is frustrating.

[ed8108]

Do not trust the seller

Do not close your case on paypal

[candd205]

I agree, DO NOT cancel your case.

[richvero]

Ok thanks for the replies! I will keep the case open. 

[fab_finds4u · Accepted solution]

21 days?  He's full of it.  He might think if his payment is on hold for 21 days he can't refund until PayPal releases the payment.  Not true. He can refund payments  on hold. Indeed, refunding reverses the payment and releases it from the hold and gives it back to the buyer.  And yes he can agree to the refund in the case.  Do not close the case. If he doesn't refund in a few days you'll be able to escalate the case. Don't close the case until a refund is given.  Maybe a negative would hurry up the refund. He deserves it.

[richvero]

Thanks so much for your reply! I’m definitely keeping the case open until I get the refund!

[soh.maryl]

You never, ever close a case until you're completely satisfied with the outcome.

And you never ever accept any promises from a seller to re-ship, or that you should wait a few more days.  

[froggyjump]

Paypal is screwing you over. You paid the Seller now paypal is keeping the $ for 21 days. The Seller probably needs the $ of course. I'd contact Paypal to get that $ to where  it was intended to go, to the Seller. Then there will likely not be an issue with completing the transaction.

Unless your funding is invalid, it doesn't take 21 days to credit an account. Contact Paypal

[sgurdon06]

I think froggyjump is on to something.  This was probably a seller that didn't have an established selling history on eBay and Paypal therefore Paypal is putting the typical 21 day hold on the money.  The seller probably did not know this in advance and when he/she found out, they did not want to ship the item.  I can understand that.  It has happened to me but I was confident I'd receive the money either after 21 days or after the buyer left positive feedback so I shipped the item.  It all worked out fine.  Best of luck.  I hope it all works out as I'm sure eventually it will.