eBay

04butterflies · ‎10-15-2025

I would like to cancel a sale. My buyer did not receive their purchase. I was in the hospital. While in there, we had rainstorms that damaged the picture the buyer wanted. I can not send him a damaged product. I never actually received the buyer's money so I do not know how to refund it. I thought E-bay kept the funds from a transaction until the transaction was complete; therefore I thought when I said to REFUND BUYER E-BAY WOULD JUST RETURN THEIR MONEY. I do not know how to contact E-bay to explain this.

All I get from the seller choices just say to "refund buyer" but do not give an option to explain anything. I want the buyer to understand what happened. I never meant to deceive him. This is must as upsetting to me as it is to the buyer. I do not understand why E-bay does not allow or offer open communication. Their labels do not offer an option to respond that I understand, they just add more labels.

WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO? WHO READS THIS? WHO WILL RESPOND TO ME?

candd205 · ‎10-15-2025

When you hit refund the buyer, eBay will refund the buyer with the funds they are holding because you didn't mail the package. So go ahead and complete that.

No need to message the buyer, they are disappointed no matter what you tell them. But if you really need to explain it to the buyer, there is an option to message the buyer next to the listing in which you sold the item. It is separate from the cancellation and refund option.

participatrophy · ‎10-15-2025

@04butterflies wrote:
All I get from the seller choices just say to "refund buyer" but do not give an option to explain anything.

Don't worry, that's exactly the label you're looking for. Proceed with the "refund buyer" choice and there will be a box where you can write a note to leave for your buyer to see when he gets the refund. Since you're such an infrequent seller, your funds from the sale will remain on hold for ~30 days I think. What that means is you pay for the refund out of pocket now and your funds from the sale will be released by eBay at the end of the hold period. Pretty sure it's 30 days or thereabouts.

sammiea1460 · ‎10-15-2025

I believe the polite course is to contact the buyer with apologies.

We complain about AI and bots being so impersonal, so why act like one?

Rather than mention a hospital stay, I would just tell them the item was damaged during storage.

Ebay will take their pound of flesh from you for cancelling and they don't want or care to know about your reason.

In the future, do not allow ebay to step in and "help." Just use the buttons and prompts to refund, message, etc. If you have any problems, this forum is the place to ask.

Go to your orders (click on my ebay upper right and orders far left) and you should find your transaction. Look under waiting to be shipped. Make sure a refund has been done and then find their name/ screen name to send a message.