Bidder backed out

[western-fan]

Bidder backed out, asked for cancellation. I said no, he said he had no intention of paying. After I said "no" on the ebay form,  it shows "cancelled" on one page, but awaiting payment on another. So, has ebay basically cancelled the transaction?

[dnasilver]

The bidder is not legally bound to buy the item just as you are not legally bound to sell it to a winner bidder.

[1tuna]

forcing a buyer to pay for an item they do do want can backfire

what will you do when they demand a return for a SNAD?

you might end up having to pay for return shipping

is your idea to teach them a lesson and give them an unpaid strike

a savvy buyer can just return an item to avoid that same strike.

not sure what ebay has done here

@western-fan 

[mtgraves7984]

eBay won't cancel the order, but leaves that to the seller. What do you see under: Seller Hub/Orders/Cancellations?

If you didn't cancel, I'd expect it to be under Seller Hub/Orders/Awaiting payment.

[simba6]

When a buyer wants to cancel, always do so.   It's better to do that than risk a false not as described case to return is on your dime. Or worse yet, have the buyer "help" the item to get that way.

Blocked bidder list too.

[onlinecentral]

It is always in the seller's best interest to cancel.
Failure to cancel can result in:
a) Paying the original and return postage.
b) Getting a Not as Described strike on your selling account.
c) Receiving a negative feedback comment.

[2....1....0....sold!]

You're playing with fire...

You should be thankful they asked to cancel; they could have paid, received, "not as described" it...you pay the shipping costs both ways AND the ebay fees.

Be nice no matter how much it hurts and block the buyer from buying again.

[western-fan]

Thanks for all the timely  advice!