Buyer buys, pays, then messages me that it was a mistake and they want a refund.

[abcand_utepc0]

This buyer bought an item (fixed price), pays for the item, then immediate sends me a message saying it was a mistake and they want a refund. What!? First, I want the sale (but I know now that I will get negative feedback if I actually ship the item). Two, cancelling the transaction puts the ding on my account, not theirs. Three: it was her mistake, she should fix it! I've put her on my blocked list (don't need same headache in future), and now she owes me .30c for a re-listing fee, but I can't withhold that from the refund. eBay needs to support sellers more and punish the buyers for abusing the system. Am I wrong in feeling this way?

[ed8108]

A buyer requested cancellation should not result in the seller receiving a ding.

[emerald40]

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@abcand_utepc0wrote:

This buyer bought an item (fixed price), pays for the item, then immediate sends me a message saying it was a mistake and they want a refund. What!? First, I want the sale (but I know now that I will get negative feedback if I actually ship the item). Two, cancelling the transaction puts the ding on my account, not theirs. Three: it was her mistake, she should fix it! I've put her on my blocked list (don't need same headache in future), and now she owes me .30c for a re-listing fee, but I can't withhold that from the refund. eBay needs to support sellers more and punish the buyers for abusing the system. Am I wrong in feeling this way?

_________________________________________________________

Not just potential negative feedback but the buyer will just lie and file SNAD and you will have to pay for return postage.

Cancelling the sale as buyer requested does not ding your account as well.  That would occur if you filed out of stock.

How do you expect the buyer to fix it other than coming to you asking for a cancellation?

Ever work in a B&M retail store.  I have.  I have seen buyers get as far as the parking lot, decide they did not want in, and return asking for a refund.  It happens.  You have to learn to deal with it.

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[pingpong517]

when you cancel a transaction...you use the "buyer changed mind" choice....

no ding.... refund if needed and done.... 

it happens and so learn how to do it..quick and painless.... the relisting fee of 30cents...well its also part of business.... 

these thing happen, and trying to punish and worry about it is EBAY's peoblem...you just learn the procedure and move on.

[namtrag1]

No Sweat....Just do the right thing.

If the buyers requests to cancel you will incure  no "ding".

Just cancel and move on.

Things happen sometimes.  Oh well.

[atikovi]

Why can't you make the refund 30 cents less?

[etvideo1ataol · Accepted solution]

As has been said, cancel it and immediately send a refund.  eBay will say you did the right thing and that you don't have to do anything else.

This happens all the time because buyer don't read the description until after they have made the purchase, or, eBay told them where there was a seller that had it cheaper.

eBay is so helpful...to buyers.

[abcand_utepc0]

Because when I clicked "Cancel" and "buyers request" eBay popped up and said "issue refund" of the purchase price plus postage. I could either accept or decline. No other choice. So... buyer gets away free and it costs me.

[abcand_utepc0]

"How do you expect the buyer to fix it other than coming to you asking for a cancellation?"

Actually, the buyer has 1 hour to cancel a purchase, even though they have paid, provided the seller hasn't shipped yet. So, instead of taking the matter into her own hands, she immediately messages me, for me to fix it for her (maybe because she's done this before and doesn't want the ding on her own account?). But that's not right - she should have immediately cancelled on her end and not wasted both of our time.

[tofu107]

Ebay used to allow seller giving partial refund but not anymore,consider this as cost of doing business.
Then comes Paypal,you may not get the transaction fee back if you wait too long,as it costs Paypal to process the transaction.
Do it now and see if Paypal keeps the 30 cents

[tofu107]

I dont think buyer can cancel an order,only seller can.
someone may chime in and disagree.

[lintbrush*]

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@abcand_utepc0wrote:

This buyer bought an item (fixed price), pays for the item, then immediate sends me a message saying it was a mistake and they want a refund. What!? First, I want the sale (but I know now that I will get negative feedback if I actually ship the item). Two, cancelling the transaction puts the ding on my account, not theirs. Three: it was her mistake, she should fix it! I've put her on my blocked list (don't need same headache in future), and now she owes me .30c for a re-listing fee, but I can't withhold that from the refund. eBay needs to support sellers more and punish the buyers for abusing the system. Am I wrong in feeling this way?

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1) You want the sale.  The buyer doesn't.   It's rarely a good idea to force a buyer to accept something they've indicated they no longer want.  You also have a Returns Accepted policy.  It's coming back to you one way or another.  By not doing it before you send it, all you're doing is costing the buyer more money and possibly keeping the item off your shelves for a month.  That makes both of you unhappy.  FYI - restocking fees will be disallowed in May - and the 14 day option will be gone too (except for certain categories)

2) Cancelling the sale because the buyer requested it doesn't hurt your seller standing

3) Yes, it was her mistake and while she didn't use the cancel request form, she contacted you.  She actually cannot fix it... as you would have to either a) approve the cancel request or b) initiate the cancel if the buyer sent a message.

4) Buyer isn't abusing the system.  Buyer have the right to request a cancellation.  It's policy.  Sellers do not have to honor their request though.

5) You've had close to 300 sales in the past 3 months.  It would be easy to make up the 30 cents listing fee lost with the next few sales.  You'e also going to lose the non-refundable 30 cent PayPal transaction fee.  Welcome to expected business expenses which should be factored into your plan.

Ever consider a store?  How many times do you pay that 30 cents insertion fee and what does it add up to?  

[auctionpet]

Ebay does keep track of buyer cancellation requests. There will be no ding to your account for agreeing to the cancellation, the buyer gets the ding. I know this, as a few days ago a seller cancelled my order, sending me a message they were out of stock. Then they went ahead and used 'Buyer Requested Cancellation', as the reason. This was clearly a lie. I phoned ebay and they weren't happy about the seller using this reason to avoid getting a defect. They told me it would be handled appropriately and assured me there would be no ding to my account for the 'Buyer Requested' reason. I hadn't even thought about this until the CS rep mentioned it. So, YES, buyer's do get dinged for cancellations, too many requests and they can be suspended.

You are out not only the 30 cents for relisting, but also 30 cents from paypal. It's highly annoying, but happens to most of us. I've had buyers cancel within seconds of purchasing....it's very obvious ebay showed them another seller's listing following their check out! Really a bad idea on the part of ebay. You'd think they'd want a buyer to purchase the higher priced one, so they make more in fvf!

[kensgiftshop]

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@abcand_utepc0wrote:

This buyer bought an item (fixed price), pays for the item, then immediate sends me a message saying it was a mistake and they want a refund. What!? First, I want the sale (but I know now that I will get negative feedback if I actually ship the item). Two, cancelling the transaction puts the ding on my account, not theirs. Three: it was her mistake, she should fix it! I've put her on my blocked list (don't need same headache in future), and now she owes me .30c for a re-listing fee, but I can't withhold that from the refund. eBay needs to support sellers more and punish the buyers for abusing the system. Am I wrong in feeling this way?

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The buyer has already said they don't want the item now, so you can do 1 of 2 things.

Cancel the sale at buyers request(no ding), refund buyer and relist item.

Ship the item, buyer files a SNAD, shipper pays to have the item returned and still ends up giving a refund.

[atikovi]

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@abcand_utepc0wrote:

Because when I clicked "Cancel" and "buyers request" eBay popped up and said "issue refund" of the purchase price plus postage. I could either accept or decline. No other choice. So... buyer gets away free and it costs me.

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Maybe you should have gone on Paypal to send a refund. Pretty sure the last time I checked it had the choice of issuing a full refund or a partial one.