Buyer is cancelling an hour after they won the bid. I haven't even had a chance to ship.

[adeptmonkey]

My auction was just completed today. The buyer decided they didn't want the item because they found it elsewhere after winning the bid.

-  The buyer already paid on eBay. 
-  eBay sent me notice that the buyer is saying they never received the item (of course not, the auction just completed. I'm in Oregon, they are in Texas. How do I ship to Texas in less than 4 hours?!!!!
-  It looks like, if I approve the refund, eBay is going to charge me a $534 fee. 
-  I've attempted to have eBay call me on my cell phone. They keep saying they tried and my number blocks them. That's not true. I have disabled any blocking on my device, and I've called T-mobile to make sure there is nothing that would block eBay's call. T-mobile confirmed that eBay should be able to call. I've never had this problem with ANY other company EVER. 
-  How do I resolve this without getting charged a fee. I didn't do anything wrong, the buyer is the one requesting the cancellation before I have a chance to ship! 

PLEASE HELP!!!!

[autopartshzkj-aiusln]

This is quite a tricky situation. Here are some suggestions that might help you solve this problem without incurring a fee:

Keep communicating with eBay:

• Continue to contact eBay in various possible ways, such as via email and online customer service, clearly and in detail explaining the entire situation, emphasizing that you are not at fault and that the buyer requested to cancel before you had a chance to ship.
• Provide all relevant evidence, such as the auction end time, the time record of the buyer's request to cancel, etc., to prove that you couldn't ship within a short period of time.

Review eBay's policies and rules:

• Carefully study eBay's specific policies and terms regarding such situations, find the provisions that are in your favor, and quote these provisions when negotiating with eBay.

Request third-party intervention:

• If direct communication with eBay is ineffective, you can try to contact the consumer association or relevant regulatory agencies, explain the situation to them to see if you can get help and support.

Collect information related to the buyer:

• Try to obtain evidence that the buyer found the same item elsewhere. This might help you prove to eBay that the buyer's behavior is unreasonable.

For example, a previous seller encountered a similar situation and successfully avoided being charged an unreasonable fee by persistently communicating with the platform and providing sufficient evidence. Hope you can also smoothly solve this problem!

[devon@ebay]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:

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@buyselljack2016 wrote:

big thing is .................. how in blue blazes was an INR opened within hours of paying.............. eBay faulty here

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While it probably doesn't affect the situation the seller is in as the buyer would probably have ended up filing a return before seller got paid, or filed a payment dispute, that is an excellent question.

The system should have prevented an INR from opening until after the estimated delivery date. devon@ebay ?

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Hey @wastingtime101! You are correct that a buyer is not able to open an INR until after the latest date on the estimated delivery date.  Due to their being many account specific details that cannot be shared here on Community I would recommend OP to continue to work with our customer support agents. 

[brightlightbookseller]

Please stop posting AI nonsense.

[adeptmonkey]

@robbie31415 
@wastingtime101 
@broto_64 

That seems to be the case here. I'm curious what happens if I refund to the buyer, but then the buyer's payment doesn't clear. Who's left holding the bag? Am I just screwed with a $3100 bill, or does eBay then repay me the $3100 and eat the cost. 

I'm wondering if this buyer has figured out a way to exploit eBays **bleep**ty system here. 

[brightlightbookseller]

You won't be issuing a refund if they haven't paid (and the payment doesn't show as paid until it clears, so that's not a thing).  You'll just be ending the ability and necessity for them to pay.  If the payment is complete, yes, you end up refunding whatever the full amount was and then getting paid for whatever the appropriate amount was (there shouldn't be any fees you still pay, except if you chose any non-refundable extra features, so the amounts should match), but you don't have to worry about it clearing, eBay will take care of that part.

[adeptmonkey]

devon@ebay 

I'm the OP and seller of the item.

In this case, the buyer DID open an INR the same day they made payment. The auction closed on the afternoon of 8/14. The buyer made payment on 8/15, and then entered an INR to request a refund less than 4 hours after that. 

What is your advice. I'm wondering if this buyer found a way to exploit the payment system. 

1. Win high dollar auction with a bid
2. Wait one day to make payment with a fraudulent payment method
3. Request refund by initiating an INR refund request
4. Get refunded by seller (I do not have available funds so this will come from MY bank accout)
5. eBay continues to process payment but is refused
6. Someone is left $3100 short (is that gonna be me, or eBay?)

This is the most messed up thing I've ever experienced, and it will result in me not only leaving eBay, but also making the biggest stink I possibly can over this. There is a mediation clause, but those only go so far. eBay needs to fix this at THEIR expense, NOT MINE. 

Thanks! 

-Harry

[bonjourami]

2". Wait one day to make payment with a fraudulent payment method'

Buyer can only make a payment with the selected payment options on your listing, so not sure what you mean by that. As others have stated, Ebay will pull the needed funds from your payment source. And you will get that back once your funds are processed. You are making this more complicated than it needs to be.

If not understanding the way refunds are processed here makes you leave Ebay, then so be it. Ebay is not for everybody.

[bonjourami]

Looking at your response to that fb you received from the buyer in Chili,I would suggest you read up on Ebay's seller guidelines for your own protection. The buyer was using a freight forwarder in Florida, you were only responsible for the pkg's safe arrival there, not to Chili. The international fee is not applied because the buyer is in a foreign country, but because he paid with an international cc,which charges a fee for processing the payment to American dollars.There was nothing 'fishy' about that buyer.

[monica-sells]

The one factor you are missing in this theory is number 5.

Once ebay says "OK to ship" the funds have been approved by the buyers source of payment.

The processing time is between that source and ebay's source......(typical in any cc transaction)

The problem arises when a refund (which in booked in "real-time") conflicts with a funding source that takes 24-48 hours to be available (booked).

How an INR was available so quickly is beyond my scope of comprehension. I would continue my quest through ebay CS on that issue. Why did that happen when it is "coded" to NOT happen?

[brightlightbookseller]

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@bonjourami wrote:

The international fee is not applied because the buyer is in a foreign country, but because he paid with an international cc,which charges a fee for processing the payment to American dollars.

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Just to correct this, eBay for a long time has charged the International Fee on sold items when the buyer is registered in another country, no matter what card they use or how they pay, and no matter what shipping address they use.

Edit: Minor correction to my own statement, it's when the buyer's shipping address OR registered address is international.  Still has nothing to do with their payment method:

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/fees-credits-invoices/selling-fees?id=4822#section8

If you're not using eBay International Shipping to ship your item, we charge an international fee if either:

• The delivery address for the item (entered by the buyer during checkout) is outside the US, or
• The buyer's registered address is outside the US (regardless of the delivery address for the item)

This fee is calculated as 1.65% of the total amount of the sale and is automatically deducted from your sales.

[bonjourami]

I appreciate the correction, been many years since I have shipped internationallyBut nowhere near the op thinking he would have been charged $75 for the sale.

[adeptmonkey]

For everyone following this thread, I'm the OP. 

The funds from the buyer showed up in my eBay account. I was able to refund the buyer through eBay without a charge hitting my account (so far, anyway). 

I'll update this thread if something changes. 

[bonjourami]

Thats great.

[broto_64]

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@adeptmonkey wrote:

@robbie31415 
@wastingtime101 
@broto_64 

That seems to be the case here. I'm curious what happens if I refund to the buyer, but then the buyer's payment doesn't clear. Who's left holding the bag? Am I just screwed with a $3100 bill, or does eBay then repay me the $3100 and eat the cost. 

I'm wondering if this buyer has figured out a way to exploit eBays **bleep**ty system here. 

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Nah, if you refund there's no payment that needs to clear, the transaction is simply reversed.