Buyer sent message wanting to cancel because of failure to read shipping exclusions

[cooprr]

As a new seller, I tried to cover my bases and because of my past experience as a buyer not being able to receive Paypal purchases at a PO Box, I set up my shipping exclusions to include PO Boxes, as I accept Paypal. Having no experience on how payment systems work related to shipping addresses, my settings for payment saying Paypal accepted means that I only accept Paypal. I need to be straightened out on this if I am incorrect.

A zero experience buyer (account opened one day prior to auction ending) sent a message stating she/he has attempted to pay but cannot because of my shipping exclusion to PO Boxes and cannot find it anywhere in my listing, and wants the transaction cancelled IF I will not ship to PO Box.

I replied with instructions to find See Exclusions and asked for a reply after she/he reviews the listing and ebay policies.

Should I:

Cancel the transaction per buyer request? -> contact second highest bidder for second chance?

Let the 3 day payment timeframe run out and report non-buyer?

Thank you to those who assist the newly-confused sellers!

[emerald40]

I had to learn simple german and french phrases so I could shop on those two sites without stepping on toes and bidding where I was not welcome.

But since then I do feel for those who might face a lot of exclusions on ebay because of where they live.

[missjen831]

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@readabouthorses wrote:

I've always wondered why does eBay bury the PO Box block at the end of all the blocked countries? I've seen sellers that have a big ole huge list of blocked countries and then there at the end of that is the PO Box block.

To me it would make more sense to move the PO Box block up to the front of that list. It is sort of out there like a hanging chad and easy to miss if that blocked international countries list is long.

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The same could be said for sales tax. It’s hidden in very small print amongst the shipping information in the shipping & returns section. 

[missjen831]

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@missjen831 wrote:

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@tev4all wrote:

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@missjen831 wrote:

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@tev4all wrote:

Yes, IT sounds like ebay could believe IT is. 

 How did the scam er buyer pay for the item? 

Through an invoice you sent?

Through friends and family?

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The buyer is hardly a scammer.

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How do you know that?  Are you the buyer that failed to read the listing fully? 

From the OP's statement of messages from buyer, IT certainly looks as if a scam is afoot. 

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It looks nothing like a scam. Just a buyer and seller who both made mistakes. 

(The OPs mistake was incorrectly believing that PayPal doesn’t allow PO boxes and blocking them. The buyers mistake was not reading the shipping tab & seeing the exclusion).

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Except that when you bid, there is a warning that comes up that the seller has excluded PO boxes. So they really don't even need to read the exclusions, where, if the seller doesn't ship international, it's at the end of a long string of countries.

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Are we sure that that pops up on both the website, the app and the mobile platform though? 

[tev4all]

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@missjen831 wrote:

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It looks nothing like a scam. Just a buyer and seller who both made mistakes. 

(The OPs mistake was incorrectly believing that PayPal doesn’t allow PO boxes and blocking them. The buyers mistake was not reading the shipping tab & seeing the exclusion).

OP # 1

A zero experience buyer (account opened one day prior to auction ending) sent a message stating she/he has attempted to pay but cannot because of my shipping exclusion to PO Boxes and cannot find it anywhere in my listing, and wants the transaction cancelled IF I will not ship to PO Box.

OP  m#4

I just received a reply stating this buyer has over 10 years of ebay experience with 5000+ feedbacks and created this buyer profile for collectibles.And wants me to make the accommodation to ship to PO Box. 

OP m#24 

I cancelled the transaction per buyer's request in her first message saying "if I cannot have it shipped to my PO, then cancel my order" and this comes in:

"With respect, you're being incredibly rude and intentionally unprofessional.

Now, how can we save this transaction and how can you accommodate me? Let's have a happy ending, please."

OP m #58

After cancelling the transaction, receiving fee credit and ebay confirmation of cancellation, the buyer sent payment to me using a physical address, via Paypal.

Putting aside the who what and why's of the PO Box Block, the seller had one stated in the shipping tab, viewable by the 0 FB member ID that eventually, supposedly sent a payment for the item outside (IT would seem) of ebay's purview.

OP has bolted from thread, I don't blame them, But they have still not stated how the member  paid for an item that has been canceled.  I hope they didn't fall for the "YOU'VE BEEN PAID" email scam.  

[cooprr]

Still here, working this item. I phoned Ebay to ask the exact question "how is it a buyer can pay for an item after it has been cancelled by Ebay?"

I was told that in all probability, when the buyer received an email notification that the transaction was cancelled, they did not agree. To which I said, "please look at the messages - the buyer requested the cancellation." Ebay took a look and agreed that the transaction cancellation was official and I was indeed on the correct path to offer the item SCO to the next highest bidder.

How did the buyer accomplish this?

Maybe they kept their paypal "confirm payment screen" open all day, changed the "ship to" address and hit confirm.

This is my guess. Ebay wouldn't offer an exact methodology or process.

Ebay then told me "go to your paypal account and issue a refund to the buyer, as the transaction has been cancelled and your fees in your dashboard reflect that. Proceed with your SCO."

True enough, a fee debit posted and matching credit appear on my dashboard, as well as a newly posted fee for 10% of the shipping cost to the buyer.

The paid listing in my SOLD list shows the transaction cancelled. The "print shipping label" is replaced by "Cancel Details" and in addition, it is marked PAID.

Logging onto my paypal account, I see a payment from someone for the amount of the sale.

[missjen831]

Cancelling a transaction doesn’t block the buyer from repaying. I’m sure eBay has a ridiculous reason for this too.

[cooprr]

I am no rocket scientist (although a friend is and he often wears a T-shirt that says "as a matter of fact I AM a rocket scientist) - but it seems like a wacky loophole here - commit to buy something, ask for a cancellation, then pay for it. ebay deducts and then credits their fees from/to the seller's account.

Seller then completes the sale by shipping to buyer (now having zero buyers/sellers protection?)  and Ebay makes no money.

What am i missing?

[dtexley3]

You can do a sell similar and check to see if you had your listing marked with an exclusion for PO Boxes.  Make sure to cancel the listing after looking and check to make sure it didn't make it into your drafts and delete it if necessary.

[missjen831]

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@cooprr wrote:

I am no rocket scientist (although a friend is and he often wears a T-shirt that says "as a matter of fact I AM a rocket scientist) - but it seems like a wacky loophole here - commit to buy something, ask for a cancellation, then pay for it. ebay deducts and then credits their fees from/to the seller's account.

Seller then completes the sale by shipping to buyer (now having zero buyers/sellers protection?)  and Ebay makes no money.

What am i missing?

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You aren’t missing anything. But like I said, I’m sure eBay has a reason for it.

There are a lot of ridiculous loopholes here—did you know that if you file an UID and close it as unpaid, the buyer can still file an INR? eBay won’t close that ridiculous loophole. They have a reason for it—because they can’t always see if the buyer paid. Now I am no rocket scientist myself but if the seller filed an UID and closed it, the buyer had absolutely no way to pay through eBay isn’t covered by the MBG also WHY can they file an INR?

[cooprr]

uh-oh. Acronyms not on my radar. Can you decipher UID INR and MBG?

[missjen831]

Oh sorry 

UID=unpaid item dispute

INR=item not received case

MBG=money back guarantee 

[cooprr]

no need for sorry when we think we're all speaking the same language! thanks for offering the answers - that's how i learn - my gratitude.

After deciphering - i concur -  that is Top Ten on the Cuckoo List.

[d-k_treasures]

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@missjen831 wrote:

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@d-k_treasures wrote:

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@missjen831 wrote:

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@tev4all wrote:

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@missjen831 wrote:

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@tev4all wrote:

Yes, IT sounds like ebay could believe IT is. 

 How did the scam er buyer pay for the item? 

Through an invoice you sent?

Through friends and family?

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The buyer is hardly a scammer.

---

How do you know that?  Are you the buyer that failed to read the listing fully? 

From the OP's statement of messages from buyer, IT certainly looks as if a scam is afoot. 

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It looks nothing like a scam. Just a buyer and seller who both made mistakes. 

(The OPs mistake was incorrectly believing that PayPal doesn’t allow PO boxes and blocking them. The buyers mistake was not reading the shipping tab & seeing the exclusion).

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Except that when you bid, there is a warning that comes up that the seller has excluded PO boxes. So they really don't even need to read the exclusions, where, if the seller doesn't ship international, it's at the end of a long string of countries.

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Are we sure that that pops up on both the website, the app and the mobile platform though? 

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I can only speak for the website - because that's the only way I access it anywhere on any device.

But I can guess on the other 2 .................

[lookwhatbobfound]

There are a lot of small communities that get free post office boxes because their area has no physical addresses.  I live in one of those areas.  To not deliover to post office boxes is just pure discrimination.  Also, do you realize that delivery to a post office box is the most secure address to have?  No worries about mail being stolen from a mailbox or from a home.

[loveyourimagination49]

GR
Couldn’t the seller (op) just put the buyer on his exclusion block list, so he could ship to the POBox? I did that for an international buyer when I had the country excluded and they paid.