Defect Removal

[bpl521_sell]

All:

Kind of screwed up, selling a item and the seller puts in a best offer that was accepted, then wants to combine shipping with another item. I give him the rate, he disagrees, and doesn't pay. Stupidly I canceled the sale by stating the item was out of stock or damaged. This was true as I was packaging I put a scuff on the item. Did not want the hassle of dealing with this individual me on a Unpaid Item case, so looks like I have incurred a defect. Are defects removed after a period of time?,  can I state my case with Ebay that the buyer did not pay and have the defect removed. In hindsight I should have just cancelled the sale after a Unpaid Item ticket, but ....any recourse now?

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, i checked the guidelines for defect removal. and it looks like your case didn't qualify. If you had let the Unpaid Item Dispute open and close without payment, the defect would have been automatically removed. Here’s the policy:

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/defect-removal.html

“...Automatic removal: The buyer didn't pay for a purchase and an unpaid item case is recorded against the buyer.”

But i’m a little confused, did the buyer tell you he wasn't going to pay? Did he mention cancellation? If so, then you could have cancelled using  the “buyer requested” reason and  avoided the defect. If there are messages that support this, it would be worth a call to ebay to show them there is “buyer requested” evidence along with no payment.

As for how long the defect affects your account, if i understand correctly, it is for either 3 months or 1 year, depending on your level of sales:

Sellers with 400 or more transactions over the past 3 months will be evaluated based on the past 3 months' transactions.
For sellers with fewer than 400 transactions over the past 3 months, the defect rate will be calculated based on transactions over the past 12 months.

https://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/seller-non-performance.html

Sorry i couldnt be of more help. Other posters may have other ideas to offer. Good luck to you.

[duggmills]

I called eBay's customer service and had a defect removed- the only one I received and it was my fault for not following through on payment to China for something other. 

The Rep said he was doing this as courtesy to me......