Found flaw in item, buyer not responding to messages - ship or cancel?

[booksrobins]

I was about to ship an item I sold and realized it was a different color model than I had originally thought. It was this in between bluish purple color, and originally when I researched it, the brand's website only had one that looked like it matched and was listed as "Purple." However, recently I got in more of that item and in that batch there were ones listed as "Blue" and ones listed as "Purple", they're somewhat similar but when you put them next to each other you can tell there's a difference. So I double checked the one I sold and realized it matches the Blue one instead and not the Purple. 

I messaged the buyer letting them know (since buyers do tend to look for specific color schemes for this type of item, as they come in many colors and are collectible), and asking them if they'd still like to move forward with the purchase and I can ship, or if they want to cancel and I can refund them. They haven't replied, so I found some advice on here that said to email their PayPal email address as well, which I did. They haven't replied to that either. 

The weird thing is they left a note in the purchase asking me to message them and let them know when it will ship, so I'm assuming they're expecting and read eBay messages. 

I was wondering if they never reply, should I just cancel the order but let them know I'm holding the item for them if they wanted to repurchase it (and maybe canceling will finally get their attention), or ship it and just see if they want to return it or not? 

[chapeau-noir]

I don't know when you wrote, but give it a couple of days - particularly since it's the weekend and people don't always check in.  I would not ship or cancel until you hear from them - delaying one order a day or so isn't going to hurt you.

[vrie39]

I've gone through a lot of frustration over this very matter with sellers.

I realize this is most likely an honest mistake, I've had what you describe happen to me and thus it is a good thing you messaged the buyer... However, it also looks like you're trying to dodge the defect if the buyer states to cancel by using reason "buyer asked."

That to me is highly irritating. If I am the buyer and a seller contacts me and I say they can cancel and they then cancel for reason "buyer asked..." No first off I did not ask, the seller asked me..! Also ebay places the defect on me when it's really the seller's fault (or at the very least not my own).

Of course the seller says "but defect will not hurt you as a buyer"

Right but when no blame falls on the seller they can just keep doing it, hahaha, joke's on me.

It is not the buyer's fault the seller failed to check or foresee or whatever else...

[booksrobins]

Thanks for the response, it's been 4 days since I sent the first message, so unfortunately I'll probably get a late shipping ding if they ever reply. 

My question was what should I do if they *never* reply? 

[booksrobins]

I never said I would put the reason as "buyer asked to cancel", so please don't use the boards to vent about your personal frustrations and making wrong assumptions, instead of answering the question. 

Also, it sounds like you would prefer that sellers don't communicate with you about flaws/mistakes and just send it to you without giving you the option to cancel thus saving you time and effort of having to return it in case it wasn't what you wanted. I don't think most buyers would want that.  

[cynthealee2]

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@booksrobins wrote:

Thanks for the response, it's been 4 days since I sent the first message, so unfortunately I'll probably get a late shipping ding if they ever reply. 

My question was what should I do if they *never* reply? 

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Give em till Monday night, then cancel it with a last email retelling them why you canceled, and that you do have it in the correct color if they wish to rebuy it.   (I think I read that right and you now have them in both blue and the purple.)

[lamber9347]

I realize this is most likely an honest mistake, I've had what you describe happen to me and thus it is a good thing you messaged the buyer... However, it also looks like you're trying to dodge the defect if the buyer states to cancel by using reason "buyer asked."

That to me is highly irritating. If I am the buyer and a seller contacts me and I say they can cancel and they then cancel for reason "buyer asked..." No first off I did not ask, the seller asked me..! Also ebay places the defect on me when it's really the seller's fault (or at the very least not my own).

Of course the seller says "but defect will not hurt you as a buyer"

Right but when no blame falls on the seller they can just keep doing it, hahaha, joke's on me.

It is not the buyer's fault the seller failed to check or foresee or whatever else...

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WOW,.... smh....

[lamber9347]

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@cynthealee2 wrote:

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@booksrobins wrote:

Thanks for the response, it's been 4 days since I sent the first message, so unfortunately I'll probably get a late shipping ding if they ever reply. 

My question was what should I do if they *never* reply? 

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Give em till Monday night, then cancel it with a last email retelling them why you canceled, and that you do have it in the correct color if they wish to rebuy it.   (I think I read that right and you now have them in both blue and the purple.)

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I second this.... exactly how I would handle it.... Best of luck to you....

[chapeau-noir]

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@booksrobins wrote:

I never said I would put the reason as "buyer asked to cancel", so please don't use the boards to vent about your personal frustrations and making wrong assumptions, instead of answering the question. 

Also, it sounds like you would prefer that sellers don't communicate with you about flaws/mistakes and just send it to you without giving you the option to cancel thus saving you time and effort of having to return it in case it wasn't what you wanted. I don't think most buyers would want that.  

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I agree with keeping until Monday.  If no reply, then:

1.  Cancel out of stock and if it were me, I would give the buyer the option of rebuying and offer a nice discount.  OR

2.  Ship, explain your mistake but say you didn't want to delay further but couldn't get hold of them.  Put a note about this in the package, also.  If the buyer really doesn't want it, they can RTS when it hits their doorstep if they DO open that notification message from you.

I'd tend towards the latter because a return isn't as bad as an OOS defect and this gives the buyer a chance to make up their own mind if this is OK after all.

No matter what you do the buyer can be brilliant about it, or a cranky clogs, so just do what you think is most honourable.

[oldtownrhoda]

If you now have the purple one now, why can't you just send him that?

[sin-n-dex]

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@chapeau-noir wrote:

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@booksrobins wrote:

I never said I would put the reason as "buyer asked to cancel", so please don't use the boards to vent about your personal frustrations and making wrong assumptions, instead of answering the question. 

Also, it sounds like you would prefer that sellers don't communicate with you about flaws/mistakes and just send it to you without giving you the option to cancel thus saving you time and effort of having to return it in case it wasn't what you wanted. I don't think most buyers would want that.  

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I agree with keeping until Monday.  If no reply, then:

1.  Cancel out of stock and if it were me, I would give the buyer the option of rebuying and offer a nice discount.  OR

2.  Ship, explain your mistake but say you didn't want to delay further but couldn't get hold of them.  Put a note about this in the package, also.  If the buyer really doesn't want it, they can RTS when it hits their doorstep if they DO open that notification message from you.

I'd tend towards the latter because a return isn't as bad as an OOS defect and this gives the buyer a chance to make up their own mind if this is OK after all.

No matter what you do the buyer can be brilliant about it, or a cranky clogs, so just do what you think is most honourable.

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I usually won't hold up a package but tell them I'm going to go ahead and ship (if they don't get back to me by xx date and time in my time zone). I say "you can inspect it first before deciding if you want to keep it". This is sometimes the case when I find that packaging on coins became damaged in storage. The flaw might be very minor, but with collectors mint packaging matters. I can disclose the flaws if they are present when I list, but if something gets damaged in storage that's a different matter...

Don't get too excited about this notion, I probably have this happen only once or twice a year, and sometimes I catch the damage before it sells so I can amend the listing.

C.

[this*old*attic]

Were pictures of the actual item in the listing or did you use a stock photo?

If the former, I’d ship. If the latter, I’d keep trying to reach customer.

But why cancel if you have both colors in stock now?

[this*old*attic]

LMAO @ “cranky clogs.”