Has eBay changed how cancellation are processed and refunds issued?

[bangordiscount]

Hello,

I haven't actively been selling in awhile and ran into two issues this week.

1) A buyer purchased an item and wanted to cancel it prior to me shipping. I agreed and went to cancel the order. When it was time to refund the buyer my only option was to enter credit/debit card information? Historically I've been able to issue refunds out of my pending funds (from sales) and if that had no balance it would deduct the amount of the refund from my bank account to which my monthly store subscription is billed. Has something changed with this? 

2) I had another buyer (international this time) purchase an item, pay, and immediately request I cancel and refund. I messaged them and said I would but when I try to open a cancellation request through my seller page I get the following error:

"You cannot cancel this order
We couldn’t cancel this order, see order details for more information."

If I go to my sales history I have the ability to select "issue refund" and enter a refund amount (partial or full) but will this void me getting a credit on my FVF and/or ding my selling metrics? Ordinarily I could just open a cancellation, select the "buyer requested" option, and once the buyer approves he gets a refund, and I get my FVF back with no metrics ding. Furthermore, am I going to have to issue this refund by debit/credit card as well? The funds are still processing and haven't been paid out yet (sale/payment was received 04/12)

Thanks for the help

[monica-sells]

If I understand your question and timeline right

the "refund" is done in "real-time" as in right now

your funds are still "In processing" and not yet available to "cover" the refund

therefore, you need to cover the "real-time' refund with your funding source ....

after the processing time is completed, then your funds become available in your account

(but as of this minute they are not there and you want to refund)

[bangordiscount]

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@monica-sells wrote:

If I understand your question and timeline right

the "refund" is done in "real-time" as in right now

your funds are still "In processing" and not yet available to "cover" the refund

therefore, you need to cover the "real-time' refund with your funding source ....

after the processing time is completed, then your funds become available in your account

(but as of this minute they are not there and you want to refund)

---

Thanks for the response. I've never had this problem before. Post PayPal split and enrollment into managed payments we NEVER got instantly paid. Fund always processed----and regardless I have been able to issue refunds immediately after the sale, if buyer requested, without waiting for a payment to finish processing and post. I've been able to immediately issue these refunds regardless of if I had funds pending, already processed or none at all (i.e. they charged my bank account).

Furthermore I've never been told I couldn't cancel an item unless it had already been cancelled/refunded.

[12345jamesstamps]

Refund is immediately taken out of any "available funds"...not from the present sale of item.

No "available funds"....refund can be taken out of your banking account(debit card).

Sometimes, it's best not to refund immediately...best to wait until money is in "available funds".

This is done also with refunding a shipping discount of combined items. So, don't be so quick to refund anyone. If a buyer made a mistake...that's their fault...buyer can wait for the refund.

[caldreamer]

When  you cancel transaction "per customer request" (all FVF are refunded to you and you do NOT get a defect on your account).

 When you "cancel sale" (for any reason) EBAY does NOT "freeze your pending funds" so money to refund the customer must come from your "personal account".    However, if customer opens "return request" EBAY immediately "freezes your pending funds" so there is money available to refund customer.   

[pjcdn2005]

2.   You said they immediately cancelled.  Did they use the official eBay request to cancel that is available in the first hour or did they just send a message?  If it was the  first option,  you should be able to go to a link in that eBay message and agree to the cancellation from there.  

[monica-sells]

"...Did they use the official eBay request to cancel that is available in the first hour or did they just send a message?..."

oh jeez....

i forgot to ask that rudimentary/basic question...

that makes a huge difference.....

[bangordiscount]

No, they messaged me directly. It's now been about a day since they submitted payment, they payment has been received but despite having an option to cancel, it doesn't allow me (see error message in original post).

Theoretically I can refund using the refund option in the drop down menu (haven't tried obviously), but ive always issued refunds by cancelling the purchase first (assuming buyer had already paid).

[pjcdn2005]

When you went to order details for more information it didn't say anything that would explain not being able to cancel?

[bangordiscount]

No, nothing. I'll add screenshots soon

[pjcdn2005]

As others have mentioned itsound like a funding source problem.  You can add a credit card or authorize funds to be taken out if your bank account fir ‘other’ selling costs.   I used to have a link for that but can’t find it right now.  

[bangordiscount]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

As others have mentioned itsound like a funding source problem.  You can add a credit card or authorize funds to be taken out if your bank account fir ‘other’ selling costs.   I used to have a link for that but can’t find it right now.  

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It's not a funding issue. I've been buying and selling on eBay for close to 20 years. I have multiple cards and bank accounts on file that are current. 

I called eBay and they said they are having issues with the cancellation process and to just refund directly. Both trying to cancel and refund cause errors on my side. I'm now being told to have the buyer open an INR and refund through the case and then call back with a provided reference number to get the defect for the INR removed.

This makes no sense to me. I've issued several hundred refund and cancellations on this account and never had problems before.

When I try to refund directly:

When I try to cancel:

There is nothing on the order details out of the ordinary that would explain this error.