How to cancel a sale? (Not asking SHOULD it be canceled?)

[iamonourside]

There are several threads on the forums condeming sellers who cancel sales, this is not that.  I am asking how does a seller cancel a sale for seller error?  Specifically, how to do it after buyer has paid?

My partner mistakenly ran an auction for an expensive lot of items starting at 99 cents, instead of $99 as he intended. Sure enough, someone bid at the last second. My partner decided to take the defect rather than complete the sale. He said as much to the buyer, who agreed to cancel. But then the buyer paid before my partner had submitted the cancel request.

So, how does he proceed? Doesn't the cancellation form allow only two reasons - broken/lost or incorrect address? What if he just refunded the buyer and let ebay ding him without going through the cancellation (especially, if he can't indicate the real reason for the cancel)?  He is think about sending the buyer one of the items offered in the auction as a generous "sorry" gift.  Can he still use ebay labels?  Would doing so confuse ebay?  The buyer?

Happy new year to all! 

[fashunu4eeuh · Accepted solution]

Here is a link to the Help page with info you need to know about canceling a transaction on ebay:

https://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/cancel-transaction-process.html

[slippinjimmy]

Cancel - Broken/Lost or Out Of Stock

There is nothing wrong with the address and the buyer did not ask to cancel so take the defect and at least get your fees back.

If you refund the full payment via PayPal you'll get the same defect.

[penguins_dont_fly]

Answer these questions truthfully:

1) Is there a real problem with the buyer's address?

2) Did the buyer ask to cancel, entirely on their own,  without prompting?

If both of the answers are "No" then the Cancel reason is "Damaged or Out of Stock".

There's no "didn't get enough money" option.

As far as sending a "sorry" gift ... If you use the sold listing to ship your "gift" just to fool the bots and get out of the defect ... just don't do it 😞 Thats just slimy 😞

Cancel the order, take the ding.

If you want to offer your buyer compensation, do it after taking your hit.

[odditiesandantiquities1]

 I did the very same thing with a piece of jewelry that should have been $375.00 but I marked it as $37.50. It was my mistake and I shipped it to the buyer. We had quite a laugh over it and he ended up making three more purchases.

Win Win I say.

[rschissler]

So, after the cancel, is the idea to relist it at $99?  An item, running in an auction for 7 days, gets no bids until a 99 cent bid at the end, maybe really isn't worth $99?

[iamonourside]

Thank you for reply, Happy New Year!

[iamonourside]

I don't get your point. I already stated he'll take a ding. Who is being fooled? He already told the buyer the truth of the matter. Just wondered whether ebay labels work after cancellation. He's genuinely remorseful and hoping to assuage the buyer's disappointment - giving him $10 - $20 for free, not as good for him as $100 for $0,99, but better than nothing for nothing.

[iamonourside]

Odditiesandantiquities1 - I'm sorry that happened to you, but happy that you had the means to make such a gift, and that it turned out well for you.

[iamonourside]

Ha, ha! Keen observation -- but only If there weren't 100,000 listings for the same thing from china sellers offering 99 cent with free shipping.

[iamonourside]

Sorry, didn't see the question mark. He probably will relist at $99. In the category, a higher price will get more attention. If no bids, then he can adjust price or break up the lot.

[coolections]

If it sold for 99 cents it most likely was only worth 99 cents. No need to relist for $99. Auctions are not a game for sellers to test waters. Even if the seller messed up there was 7 days to do something about it. Waiting until it ends and getting lower than expected is not a reason to cancel.

[odditiesandantiquities1]

I know I was lucky I could do it and I understand not everyone could. I do feel badly for you.
😞

[chipper01work]

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@coolections wrote:

If it sold for 99 cents it most likely was only worth 99 cents. No need to relist for $99. Auctions are not a game for sellers to test waters. Even if the seller messed up there was 7 days to do something about it. Waiting until it ends and getting lower than expected is not a reason to cancel.

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I have to agree here for the most part with the only exception being an item that is in extremely low demand and a specialty item. There all literally thousands of items I could and would list here that are worth $100 and would be completely comfortable listing for a 99 cent start and fully expect them to reach the price they are worth. An item reaching its worth here via auction was a guarantee 10 years ago and it still is a guarantee on 90% of the ones I sell.

[penguins_dont_fly]

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@iamonourside wrote:
I don't get your point. I already stated he'll take a ding. Who is being fooled? He already told the buyer the truth of the matter. Just wondered whether ebay labels work after cancellation. He's genuinely remorseful and hoping to assuage the buyer's disappointment - giving him $10 - $20 for free, not as good for him as $100 for $0,99, but better than nothing for nothing.

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You can only use eBay labels for a sold item.

If you use the "cancelled" item to ship something else (your gift), that marks the "cancelled" item as shipped with a tracking number .... that, in my definition is fooling the bots and the buyer .... And slimy.

If you want to send a "gift", use a method that is IN NO WAY linking that tracking number to the cancelled item. Use PayPal to create a label (not from the transaction). A true gift.