Message from ebay

[storagetreasures2004]

I received a message from Ebay that stated Ebay has cancelled a bid from the buyer after they paid for an item. It shows they paid and that I have not shipped the item! I hope this does not hurt my Top Rated Status and not sure what to do at this point:

Message from Ebay:

Here’s what you should do

• Don’t complete the sale or ship the item to (buyers name) if you haven’t done so yet.
• Don’t communicate any further with (buyers name), especially if they get in touch with you outside of eBay. 
• If (buyers name) requests a payment or refund, don’t send any money without contacting eBay first. If payment was processed, a refund has not been issued yet just in case you’ve already shipped the item.
• If you already sent the item, contact the shipper to find out if you can stop the delivery and have the item returned to you.
• If your listing has ended, you can relist your item

I need a way to contact Ebay besides the chat, because that doesn't seem to work.

StorageTreasures2004

[simply-the-best-for-you · Accepted solution]

You don't need to do anything & it won't hurt you in any way.  It happens from time to time.  If you haven't shipped yet, that's even better, but even when you have shipped, it's almost never a problem.  I've had lots of them where I've already shipped.  No problems at all.  It's been years since I had one.   I've never bothered trying to stop delivery.  It just means someone was most likely kicked off eBay but the reason can be pretty benign, so it's nothing for you to worry about. 

[toysaver]

EBay worked to protect you.  Something was wrong with the payment.  My guess is it was for the $200 newspaper.  This is a better outcome than being scammed out of your money from the buyer which is becoming increasingly harder to pull off.  The TRS is evaluated every 30 days and this transaction will be long gone by then.  My experience is that the item disappears from awaiting shipping in a few days.

[soh.maryl]

Can you explain further? If the buyer already paid and the seller already shipped, what happens next? 

[pickapaper]

@soh.maryl wrote: "Can you explain further? If the buyer already paid and the seller already shipped, what happens next? "

The OP said in his first sentence that the buyer paid but he had not yet shipped.

I've never had this happen but if eBay warned this because of something wrong with the buyer's payment, I would guess eBay will probably reverse the payment (since they tell OP not to refund) and it will be like the transaction never happened.  But I don't know for sure.

[soh.maryl]

Thank you for your helpful reply.  

[jonathanbrightlight]

@pickapaper I’ve had it happen before, they didn’t reverse the payment on our end at least, and the item didn’t come back to us, so it was just like any other order at that point, despite the message.

[kalyoth]

ebay will likely add this transaction to a file labeled "fraud" & write off the money on their taxes. You will very likely retain the earnings for the sale & get to resell the item a second time. Not guaranteed as ebay does behave oddly at times. But, that has been the case with two such transactions for me.

Whether you pursue selling the item a second time or donate it, is your call.

[pickapaper]

@jonathanbrightlight wrote: "I’ve had it happen before, they didn’t reverse the payment on our end at least, and the item didn’t come back to us, so it was just like any other order at that point, despite the message."

Thanks for the reply.  The OP said he has the payment but has not shipped the item.  If eBay doesn't reverse the payment, what happens to it (especially since they said not to refund)?  That's why I thought they would reverse the payment back out of the OP's account, since he still has the item in his possession.  

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@toysaver @soh.maryl   No, they do not reverse the payment!  

Nothing happens as I said in my opening post.  In 26 years I've never even heard of one that has gone bad after the seller shipped.   It's just less risk if the seller hasn't shipped, but almost every time I've had one, I'd already shipped & never once had any issues.  

I guess if it's a particularly expensive item, you may want to recall like the notice from eBay says, but I've never done it, never heard of anyone doing it & like I said, never heard of a problem.  

Oops sorry @toysaver , that was meant for @pickapaper  . 

[simply-the-best-for-you]

@pickapaper  Nothing happens.  I've also had it happen many times.  Anyone who's been here for a long time has.  Generally what happens is that the person receives their item & the seller gets paid.  IE; it just goes the same as a regular transaction.  

[iamalwaysright]

Whenever I get these notices I just ignore them and don't even bother to tell my shipping employees. I don't know or bother to find out if the package has been shipped out or not yet. They are just treated as regular orders as if nothing out of the ordinary happened. Never been burned by it.

Again, this is how I handle it. I don't think there's a right or wrong way to deal with it.

[pickapaper]

@simply-the-best-for-you 

Thank you for your response.  In my 27 years on eBay, I don't think I have ever had this happen to me so now I have another little "what if" to file away in my memory bank.  🙂