eBay

ghrcucb · ‎05-31-2020

I am new to selling on eBay and just had a bad experience. I am not sure if what happened is common or violates any eBay rules, and I'd appreciate the views of more experienced sellers. Here's what happened:

I listed a used scanner. It got a total of 36 bids, and ended up selling for $180. The winning bidder had made a total of 12 bids, including his winning one, all in the final day of the seven-day auction. A few minutes after the auction ended, I printed the shipping label (purchased via eBay), and planned to take the package to the post office the next day. However, about four hours after the auction ended, the buyer messaged me to request that the order be canceled. I inquired why, and he responded, "Unfortunately it is a very bad financial decision given the situation I am currently in, It’s personal sorry." His explanation seems extremely dubious; he had consciously made 12 bids within the past 11 hours, and obviously knew his financial situation the whole time. Nonetheless, I (reluctantly) agreed to cancel the order. It's quite annoying, however, as I need to re-start the whole auction process, and eBay informs me that it will take two to three weeks to have the $41 shipping charge refunded to my PayPal account.

Are the buyer's actions here common? Did I handle this correctly? Should I leave negative feedback or report him to eBay? Was this just a case of buyer's regret, or possibly some sort of scam? Experienced sellers' insights would be much appreciated.

slati_2013 · ‎05-31-2020

You never print a shipping label until a buyer has paid. You never ship until a buyer has paid. When a buyer asks you to cancel, you cancel. If you don't cancel, it will just be the beginning of a nightmare.

No, you cannot leave feedback and there is nothing to report. The buyer should not have bid if he did not have the money to pay, but what he did was no crime. It is not a scam. Just buyer's remorse. You just cancel, forget about it and move on.

ghrcucb · ‎05-31-2020

@slati_2013 Thank you. The buyer in this case did pay immediately after the auction ended; I'm not sure if he had to take some action to pay, or whether it was via some automated process. In any event, I got an email indicating that I had been paid just one minute after the auction ended. After I agreed to cancel the order, the entire amount (item plus shipping) he had already paid was deducted from my PayPal account. However, since I had already paid $41 for shipping (though I had not actually shipped it yet), I am out that amount until it gets refunded to my PayPal account, which eBay tells me will take two to three weeks.

vsknkv_0 · ‎05-31-2020

Ahhh...

Yes, I normally pay / print my labels JUST before I get ready to literally ship.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate your enthusiasm but experiences like yours have taught me there's no need to pay / print much before I'm headed out with the package, call it a last minute thing but that's what I do. It helps in those cases where buyers want to cancel between paying and shipping, very rarely do I get a cancellation request between the time I paid and the parcel has actually left already... It can still happen but most cancellation requests come in before I pay / print (and there aren't that many, there really aren't).

Again as was stated ebay is just ebay, I know that sounds lame but there's not a whole lot we can do about what ebay does. Our choice is in how we react to what ebay does, you can still have a happy selling experience but I will not lie, it takes time to learn the ropes around here but reading this discussion boards and participating like you're doing can be a tremendous help in that regard.

Happy selling.

ed8108 · ‎05-31-2020

@ghrcucb wrote:

Are the buyer's actions here common? Did I handle this correctly? Should I leave negative feedback or report him to eBay? Was this just a case of buyer's regret, or possibly some sort of scam? Experienced sellers' insights would be much appreciated.

Sorry you had a disappointing selling experience.

Don't forget to add this buyer into a blocked buyer list.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎05-31-2020

Hi, welcome to the community!

When the first seller drops out, you can contact the second highest bidder and ask if they are interested in the item still. Sellers can do a Second Chance offer to those who participated in the auction. Below is the policy outlining the steps you can take to do this.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-auctions/making-second-chance-offers?id=4142

Cancellations are a fairly common occurrence. While annoying, it is usually best to grant the cancel rather than risk a buyer being forced to see the transaction thru and then saddling the seller with a return for refund. Wish you much success here, and come drop by the forum anytime. Good luck.

sin-n-dex · ‎05-31-2020

@ghrcucb wrote:
I am new to selling on eBay and just had a bad experience. I am not sure if what happened is common or violates any eBay rules, and I'd appreciate the views of more experienced sellers. Here's what happened:

I listed a used scanner. It got a total of 36 bids, and ended up selling for $180. The winning bidder had made a total of 12 bids, including his winning one, all in the final day of the seven-day auction. A few minutes after the auction ended, I printed the shipping label (purchased via eBay), and planned to take the package to the post office the next day. However, about four hours after the auction ended, the buyer messaged me to request that the order be canceled. I inquired why, and he responded, "Unfortunately it is a very bad financial decision given the situation I am currently in, It’s personal sorry." His explanation seems extremely dubious; he had consciously made 12 bids within the past 11 hours, and obviously knew his financial situation the whole time. Nonetheless, I (reluctantly) agreed to cancel the order. It's quite annoying, however, as I need to re-start the whole auction process, and eBay informs me that it will take two to three weeks to have the $41 shipping charge refunded to my PayPal account.

Are the buyer's actions here common? Did I handle this correctly? Should I leave negative feedback or report him to eBay? Was this just a case of buyer's regret, or possibly some sort of scam? Experienced sellers' insights would be much appreciated.

Just block the buyer so you don't have to deal with them again.

I buy expensive things and sometimes think "darn, I shouldn't have done that", but I never make that the seller's problem. Your buyer doesn't live up to the same standard and decided to make his problems your problem, by having you run your auction again.

You could do second chance offer, just to see if the second highest bidder wants it, but many second highest bidders are dubious when the auction ends and the high bidder suddenly cancels.

Unfortunately, aside from that, there's really nothing you can do but auction again. And do be assured that even people with lots of selling experience (like myself) run into problem situations with auctions. It happens.

C.

myboardid · ‎05-31-2020

Strong suggestion - when you relist the item, list it at fixed price NOT an auction, and use the option of Immediate Payment Required. Then it won't be sold until it is paid for. Buyers can still cancel but it doesn't happen nearly as often as it does with auctions, and you don't get as many scammers.

----------------------------
Successful and experienced seller since 1997, over 70,000 feedback, boardie since the boards were begun.

inhawaii · ‎05-31-2020

@myboardid wrote:
Strong suggestion - when you relist the item, list it at fixed price NOT an auction, and use the option of Immediate Payment Required. Then it won't be sold until it is paid for. Buyers can still cancel but it doesn't happen nearly as often as it does with auctions, and you don't get as many scammers.

I couldn't agree more.

If I Had A Rocket Launcher - Bruce Cockburn

ghrcucb · ‎05-31-2020

Thank you -- this is very helpful. I wasn't aware of the "second chance offer" option.

vsknkv_0 · ‎05-31-2020

@myboardid wrote:
Strong suggestion - when you relist the item, list it at fixed price NOT an auction, and use the option of Immediate Payment Required. Then it won't be sold until it is paid for. Buyers can still cancel but it doesn't happen nearly as often as it does with auctions, and you don't get as many scammers.

Especially now that you have a good idea what people are willing to pay for it.