Suspicious Buyer Message from eBay, but it was a BIN and payment went through fine. What do I do?

[toastythebaker]

Hi! I recently sold an item using a BIN OBO. The buyer made an offer, I accepted, and the buyer paid immediately. The money is in my PayPal account as a type this.  I have not shipped the item yet. However, I recieved an email from eBay saying:

"We had to cancel bids for the buyer, XXXXX, because they aren't registered on eBay"

The thing is, there were no "bids" since it was a BIN.  Plus, he was and still is a registered user. He even recieved positive buyer feedback today as well as yesterday. He has <10 feedback. The payment has not been refunded, really the only thing that has changed is he can no longer give me feedback. I can still print a shipping label, cancel the order, etc. When I look at the PayPal transaction, his address is confirmed and he is a Verfied PayPal user. He even messaged me on eBay saying:

"Hi, eBay made a mistake and suspended my account, but they fixed it. Sorry for the inconvenience."

The fact that he messaged me shows he is registered. I have sold over 500 items and NEVER have I had something like this happen. Here's what I'm thinking: I cancel this order through eBay and thus refund the payment, relist the item and have him buy it again. Wait a few days to see if I get another email, and if I don't, ship it. What do you guys think? My only concern doing this is eBay will automatically refund the payment after I do and thus he gets free money. However, I have read elsewhere that PayPal transactions cannot be refunded multiple times. Thoughts? 

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

---

@toastythebaker wrote:

Hi! I recently sold an item using a BIN OBO. The buyer made an offer, I accepted, and the buyer paid immediately. The money is in my PayPal account as a type this.  I have not shipped the item yet. However, I recieved an email from eBay saying:

"We had to cancel bids for the buyer, XXXXX, because they aren't registered on eBay"

The thing is, there were no "bids" since it was a BIN.  Plus, he was and still is a registered user. He even recieved positive buyer feedback today as well as yesterday. He has <10 feedback. The payment has not been refunded, really the only thing that has changed is he can no longer give me feedback. I can still print a shipping label, cancel the order, etc. When I look at the PayPal transaction, his address is confirmed and he is a Verfied PayPal user. He even messaged me on eBay saying:

"Hi, eBay made a mistake and suspended my account, but they fixed it. Sorry for the inconvenience."

The fact that he messaged me shows he is registered. I have sold over 500 items and NEVER have I had something like this happen. Here's what I'm thinking: I cancel this order through eBay and thus refund the payment, relist the item and have him buy it again. Wait a few days to see if I get another email, and if I don't, ship it. What do you guys think? My only concern doing this is eBay will automatically refund the payment after I do and thus he gets free money. However, I have read elsewhere that PayPal transactions cannot be refunded multiple times. Thoughts? 

---

Contact ebay and verify. Only ebay can say what happened.
Did you get an email or an ebay message???
You cannot just cancel unless you want the defect.
Also go to your PayPal account and make sure the money is actually there.
Is it possible there was a screw up or some wacky glitch...yes
Is there a possiblity it was corrected already....yes

You need to call ebay

[toastythebaker]

The money is there. Direct eBay message. I'm not too concerned about a defect to be honest. The buyer said he would be fine if we canceled and tried again.

[everything-from-trinkets-to-treasures]

---

@toastythebaker wrote:

The money is there. I'm not too concerned about a defect to be honest. The buyer said he would be fine if we canceled and tried again.

---

Call ebay......you already have a transaction with payment
And it didn't even match the message...the buyer did not bid...he did a best offer etc

It needs to be verified to find out what happened and what is going on..and go through Trust and Safety

[toastythebaker]

Way ahead of you. Been on hold for two hours, though. Thought I'd try my luck here. Thank you.

[cka197818]

It might have something to do with when his account was accidentally suspended. I would check PayPal to see if funds where still there. If they are, then maybe check with EBay just to make sure that everything is o.k. I think they just use the term " cancel bids" as a standard statement.

[slati_2013]

Just know you will have no protection from eBay if this turns out to be a scam. I would be very wary of dealing with this buyer.  It may not even be the buyer's real account. If eBay tells me not to ship, I don't. You don't want an email from PayPal later telling you it was an unauthorized use of an account. 

[toastythebaker]

What do I do with the money then? Refund it or keep and ship? The PayPal transaction is telling me to ship and that I have seller protection... This is all very confusing.

[slati_2013]

I think you should keep trying until you get someone from eBay to check this out for you. 

[myboardid]

I'd ship it. An "unauthorized payment" only presents a problem if you ship to a different address than the one Paypal tells you to ship to.

His problem seems to be with eBay, not Paypal, and you have been paid. If you call eBay about it, most likely the call center reps won't have a clue about what the problem might be, and will tell you anything they think you want to hear just to get you off the phone. I wouldn't believe anything they told you.

Again, I'd ship it immediately.

[toastythebaker]

That was my first thought. This seems like such a complex, isolated and almost random issue I doubt a call center rep would have any idea what to do.

I think I'll refund/relist it like I mentioned. 

[toastythebaker]

Finally got through. They said they flagged the account since it was a new account and it got "suspended" so that it could be verified. They gave me the all clear to ship. 

[7606dennis]

---

@myboardid wrote:
I'd ship it. An "unauthorized payment" only presents a problem if you ship to a different address than the one Paypal tells you to ship to.

His problem seems to be with eBay, not Paypal, and you have been paid. If you call eBay about it, most likely the call center reps won't have a clue about what the problem might be, and will tell you anything they think you want to hear just to get you off the phone. I wouldn't believe anything they told you.

Again, I'd ship it immediately.

---

I would also ship.  If you were paid and PayPal shows that you have, ship the buyer his merchandise.

[paulhua3]

I got one of thee messages just the other day.  Thing is, the item was already delivered, so johnny-on-the-spot eBay was a little late.

Anyway, I have had a few of these and in every case I shipped the item, in every case it was delivered, and no problems with any of them.

[robot-hands]

---

@slati_2013 wrote:

 You don't want an email from PayPal later telling you it was an unauthorized use of an account. 

---

As long as the item went to the ebay address at checkout they can send away.