Seller Reneging On Ebay

Saw an item I wanted. It attracted few bids, because seller was very new, with only one feedback. I won and paid promptly. It was a great deal. Got a cancellation on the spot. Large item was 'lost'. Obviously, it didn't fetch the price the seller expected. How can I report this seller?

Some one as unethical as that will probably be unethical in other areas too

Similar to me, a lot on Phoenix Auctions Australia,
Auction closed, then my lot was "withdrawn" without so much as a "By your leave"

Call ebay! I got 4 '0' feedback non-payers kicked off ebay in 1 month. ebay seems to be listening lately! Especially when it involves newbies misbehaving.

It depends on what you want to accomplish - to get the item for your collection or create problems for the seller's future listings. It may be difficult to accomplish both.

Either way, I would do nothing for a week or two except watch to see if the seller relists the item. If he doesn't relist then there isn't much to be done. If he does relist, then figure out a course of action.

It is difficult to say as some people do as you suggest. However, sometimes it is as seller claims.

Good advice!

New sellers are problematic, IMHO. So are new buyers...

If the seller does relist the same item without notifying you with an explanation, they deserve a negative feedback from you for the original cancelled transaction...

John

I suggest keeping an eye out for the item too. If you see the same item under a different name - the seller probably uses another account or a friend's account.

It is the environment that ebay creates that causes these problems. In the real world things are worth "X" and sell for "X". They at least will start at an adult price. No silly games with known value items starting at auction for Pennie's on the dollar. Some sellers such as NYStamps have built a thriving business upon this model over the course of years. If you look at their recent feedback however there are many similar complaints of things not being delivered that sold "cheap". That being said, a new seller either has to suck it up or play somewhere else if their gamble does not pay off. For buyers, it is ebay and these things come with the Wild West atmosphere. They also need to realize that yes there are billions of viewers, but there are also bazillions of listings and ebay's phony-baloney feedback system, which creates a false sense of security, will work against them. If they have long term plans for selling on ebay they would likely suck up the low price for the item, deliver it and move on. If on the other hand they are not looking to build an ebay mini-business they will bail like this seller just did.

I recently sold 7 old albums on ebay filled with thousands of foreign and US stamps. Not a huge value but nevertheless quite extensive. It didn't even bring $10. Disappointed? Absolutely. Yank the listing? Crossed my mind but as they say it is what it is.

Here are your choices:

1. Never receive the lot since the seller cannot be compelled to send it.
2. Make a complaint to ebay about seller not following through per ebay rules. The seller will be punished by ebay (higher fees and perhaps other restrictions). Seller still has no incentive to send the lot now as the damage from ebay has been done and is irreversible.
3. Plan not to do business with the seller ever again since the seller will likely black list you and block you from future listings.
4. Do none of the above and get to bid in the future.
5. gently advise the seller there is the RESERVE function on listings.

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This is my ebay tropicalcollectibles (6144) 99.3% Positive feedback story which begins with my Time placed Mar 7, 2023 at 12:47 PM Order number 12-09792-40689 Buy-IT-Now purchase of:


This has a few perforation separations as well as no gum. It lists in Scott at $900 mint with gum and hinging. BIN price $14.98. It was a pay immediately lot which I did. Here is the listing:



Here is the message sent two hours after payment:




I believe the message came AFTER the sale was cancelled.

Now this seller has feed back of 6122 with over 9,200 items sold. The seller made a mistake but to offer a tiny discount for correcting their error is a slap in the face. Now I have never purchased from this seller and am evaluating if I ever want to make a future purchase before I take any action.

In reality, my plan was purchase and pay then check in with the seller 3-8-2023 to see if that was the intended price for the item or if an error. then discuss action. If a known seller, as a favor, I would buy it, then ask if they want to sell it to me or relist the item at the correct price.

Last comment, "binding contract" is a two way street, sellers should not get to play fast and loose when buyer have their feet held to the fire. Human error happens but the correction should be a negotiation.

Edited for spacing corrections

Unfortunately all this leads to a loss of confidence for both buyers and sellers across ebay and damages the opportunity of an online sales model.
It becomes much more difficult for decent honest sellers and decent honest buyers to deal via ebay unless ebay eliminates anyone who is non compliant with basic principles of honesty. ebay itself needs to also make sure it follows this principle.

Did you try to ask for a higher discount, to negotiate?

Not yet but will.

Edited to add: Even if I negotiate, successful or not, the seller can still block me. I have been blocked several times when reporting item not as described and when the item arrived damaged and ebay forced the return. Some sellers just want stupid, uninformed buyers.