eBay Buyer has remorse - would should I do?
 

Ebayer offers $900 for an item, I accept, he pays right away through PP and then asks a question - is the winning bid just for the one item? Listing is not confusing, and clearly states the specifics. Buyer now asks for me to cancel the transaction.

This is a first for me. Just got back into selling again after years away. Only have sold 9 items in last 60 days, but have many years of buying and selling (100% feedback with 3300 transactions; buyer is at 100% and 71).

Is he pulling my chain to find out what my BIN price is? Do I have to cancel the transaction?

Thanks for your input.

Id say keep it as is. Unfortunately, all he has to do is file a claim and he'll get it back later.

I've had situations like this before, and unfortunately you're still at the mercy of the buyer and EBay's buyer protection rules. It's possible he could receive the item in the mail, alter it, and then claim it's not in the stated condition. He gets his refund and you get damaged goods back. There are all kinds of scenarios where you would end up losing in the end.

If it were me, I'd just refund his money and move on. It's the cost of doing business on EBay and happens to everyone eventually. Not worth the likely hassle you may get if he's dishonest.

Yesterday a woman won a Navy pennant from me and minutes after winning emailed me saying she didn't want it because her husband just told her he never attended the academy. I hear new ones all the time.

Thanks everyone! I will refund, block and move on.

Ebayer wanting to cancel
 

I agree that this is one of the bummers about ebay. I used to get mad but now I just move on. Life is short and that kind of tension is just not worth it.

EBAY is now a buyers buffet! Buyers always win, sellers always lose ans ebay sees the buyer/customer is always right! scammers know whats up on ebay as there are a TON of scammers in our hobby and most of them are running game on ebay. many dirty tricks are out there. such as the buyer that starts a return and sends the envelope back "empty" ebay verifys is the buyer "sent" back the item. once the delivery confirmation shows delivered to the seller, the buyer wins the case! ebay does not and cannot verify that the envelope actually had the item in it! Yes, this is one scam currently on ebay. another is the ole switch and bait tactic! or the international buier that says "they never got the item! or the buyer that asks if you have tracking info on his item and when you say no, he responds the next day, "oh, i didnt get my package, i want my money back!" i can go on and on, but my point is we are living in a time where it is better to refund and block and move on as ebay wont back the seller anymore and the scammers and thieves know it!

thats why consigning cards saves all that hassle...

I'm probably in the minority but I'm glad eBay is the way it is now. I can't tell you how many times I used to get ripped off in the good old days when you paid for almost everything with a money order. It's easy to complete a transaction as a buyer: send the money. It was my experience that sellers had the issue keeping up their end. And back then your only recourse was to leave negative feedback.

I never had an issue with sending or receiving checks or money orders in the "old days."

About 15 years ago a buyer stiffed me for $1,100 using Paypal. I delivered and had delivery confirmation proof, but made the mistake of not getting a signature (at the buyer's request because he was never home, etc., etc.) He had high feedback and seemed legit. Naive on my part.

45 days after it was delivered and positive feedback was left, the buyer claimed it was unauthorized use of his account and Paypal reversed the transaction. The scammers know every loophole to play eBay and Paypal.

Ebay
 

does anyone wonder why ebay stock has fallen more than half from it's high ? it is avoided by investors.The anti-seller policy is one reason,in my mind.

Ok but you don't see the benefits of PayPal for buyer protection? eBay exists as a buyer-driven marketplace. If you can't protect the buyer, why would a buyer use your service?

Of course buyer protection has value, but where do you draw the line? Paypal allows obvious scammers to play the system in a way that real credit card companies would not permit.

eBay is a "buyer driven marketplace." What is this supposed to mean? ALL retailers are buyer driven marketplaces. Yet I'd bet the buyer scam games aren't nearly as high at other retailers where consumers typically use real bank cards... and have to sign a witnessed affidavit if they are going to claim seller fraud.

Buyer driven means it's a platform for people to buy things. There are other platforms that act as sales-driven mediums, such as conventions and product demos. That's not what eBay does. I hear you on the scams but nothing is safe from scams. I would think the overall percentage of people using PayPal to scam others is relatively low. So low that I'm sure PayPal sides with the buyer usually by default because the chances of something nefarious happening are negligible, except of course when it happens to you.

In response to the OP: Walk away. Life is too short to waste time dealing with morons.

Thanks Adam and all the other posters - have taken this road. :)

++ So right you are Adam.

Two morons to add to this ebay story.

1- I had sold an autographed photo on ebay that was personalized. I had a VERY CLEAR picture of it in my ad. I did not state in my ad copy that it was personalized.
SIXTY DAYS after the buyer received it he returned it saying that because it is personalized it does not fit in his collection.
This was a $15 item.

2- I had a group of 23 photos in one lot on ebay. One buyer asked me to sell him one of the pictures (which was pictured in my ad). I sold it to that buyer.
Two weeks later I get the photo back in the mail. No explanation, just the photo.
This was a $25 item.

I refunded both morons and placed them on my banned list.
Nothing else to do when dealing with morons.

TO the OP,
Let it go. Better to refund and bann than fight it out and worry you'll lose anyway.

To packs,
I understand that some measure of protection for buyers and sellers alike is needed. The problem I have is that the protection has skewed waaaaaay waaaaay waaaaay over to the buyers. It is no longer a fair marketplace. I don't totally agree that eBay is a buyer driven marketplace as you describe it. The reason ebay worked at the beginning so well it that is relied on buyers who want to buy, but also sellers to want to sell. At the beginning it was a way for PEOPLE to sell to other PEOPLE. Now it has been changed to be like Amazon, where BUSINESSES sell to PEOPLE.

In the world of Walmart/target/etc, the idea of the buyer is always right works for them, because they can factor in losses as part of their selling strategy. The number of returns pales in comparison to the number of successful sales. On ebay, this model doesn't fit exactly the same. Small sellers don't have the deep reserve that the big businesses do to allow for any offset. What this has done is steer many small honest sellers/collectors away from using ebay. These sellers, now consign to either third party ebay sellers, who often get higher prices for things and/or use the big auction houses which usually get higher prices along with charging a buyer's premium.

The 2 net effects of all of this are 1) buyers pay more for the same items and sellers get less for the same items and 2) less good items are available for sale on eBay. There used to be so much more good stuff on ebay to buy, as small sellers or collectors who were selling are now avoiding selling there.

The only winners are ebay and the third parties who act as brokers. The only other option sellers really have is to put it on as a ridiculously high BIN(as they know they will HAVE to negotiate) with a best offer and then have to go through the hassle of negotiating back and forth. Of course, when people do that, then people will complain about all the sellers who have museums of items posted with very few sales.

Lastly, it is incredibly hypocritical for eBay to get all high and mighty about protecting buyers by using the protection policy, when they do virtually NOTHING about shilling, bad buyers, and especially all the forgeries with well known bad certs. They won't do anything about that because it makes them money. They could be protecting so many more people by getting rid of bad autos than they do by their uber liberal refund policies.

Mark V

Some really good points re: eBay but I think PayPal is still doing right by its customers by protecting with the payee over the recipient of funds. PayPal is not limited to eBay so it helps to separate the two. If you use your credit card, it's relatively easy to cancel a transaction if it goes sour. Your credit card company is going to refund you. PayPal needs to act in the same manner if its going to be a viable business. Otherwise why would I use it if I can't get my money back hassle free?

You getting your money back "hassle free" means that I, as a collector who is selling to raise funds to buy other stuff, has to wait an indefinite amount of time holding the money waiting to see if you are going to file a refund. This fact alone makes me want to avoid selling on eBay. I am no longer on the hook just for honest mistakes I might make, but now even buyer remorse is a legitimate reason they'll refund your money. IMO, That is ridiculous for a private individual.
Again ebay was initially set up to facilitate sales between people. You can't expect the same rules as you get buying from Best Buy, Sears, or some other big seller. It's not the same business model. If you wish to have the same rules, that's fine, but then you have to be ok with the changes that have happened since, including the shrinking amount of good stuff and the net higher prices.


The idea that not having all these rules would impair or limits eBay usage have been shown to be unquestionably incorrect. You, and millions of other people, were already using eBay and Payal before any of these, so called, improvements were put into place. The fact that much of eBay/Paypal's biggest growth came before any of these rules existed, directly contradicts the idea that these things are "Needed."

I have grouped eBay and Paypal together for this discussion, as they really have functioned as one unit for quite a while now. At this point, it may be unfair to do so as Paypal is used for a great many things including traditional businesses that do operate under the usual model. Perhaps, what needs to happen then is a third party payment vehicle that is specific to eBay and is more balanced. If there was a more balanced arbitration process, maybe the smaller sellers would be willing to get back into the game again. This would benefit all of us.

I am just asking you to look at PayPal in larger terms than eBay and collectors who get screwed sometimes. I don't know the statistics but I would think the cases of fraud are a very small proportion of all transactions.

I am. I think Paypal is no longer a good tool for ebay sellers as the arbitration process is way skewered. I sell little there now, as no matter what terms I set, Paypal will override them and refund money just because a buyer wants it. Sellers are wrong without any proof. Personally, I have never been screwed by a seller, but have been many times by buyers.