EBay question...can I cancel this item and not sell it to a certain person?

BTW, I’m just getting a bad gut feeling about this…it’s not totally rational but I know I need to trust it.

Tell the person you don’t feel comfortable selling to them.
Or you can require PayPal and then ship when you get paid.

Can you wait to ship until after the payment arrives?

Did he pay? If he paid via paypal, you should be good. Just make sure the shipping address is confirmed and get a tracking number when you ship it. SO that if he ever claims not to get it, you have proof to show paypal.

Alternatively, you could just ask him to cancel the transaction. And then either re-list it or send a Second Chance Offer to the second highest bidder

Technically, you cannot cancel the sale. You sold it, so it is a done deal. To cancel could lead to a complaint by the buyer to eBay or even Safe Harbor.

However, you can (and should) wait to ship it until you have the money in hand, either through PayPal, a money order that you have cashed successfully, or a check that has been confirmed by your bank as having been cleared.

Once you have been paid, then, if you are worried about the address, either contact them to verify the address, or even Google or MapQuest the address. Then when you ship, make sure to get Delivery Confirmation (or even a Proof of Mailing), as proof that you did ship the item.

Unless the address is in certain scam-prone countries and they want to over-pay you by Western Union, which payment they will only send once you verify you have already shipped the item. If they want that, then you need to report them to eBay.

@mirza

No, Paypal is bad when it comes to this. I’ve been scammed before. Some sleazeball buys my stuff, pays with paypal, I send them the stuff with delivery confirmation, and then they chargeback in a few months probably to support their drug problems…eBay and paypal did NOTHING to help despite me providing all the evidence.

@seekingwolf- That sounds like a valid address to me. A street address followed by 3 left, 2 right, upper, lower, half numbers, etc are all addresses I’ve had to deliver to before. In fact I have a 4761 front and a 4761 rear on my route.

@AstroChuck

I believe a street was mispelled in addition to that and his name sounds fake.

I’m sorry but I just don’t trust this guy.

I just did a “second chance offer” to the only guy who bid on it who doesn’t look like some sketchball so let’s hope he takes it so I won’t have to sell it to the scammer.

My second chance request to that potential buyer was really more of a begging, I told him what happened and that if he accepts the second chance offer, I’ll include free shipping to seal the deal. I’d rather have him buy it (2,000+ feedback) then some sketchball.

You are in violation of a contract, and can (and should) be kicked off of eBay for breaking it.

@MrItty

Uhm, please elaborate on this?
Apparantly it’s such a crime to be careful not to be scammed.

You should specify in future auctions that you will only send to a confirmed PayPal addresses and change your setting to exclude bidders with zero or low feedback scores and excessive negative feedback.

You can also set up an account to use with PayPal that is for PayPal only and not keep funds in it, just transfer when you need to do so.

I have been buying and selling books and photographic equipment on eBay for more than ten years – almost since it first started and have never had a problem with PayPal. On those very few occasions where there has been a dispute I have written a detailed but accurate account of the transaction to PayPal and they have always found in my favour. (Also I fund all major purchases through a credit card via PayPal – just in case they don’t look after me. That way the CC services can reverse the transaction. PayPal really aren’t as bad a much rumor makes them out to be, but you do need to cover your bets.

As for now, you are very likely to get negged, but that is better than losing out altogether.

PS _ I suggest that you look at the eBay conditions regarding making second offers a little more closely.

When you listed the item for sale, you entered into a contract. The winning bidder entered into the contract with you. You decided, of your own free will, to break the contract by not completing the contract with the winning bidder and offering it to someone else. How is that difficult to understand?

@MrItty

I didn’t break any contract. eBay allows a “second offer” after an auction in which I am allowed one more chance to sell it again to a specific person. That’s what I did.

if eBay allows it, then it can’t be against the rules.

This is what eBay says about canceling a sale:

“When a seller lists an item on eBay and a buyer bids on or buys it, the seller and buyer enter into a contract that both members are expected to honor. For sellers, this contract includes both formal requirements, as well as informal, “common-sense” obligations to provide good service to their buyers. If the seller doesn’t meet these requirements, it leads to a bad experience for the buyer and may result in negative or neutral Feedback or low detailed seller ratings (DSRs) for the seller.

Sellers who don’t meet these requirements and obligations are not honoring their contract and are creating bad experiences for buyers. Sellers who create excessive bad buyer experiences compared to how much they sell may violate the Seller Performance policy.

Buyers can let eBay know about their experience with a seller through item not received or item significantly not as described disputes, as well as Feedback, including DSRs.

To ensure a minimum performance standard from all sellers, eBay requires sellers to maintain at least a 4.3 average for each DSR (Item as described, Communication, Shipping time, and Shipping and handling charges).

*

Sellers with one or more DSR below 4.3 may be subject to lowered standing in search results.
*

Sellers with one or more DSR below 4.1 may be restricted from listing until their DSRs improve.

This average is based on ratings from the past 30 days unless a seller has less than 10 DSRs for that period. In this case, eBay will evaluate DSRs over the past 12 months instead.

Sellers are also required to resolve all performance issues on accounts that are not in good standing before buying or selling with other accounts. Accounts that have been restricted or sellers who have a lowered search standing are not considered to be in good standing. Sellers who are not in good standing are not allowed to register new accounts or use an existing eBay account to avoid buying and selling restrictions or other policy consequences.

Violations of this policy by a seller may result in a range of actions, including:

*

Listing cancellation
*

Forfeit of eBay fees on cancelled listings
*

Selling fee schedule adjustments
*

Requirements regarding payment options and potential holds on payments made through PayPal
*

Limits on account privileges
*

Loss of PowerSeller status
*

Decreased visibility in search results
*

Account suspension
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Referral to law enforcement ”

The Second Offer is if, for some reason, the winner of the auction cannot complete the purchase, not because the seller doesn’t want to sell it to the auction winner.

The Second chance offer is if the winning bidder opts out of the contract. Not if you just don’t fee like selling to him.

@Darwin

Oh crap >< They didn’t make that clear. They said I could try to sell it again and that’s what I did. I didn’t know it was only for when the buyer “opts out”. Crud.

Ah well. I’ll just message the sketchball and act nice/apologetic. I made a mistake but I don’t regret it.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/second_chance_offer.html
When to use a Second Chance Offer

You can make a Second Chance Offer to someone when:

* Your item didn’t sell because the reserve price wasn’t met
* You have duplicate items for sale
* The winning bidder didn’t pay you

If the winning bidder didn’t pay you, try to resolve the issue with the original buyer before sending a Second Chance Offer to another bidder. Learn more about what to do when a buyer doesn’t pay.

Seems pretty damned clear to me. Have you considered the possibility that eBay isn’t right for you?

They said that my item was “eligible for Second Chance Offer” and so I figured I could do it. Ah well.

@MrItty I’m a college student trying to save up funds for next year by getting rid of my stuff. I just want to get it sold and get out. end of story.

@seekingwolf – You can also apologize abjectly to your original buyer and see if you can come up with an explanation for nonperformance that he will accept so that the two of you can mutually agree to cancel the transaction.

@seekingwolf your financial woes are not justification for failing to follow through on your contract. Your lack of knowledge of valid street addresses are not justification. Your “feeling” that the winning bidder’s name is “fake” is not justification.

People like you are what’s wrong with eBay, and what makes it a dangerous place to conduct business. Scummy sellers who decide for their own personal reasons to not provide the goods/services for which they’ve been paid. Ugh.

@MrItty

Oh please, spare me. I’m sorry if I think it’s WEIRD that the guy mispelled a street name, his name sounds fake, and he doesn’t have ANY feedback before bidding on an expensive item. I already tried to block people like him from getting to my auction but he got through anyway. If he pays me (which he hasn’t), I’m sending the money back or ripping up the check. No harm done.

I’ve been scammed before and I will not be again. You have nothing to contribute to my question but negativity and disregard for my being cautious. Please leave.

Anyway, I just sent a message to the buyer (who I just found out removed his paypal address for some reason…SKETCHY) and said that one of the items in the deal is missing and I can’t find it and thus the items aren’t worth as much and let’s cancel.

I hardly see what’s so wrong about all this. I can’t be blamed for wanting to protect my money. He’s losing nothing if I cancel…I lose a lot if he scams me.

Stop selling on eBay. On behalf of honest people everywhere, thank you.

“I’ve been scammed before”
and that’s your justification for scamming someone else now?

@MrItty

Nope, I’m selling…I just refuse to sell to sketchballs…if this somehow offends you, don’t buy from me.

Good plan. Your user id there please?

@MrItty

I’m NOT scamming anyone! I’m not taking his money…

No, you’re just violating contract.

Look, I’ve been canceled on before when I wanted to buy something because someone wanted a user with more than 50 feedback…it’s not a big deal. I didn’t have any tantrums like some people.

Your USER ID there please? I want to make sure I don’t enter into a contract with a dishonest seller, exactly as you suggested.

Pft, I wouldn’t sell to you even if you wanted my goods. Go away.

Gee, you don’t want to give your username. I wonder why that might be. Couldn’t be that a simple lookup of your transaction history might reveal some contradiction to your story here, could it?

I don’t have any negative feedback :) I’d give my userid to anyone but you. You’ll probably just trash it and “report” me or something.

Something about this reminds me of Wimbledon.

I just want to add you to my list of blocked sellers. Mine is lallip. Would you at least add me to your list of blocked bidders, so we don’t accidentally enter into a contract you’ll break at any point in the future?

@DarkScribe

I don’t know who’s winning…

I just don’t see what I did was so wrong. Yeah I accidently used Second Chance offer wrong but I didn’t know! All of my other stuff has been “buy it now” only.

@MrItty Gladly. If only I could block you on Fluther that would make me happy. Clearly you don’t understand my situation and you aren’t empathetic at all. I had to deal a lot with people like that…in middle school.

If you knew anything about the medium on which you’re selling, you’d know you can’t leave feedback for anyone you haven’t entered into a transaction with. How exactly could I trash or report your user id?

@seekingwolf – I know some sellers on eBay have done similar things and gotten away with it, so consider it a learning experience, and don’t do it again. Ever.

Each time you bend or break the rules you run the risk of the buyer filing a complaint. If eBay finds the complaint is valid, you can be removed from eBay. I have seen sellers removed for just such behavior.

Now, when you set up your auction you can say what your terms are, such as requiring X amount of feedback, and even setting it up through eBay so that only folks with at least that amount of feedback can bid.

Odds are, your buyer was a college kid who really wanted an iPod, and made their very first eBay purchase in good faith. If you are lucky, the buyer will believe you and won’t file a complaint.

I understand your situation perfectly. You’ve been burned before, and you think that’s a good reason to burn someone else, and you use your “oh woe is me I’m a poor college student” to attempt to attract sympathy.

You’re absolutely correct, however, that I am not remotely empathetic towards you. You are the “bad guy” here. Not me and not the winning bidder of your auction.

eBay has removed a great deal of the protection for sellers over the past year or two – sometime you have make a decision that you might otherwise not have made. Yes, it is breaching a contract, but there are many instances where to continue with a buyer with zero points, no confirmed address etc., would result in a loss. Blame eBay’s changes in policy. I can understand the reluctance to continue. On the other hand, in similar circumstances I have gone ahead in order not to risk a neg on a ten year perfect feedback score.

@MrItty

There are many sites you could submit it to.
You could also report me to eBay even though we haven’t had any transaction.

@Darwin

Lesson learned. I’m only going to offer my items to people who have valid addresses, good paypals, and feedback higher than 10.

@DarkScribe

Thank you!

The last time I got burned…a lady with 5 feedback and sketchy name/address bought something from me…I sent it with delivery confirmation and she got it. Gave me good feedback. 3 months later, I get a chargeback from her saying that it was an “unauthorized charge” from someone so she never really got the phone. I sent in ALL the evidence. Paypal took my side…but her credit card company didn’t want to bother. I was stuck with the bill.

Needless to say, I’m STILL 300 dollars in the hole from that b*tch.

I’ve fiddled with the settings to try and make sure people like her can’t bid on my auctions. I’m frustrated when they DO get through and now I’m somehow supposed to risk my money with these people? It makes NO sense to me at all.

sigh I JUST had another eBay item sell…again to someone with no feedback.

I guess I’m just going to go ahead and send it when they pay….then move the funds ASAP and cancel the paypal account and then ship the item. No way they can chargeback fraudulently if the paypal account is gone.

@seekingwolf
If it’s a Buy it Now and he pays for it, then after payment clears, then you ship item. If you have any misgivings refund his/her money and block them. If someone has a problem with that, then that’s their problem. You may risk negative feedback by these actions and some points against you but that would be minimal. If this is a consistent event for you, you may look within for the source of your mistrust.

If it’s an auction then you can cancel anyone’s bid before auction ends. If you get burnt, then you can block that buyer in the future from ever bidding again. It seems you’ve had some bad experiences but for the most part eBay is a fun and enjoyable way to sell. I have 100% positive and thousands of succesful sales and i have never gotten burnt although I’ve had more than one non paying bidder and returns. If anyone ever wishes to return, I accept no questions. With Paypal I have learned, better to get the merchandise back and refund the money rather than refund the money and lose the merchandise. Unfortunately, it’s the cost of doing business. Some categories seem to have more difficulties too. Items like iPods, video games, electronics can attract kids with their parents credit card etc.

The worst thing ebay ever did was stopping sellers from being able to leave negative feedback for rogue buyers.

P.S,- You’re making sales. Chin up wolfie!

@SeventhSense

Thanks, :) That made me feel better. I really don’t feel like I’m the “bad guy” here because of my intentions. I’m not trying to hurt anyone..I just want to protect my money.

Normally, I have no problems with selling stuff but I don’t know, something doesn’t sit with this guy. I wish I could have canceled his bid before the auction ended, but honestly, I didn’t know! For a long time, a more seasoned member was winning…and then at the LAST second, this newbie won on first bid. Nothing I could do.

I’ve done 2 returns and both were fine. I don’t mind giving refunds as long as I get my stuff back…unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. :(

We’ll have to see what happens. I don’t really care if I get a couple points on me or something from this better than another 300 dollars lost…next time, I’ll take extra care to cancel all sketchball bids.

Just refund his money and tell him that it’s broken or not in stock. Or get a money order from him. Tell him it’s your policy with new eBayers. It’s your business and you can get paid how you want, regardless of what eBay says. I do Paypal and money orders all the time. He might not even leave you feedback at all.

Well, I did the right thing…I canceled the item…for everyone.

I messed up. I used Second Chance wrong. Ugh.
I messaged them both and told them about it. Hopefully they’ll understand. We’ll see.

I am going to revise my item/settings and then relist it….it’ll be better next time.

This isn’t the first time for you @seekingwolf. I would get a policy and stick with it before you go further.
And you’ll never make money with iPods unless you’re Circuit City or Best Buy.
Waaaaay too much competition. Strong sales but little profit.

@SeventhSense

Yeah you’re right. :)

I’m not looking to make a lot of money…just sell the stuff I don’t need anymore at a fair price. I included some nice extras though to bump up the value so I do okay. :)

No you can’t.
By the act of the person winning the “auction”, you have entered a legal contract, that you cannot simply break.
And by the way, this could easily be solved by using a “pay first, then delivery” policy, like i am sure almost everyone on ebay uses.

@ragingloli

The “pay first then delivery” is pretty standard with eBay…but I still got scammed anyway.
Even after the payment clears and you send the item, nothing is there to stop the buyer from fraudulently charging you back on paypal…it makes your paypal balance negative and you’re stuck with paying that and you never get your stuff back.

god. just tell the sketchy guy u accidently broke it and that you are really sorry.

FYI I am pretty sure even if you close the paypal account they can still debt whatever payment account you had on file credit/debit.

I had this happen to me once and I asked the rep what would have happened if I closed the paypal account before the chargeback they said that they would recover the money from my checking account.

@rottenit

Ugh that’s awful.

Why can’t people just be nice and message the seller when something’s wrong. I’m okay with a refund as long as I get the item back.

I’m still 200 dollars in the hole from the person who scammed me. Once I get it paid off I want to close my paypal account and accept money order/checks only.

@seekingwolf
Just don’t list it on your auction. The problem is eBay no longer allows money order or check as forms of payments, so they may end your auctions. Best to be discreet and say in the listing something like email me at auction’s end for payment info.

@SeventhSense

Thanks for the tip! Yeah I figured eBay doesn’t like money order/checks…they are constantly cautioning me never to use it with eBay buyers. I haven’t edited my iPod listing to include this info, but I’ll just make a discreet comment at the bottom. thanks!

@seekingwolf I would not blame you on canceling, though just had a thought. I remember ebay adding a feature that you can require the minim feedback that a buyer must have before bidding on your product, why did you not use that from the beginning it will cut your headache.