Mumsnet Talk

Is this normal?

I'm not an eBay expert but had no trouble with any of the things I've bought or sold on the site.

I won an auction on Sunday and paid for the item within a couple of hours. The item had been listed for a week. Yesterday, I had a message from the seller who wants to cancel the sale.

I really, really want what I've bought - it's discontinued fabric which I've been looking for for a year or two.

Can I just refuse to cancel the action? What happens next?

you can refuse to cancel the transaction so the seller will still have the fees to pay, but you can't force them to sell you the fabric unfortunately.

This happened to me once after I'd paid, I wasn't happy. You can report them as a non performing seller (I didn't bother) but I did leave negative feedback.

It's not on, I'd ask them why but not much you can do really.

Apparently it's because it's caused a family dispute. I am so cross about it.

The fabric is for my DM who's been looking for it for ages and ages and was so thrilled I'd found some. That just makes it worse.

If I go back to her and say I'm not happy to cancel the auction and that I feel I've bought it fair and square - do you think I'll have any luck? I'm very tempted to - it doesn't feel as though I've anything to lose.

Am I wasting my time?

And thank you both for replying; I am really thrown by how best to handle it.

I'll bet it wasn't theirs to sell or something like that. You can only ask but as it's theirs (or not) it's still ultimately up to them.

You can say that - but you can't force her. Just say the auction is a legal and binding contract, and she can be reported as a non performing seller which will give her a strike to her account and could restrict or even stop her selling in the future

Was it a bargain and she has relisted wanting more money I wonder?

She has opened a cancellation with you to claim her fees back has she? If you ignore it she will get them back, so you must refuse it if you want it to be refused if that makes sense.

It was a bit of a bargain tbh - and I was the only person who bid on it. Maybe she does want to try again. Or just wanted a sub of a good few quid for the week.

I hadn't even thought they might not be hers to sell!

How would I know if she's opened a cancellation? <novice and stupid> I don't have any messages from ebay that I can find.

I will email with the but I've bought it argument and have everything crossed that she folds under pressure . She's got 100% feedback and over 200 items sold, so should know what it actually means to sell something.

it would in your eBay in your messages

so she has just emailed and said she isn't sending it - and has she refunded you?

I'm a seller on eBay and I treat my 100% feedback with pride.
You should reply advising that you bid on the item in good faith and will not be agreeing to a cancellation.
If they listed the item and it wasn't theirs to sell then as a seller should have known better.
You then need to open a dispute with eBay The seller will be notified and can respond. They will get a strike and rightly so IMO.

I've sold things at a loss as thats the spirit of eBay!

Well she hasn't opened a cancellation as far as I can see - and nor has she refunded the money. She's just sent an email to say she unfortunately needs to cancel the sale because of a family dispute. Would I please confirm that I'm happy for her to cancel and refund is the gist of it.

Shame I can't actually force her to complete - but I'll give it my best shot. My DM really, really wants it.

well no you are not happy - her family dispute isn't really your problem is it!

Well her reply makes it pretty clear that they're no longer hers to sell. She sounds genuinely sorry to have to withdraw but that doesn't make it any less of a nuisance.

I am cross about it, and especially as I'll have to explain to DM what's happened. She's going to be so disappointed.

Thank you for all your advice; it's really helped me work out what I can do (not much, it seems!).

Why not harness the power of Mumsnet and see if we can find some more of the fabric for you? What's it called? Can you link to the eBay auction?

Thanks Bran - I've found one auction lot already and bought it. And it arrived!

And found another lot (can't believe there are suddenly a couple of lots available together after all this time) which I think will make enough.

But. The seller has emailed again before I'd had time to respond to the 'please forgive me, but it wasn't mine to sell email' - at just gone midnight last night to say they'd immediately refunded my money.

And guess what. It hasn't arrived. Now what do I do? eBay won't let me open a dispute because the website says it's too soon; it might be in the post. Has bloody ha.

Have I been completely had?

daisy - where did the money come from when you paid? paypal balance or drawn from your bank?

if the former it would be back in there if he refunded. if from bank it will go back there but can take a good few days to show up. I would have thought you'd have received a notifying email either way

I paid via paypal and I've checked their help bit which says that a payment should show up immediately unless it's been made by echeque when it can take up to 7 days.

I have emailed her/him to ask where the money actually is - and whether they can confirm the transaction has gone through OK. I sent it earlier this evening and haven't yet had a reply. They could be out of course, so I'll wait until the morning until I get even crosser.