Unable to cancel order as a buyer

[tomsk3000]

I bid on an auction listing. I then realised the item was not an original but a modern reproduction (listed in the wrong category).  As the auction had less than 10 hours to run I was unable to retract my bid.  I therefore contacted the seller and explained the situation.  The seller was happy to remove the bid but was unclear of the process.

Later when I checked my ebay, I noticed that there was a request to complete payemt for the item?  I am unable to cancel this order and the seller does not know what to do.

I do not blame the seller, as I appreciate how complicated ebay can be, especially for fairly new sellers.  I would just like to know how is it possible for a bid on an auction listing to be converted into a 'buy it now' bid without the buyers consent?  Surely the software should have inbuilt protection against this happening?

[rusticrye]

Buyers can't cancel orders, for obvious reasons. That applies everywhere, not just here. Buyers can only request cancellation - the seller has to action it.

I don't know why the seller doesn't know what to do. Everything they need to know about selling on Ebay, including how to cancel a transaction (or delete a bid), is in the Seller Centre (link at foot of any page) and in the Help pages with their integral Search (links at top and foot of any page).

@tomsk3000 

[tha-3817]

I purchased a laptop from eBay on the 25th of September and I'm not able to cancel the order.

[red_magpie]

how is it possible for a bid on an auction listing to be converted into a 'buy it now'

It isn't possible. Either the auction ended leaving you as the high bidder, or there was a buy now option and you clicked on it by mistake.

Bids on eBay are binding, and unless the seller is a UK business seller they don't have to agree to a cancellation.

However, your seller seems willing to do so, so just ask them to send you a cancellation request through eBay's resolution centre. They MUST use this procedure to get their selling fee refunded - they must also be careful to select the "agreed with the buyer" reason for cancelling, as otherwise they will be penalised for trying to get out of completing the sale.

[tomsk3000]

You say it isn't possible, but the auction listing was due to end after 4 o'clock. I received the request for payment at least two hours before this. I appreciate the seller made a mistake somehow, but whatever that mistake was, it resulted in an immediate request for payment by the system. To me that has all the hallmarks of a buy-it-now transaction.

[bittyboy101]

Did you by any chance make a "Best Offer" ?

Sometimes when you make a best offer 48 hours before the auction ends and the seller sees they are not getting the money they want for their item they may suddenly stop ignoring your "reasonable" offer and hit the "accept offer" tab !, hence the item is then sold to you BEFORE the auction has ended and the auction ends EARLY with a Best Offer winning the bid.

Its just a thought but I could be right !

[m25jet]

If you do not want to go through with the sale contact the seller again and ask him/her to send you a cancellation request.  If the seller sends you a cancellation request via eBay then when you get the request to cancel the sale you will need to accept it.  This will then void the sale and relieve you of any contractural obligations to pay for the item.  However, unlike registered business sellers, private sellers are not obliged to automatically accept return requests.  Therefore, if the seller is a private seller and he/she decides to decline your request to cancel the transaction you may well find that the seller opens an Unpaid Item Dispute against you.  If that happens then you have two options - you either pay for the item or you ignore the seller completely, and when the seller gets the chance to close the case he/she can then close the case against you and get a refund of his/her Final Selling Fees.  However, if this does indeed happen your account will be hit with an Unpaid Item Strike.  If you only get one of these then you shouldn't run into any difficulties, but if you pick up two or more Unpaid Item Strikes within a twelve month period then you will find it very difficult to buy anything on eBay, as the majority of sellers on eBay have their selling preferences set up to automatically block buyers who have been hit with two or more Unpaid Item Strikes during the past twelve months.

[ruby*tuesday]

Advise the Seller to go to More Actions to the Right of the Item on his Sold Page and find Cancel selecting "Buyer Requested Cancellation." His Final Value Fees will be Credited back to his Seller Account. 

[tomsk3000]

Thanks I have forwarded this advice to the seller. Hopefully this will remedy the issue with this particular listing, but I still don't understand how it was possible. At no stage did I agree to a buy-it-now option.