Buyer paid then emailed to cancel. No cancellation request and was packaged

[britishnerd]

Hi everyone,

this is my first ever post as a seller and I'm a little stumped as to what to do. I've had terrible experiences with amazon forum members so please be kind, I'm just a solo seller with my mum at home in my spare time. 

the other day a buyer bought a game and paid immediately, then sent me an email asking to cancel. I normally don't mind cancellation requests before someone has paid but I've never had this happen. I know eBay has a system in place now where buyers must request cancellation so I told them that. I haven't had a request or response from the buyer.

this was pretty late at night too. 
unfortunately, my mum didn't see this email and merely packaged it up and did the postage while I was asleep. I explained to them when I woke up and now we are unsure what to do.

I still haven't had a reply from the buyer either saying anything. 
I don't accept returns anyway normally and she didn't give a reason other than 'in error' which seems difficult to complete an entire transaction by accident. 
at this point I'm not sure if I should just email and say since I haven't had a request I'll be sending it out? Especially as fees were obviously already paid automatically. 

I know a lot of you will say refunding is the best option for the least problems but I'm just not sure on this one. 
Some thoughts would be appreciated and I've learned my lesson that I'll have to start leaving a note for my mum in the future but it's never happened to me before. 

Thank-you in advance 

[rusticrye · Accepted solution]

When you agree to a cancellation requested by a buyer (they must formally request it from the More Actions dropdown by the transaction on their Purchase History page), your selling fee is auto-credited back to your Ebay account. 

And an unused postage label can be cancelled.

So the only fees you'll be stuck with are PayPal's payment processing fees (and any listing extras you may have opted to use).

It will cost you more if you ship, as the buyer will likely invent a fault to force you to pay the return costs, and you will of course have paid the original shipping costs (buyers must be refunded the whole of their original payment when they return things - it's the law) so you will lose those too.

Whatever you decide, make sure you add this buyer's Ebay ID to your Blocked Bidders List so they can't darken your doorway again.

@britishnerd 

[britishnerd · Accepted solution]

Yes unfortunately they never sent one which is why this happened, but I’ve just decided to void the postage label and refund them, then block. It’s just very frustrating as no one requests a cancellation properly even when I tell them where it is.

Thank-you for the help.

[john1297576]

If you have already posted, you don't want to cancel or refund just yet.

That way there will be no incentive for the buyer to send back.

This is going to be  a problem for you. For a change of mind return the buyer would pay return postage but they won't want to do that. Seller only has to pay return postage for not as described.

This buyer will be a pain as you one way or the other as you will have to refund with no guarantee that item will comeback. The best I can suggest is that the buyer refuses the delivery if possible so that it comes back to you eventually. I hope there is a return address on package.

There is the option to refund in MORE ACTIONS using the reason Buyers Request, which you should have dealt with, although a proper request from the seller would have been best. (That again is in the buyers MORE ACTIONS)

Buyer has at the very least cost you Paypal Fees and outward postage, so add him to your blocked bidder list, not the sort of buyer you want again.

[red_magpie]

I know a lot of you will say refunding is the best option for the least problems but I'm just not sure on this one.

For a start, you're currently listing around 1200 items, mostly brand new and some with multiple quantities. Unless you can satisfy the authorities that these are all part of a vast, personal collection this makes you a business seller. Private sellers are limited to selling their own, unwanted possessions.

Business sellers - even if not registered as such - are required by law to accept cancellations or returns for online sales, for any reason. So my very strong advice is to send the buyer a cancellation request.

Next, you need to read the below, and if appropriate register as a business seller: https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/policies/selling-policies/selling-practices-policy/business-seller-polic...

You should be aware that eBy is now assisting HMRC to identify unregistered business sellers here. Unregistered businesses are also liable to be reported at any time to trading standards if they refuse to accept returns. So if you don't think you're a business seller, remember that you may be called on to prove that you didn't buy these items to resell, which would be a business activity.

[rusticrye]

I spotted this too, red, and was in two minds as to whether I should mention it or not as the descriptions of a couple of the items I looked at suggest that they might be from their personal collection. However, if that is the case, they should not be listed as 'brand new', because they are not, even if never unpackaged. So if you're reading this, OP, take note, or you will find yourself in a great deal of trouble.

@britishnerd

[britishnerd]

I’m not a business seller and I do have a vast personal collection and I have already spoken with HMRC.