EBAY - Item sold and unable to supply!!

nightswimmer

Avoriaz wrote:

It is fascinating how most MSEers support other MSEers on here.

MSEer “I’ve changed my mind and I want to cancel the deal”. gets the response “That’s OK, just send a nice email and the buyer/seller will understand.”

MSEer “The seller/buyer wants to cancel the deal” gets the response “What a bar steward; they are not allowed do that; that is really unfair; don’t they realise bids are binding; report them to ebay: sue them in the courts etc”

In fairness, from what I have seen (and this is how I found out about it in the first place) the response to the second question is usually "That sucks but there is nothing you can do about it as there is no way you can force the buyer to sell the item to you despite what eBay says."

It is only when money has been exchanged and the item doesn't arrive that people tend to mention things like taking them to court, etc.

As for morals, this is one of those situations where it can be argued to be morally wrong on both sides. it's morally wrong to not go through with the agreement, but at the same time, it is morally wrong to sell an item belonging to a third party, when the owner says is no longer up for sale and no money has changed hands or any legally binding agreement has been entered into.

5thElement_2

Some people take ebay far too seriously on here..

Family comes first, if your daughter wants to keep it, then dont sell it, it's as simple as that. If a seller told me that after i bought something, yeah, i might be slightly annoyed, but im sure i would understand and not be childish enough to leave a rude remark on your feedback.

Even if someone did leave a negative feedback, big deal...means nothing really, im sure you wont lose any sleep over it!

Contains_Mild_Peril

pgilc1 wrote:

be honest with the purchaser. no point in saying you broke it only to relist it maybe in a months time.

also i wouldnt go round offering them any cash compensation.

give them a full refund, and if they neg you for not selling it, so be it - its not the end of the world...

I don't think the OP would be daft enough to offer to relist it for their daughter after the hassle she has caused this time, so that wouldn't be an issue. However, if a winning bidder is told their item has been accidentally damaged, they might ask for details of the damage and want to haggle a suitable discount and have it repaired, so it may be wiser to tell the truth. The buyer will probably be angry and may leave a neg, but most ebay users know that occasionally a transaction will somehow go pear-shaped and they won't get their item or payment, which sucks, but it happens.
I had a surprise happy ending recently, after I bid on a dress and payed through paypal, but then found my payment refunded. The seller apologetically explained that she must have put the dress in her bag of charity shop donations by mistake. I accepted her apology and left no feedback at that stage, but secretly wondered whether she was making excuses because she didn't want to sell for such a low price. I was pleasantly surprised to get a message a few days later saying she'd bought it back from the charity shop (I imagine for more than my 99p winning bid on eBay) because she didn't want to leave me disappointed, and she'd send it to me if I resent the payment - which I duly did, and soon afterwards, I received the dress as promised. I was well chuffed.

PPJ

Explain the situation and apologise.

If you get a neg, take it on the chin. Don't retaliate - that would be really cheap, considering the situation. Just use the reply-to-feedback-received feature to apologise again and explain the situation for the benefit of future would-be buyers. If your feedback is otherwise good, it shouldn't be too much of a problem.

How disappointed is the buyer likely to be? I mean, are they likely to find a comparable one at a similar price?

frivolous_fay

Avoriaz wrote:

MSEer “I’ve changed my mind and I want to cancel the deal”. gets the response “That’s OK, just send a nice email and the buyer/seller will understand.”

MSEer “The seller/buyer wants to cancel the deal” gets the response “What a bar steward; they are not allowed do that; that is really unfair; don’t they realise bids are binding; report them to ebay: sue them in the courts etc”

Just a thought.

Sure, I take your point. But there's a subtle difference between 'I forgot to put a reserve on, my item sold for 99p' and 'my daughter's changed her mind and I don't have the heart to sell her item' One is due to daftness and the other is something unpredictable.

I've advised an apologetic email, but I haven't attempted to predict the buyer's reaction. Nothing we say here makes any difference anyway; all we can do is advise - OP can choose to sell, or not, as she pleases, as can anyone who has undersold, or mistakenly sold, an item.

Blacksheep1979

5thElement wrote:

Some people take ebay far too seriously on here..

Family comes first, if your daughter wants to keep it, then dont sell it, it's as simple as that. If a seller told me that after i bought something, yeah, i might be slightly annoyed, but im sure i would understand and not be childish enough to leave a rude remark on your feedback.

Even if someone did leave a negative feedback, big deal...means nothing really, im sure you wont lose any sleep over it!

Yes family should come first but the coddling and letting children get away with whatever they want is (I believe) at least partly responsible for the state this country is in. I mean in regards to chav/scally kids hanging arround taunting people giving lip to cops carrying knives robbing etc.

If you want your child to grow up with respect and a decent outlook on life they have to realise the consequences of their actions wether for good or for bad and stick to these original agreements. If a child sees their parents trying to wriggle out of agreements wether legally or morally binding they will see this as ok and follow that lead.

Avoriaz

^^^^^^^

Give ebay an ASBO

bella4uk

Please tell us what the item is as I'm curious (nosey)...

5thElement_2

Blacksheep1979 wrote:

Yes family should come first but the coddling and letting children get away with whatever they want is (I believe) at least partly responsible for the state this country is in. I mean in regards to chav/scally kids hanging arround taunting people giving lip to cops carrying knives robbing etc.

If you want your child to grow up with respect and a decent outlook on life they have to realise the consequences of their actions wether for good or for bad and stick to these original agreements. If a child sees their parents trying to wriggle out of agreements wether legally or morally binding they will see this as ok and follow that lead.

For all you know this persons daughter might be 30 yrs old. Also, i cant believe you're comparing the state of society these days, to an ebay sale that wont be completed!

Blacksheep1979

5thElement wrote:

For all you know this persons daughter might be 30 yrs old. Also, i cant believe you're comparing the state of society these days, to an ebay sale that wont be completed!

It all starts somewhere and if you're willing to break one of societies rules then its a short step to breaking another.