eBay Sale Gone Wrong

mimi1234

Hi everyone,

I sold an expensive fragrance which I have had for a few years - having a clear out. I've had it on sale for a few weeks and everyone kept asking if I would sell it for £20, it's worth £175. 

Ended up selling it to someone who haggled for it at £115 and I reluctantly agreed as I had two other things to post that day. However, she "demanded" I send it on Wednesday (item sold early on Monday). 

Yesterday, I had a few abrupt messages asking me to POST TOMORROW and she hoped the fragrance was not fake (what?). 

Checked my eBay this morning, nothing else sold so I set off at noon to post the 3 items. By the time I got back, the buyer had requested a cancellation saying the item will not get here on time. I've already posted the item today per her requests.

What do I do now? Sit and wait? If she decides she doesn't want the item, she has to pay for the postage correct?

I have a feeling something is going to go wrong here, can I alert eBay or is it a case of sitting and waiting and hoping for the best.

soolin

This is only the 2nd time I’ve seen this scenario, the first time was where someone used stamps and hadn’t bothered to mark item as despatched. However FIRST phone eBay, keep calm and polite but be very insistent their system has allowed this to happen. If the first person can’t help, keep phoning. If for any reason they end up not helping then take a legal route, let buyer know they need to refuse or return package, if they keep it, or ignore you start with a letter before action (LBA) 

The ability to cancel before an item is marked as despatched was brought in a year or two ago, and there was some discussion about how this could go wrong , I’ve had a few cancellations but I always print labels at home so as soon as I’ve done that buyer can’t cancel without me agreeing, so I’m safe from this scenario , it might be worth doing that in future or even just marking something as sent and then taking it to the PO and adding tracking later. 

Belenus

mimi1234 said:

Yesterday, I had a few abrupt messages asking me to POST TOMORROW and she hoped the fragrance was not fake (what?). 

I know this is too late for you now but I would have cancelled the sale after those messages.

They scream trouble.

I hope you can resolve this satisfactorily. Good luck.

savergrant

soolin said:

This is only the 2nd time I’ve seen this scenario, the first time was where someone used stamps and hadn’t bothered to mark item as despatched. However FIRST phone eBay, keep calm and polite but be very insistent their system has allowed this to happen. If the first person can’t help, keep phoning. If for any reason they end up not helping then take a legal route, let buyer know they need to refuse or return package, if they keep it, or ignore you start with a letter before action (LBA) 

The ability to cancel before an item is marked as despatched was brought in a year or two ago, and there was some discussion about how this could go wrong , I’ve had a few cancellations but I always print labels at home so as soon as I’ve done that buyer can’t cancel without me agreeing, so I’m safe from this scenario , it might be worth doing that in future or even just marking something as sent and then taking it to the PO and adding tracking later. 

The buyer can request a cancellation but you can refuse by saying the item has been despatched. Tbh if the buyer has got cold feet they can find a way to raise a case after the item has been delivered.

soolin

savergrant said:

soolin said:

This is only the 2nd time I’ve seen this scenario, the first time was where someone used stamps and hadn’t bothered to mark item as despatched. However FIRST phone eBay, keep calm and polite but be very insistent their system has allowed this to happen. If the first person can’t help, keep phoning. If for any reason they end up not helping then take a legal route, let buyer know they need to refuse or return package, if they keep it, or ignore you start with a letter before action (LBA) 

The ability to cancel before an item is marked as despatched was brought in a year or two ago, and there was some discussion about how this could go wrong , I’ve had a few cancellations but I always print labels at home so as soon as I’ve done that buyer can’t cancel without me agreeing, so I’m safe from this scenario , it might be worth doing that in future or even just marking something as sent and then taking it to the PO and adding tracking later. 

The buyer can request a cancellation but you can refuse by saying the item has been despatched. Tbh if the buyer has got cold feet they can find a way to raise a case after the item has been delivered.

Ah I see, the OP has a request to cancel - in that case OP needs to sit tight and wait it out and see what happens. Hopefully they clicked to confirm no to the cancellation on basis that item was sent.

I've had a couple of items cancelled on me with no input from me whatsoever and I'd thought that was what happened here. In my case someone bought something and the next day when I went to wrap and post it I've had a message saying item cancelled by buyer  and do I want to relist - and I have not agreed to anything!

GreatShout

Does sound like one of those situations where there’s nothing you can really do right now other than wait and see how it plays out. If the item was already posted before you saw the cancellation request, you were acting in good faith based on the buyer’s  messages.

Hopefully the buyer simply accepts delivery and it completes without issue. If they do decide to return it, ebay’s process should cover that and you’ll at least have proof of postage.

savergrant

soolin said:

savergrant said:

soolin said:

This is only the 2nd time I’ve seen this scenario, the first time was where someone used stamps and hadn’t bothered to mark item as despatched. However FIRST phone eBay, keep calm and polite but be very insistent their system has allowed this to happen. If the first person can’t help, keep phoning. If for any reason they end up not helping then take a legal route, let buyer know they need to refuse or return package, if they keep it, or ignore you start with a letter before action (LBA) 

The ability to cancel before an item is marked as despatched was brought in a year or two ago, and there was some discussion about how this could go wrong , I’ve had a few cancellations but I always print labels at home so as soon as I’ve done that buyer can’t cancel without me agreeing, so I’m safe from this scenario , it might be worth doing that in future or even just marking something as sent and then taking it to the PO and adding tracking later. 

The buyer can request a cancellation but you can refuse by saying the item has been despatched. Tbh if the buyer has got cold feet they can find a way to raise a case after the item has been delivered.

Ah I see, the OP has a request to cancel - in that case OP needs to sit tight and wait it out and see what happens. Hopefully they clicked to confirm no to the cancellation on basis that item was sent.

I've had a couple of items cancelled on me with no input from me whatsoever and I'd thought that was what happened here. In my case someone bought something and the next day when I went to wrap and post it I've had a message saying item cancelled by buyer  and do I want to relist - and I have not agreed to anything!

Maybe you have until the end of the day to confirm that you have despatched? The wording seems to suggest that is the only acceptable reason;
"

The buyer requested that this order be cancelled

 

Hi,

Please see the cancellation details and respond to the buyer by 30 Dec, 2025.

If you've already posted the order, you don't need to cancel it. Just let us know.

Otherwise, please approve this cancel request and refund the buyer. We'll credit eligible fees according to our fee credits policy."

pinkshoes

mimi1234 said:

Hi everyone,

I sold an expensive fragrance which I have had for a few years - having a clear out. I've had it on sale for a few weeks and everyone kept asking if I would sell it for £20, it's worth £175. 

Ended up selling it to someone who haggled for it at £115 and I reluctantly agreed as I had two other things to post that day. However, she "demanded" I send it on Wednesday (item sold early on Monday). 

Yesterday, I had a few abrupt messages asking me to POST TOMORROW and she hoped the fragrance was not fake (what?). 

Checked my eBay this morning, nothing else sold so I set off at noon to post the 3 items. By the time I got back, the buyer had requested a cancellation saying the item will not get here on time. I've already posted the item today per her requests.

What do I do now? Sit and wait? If she decides she doesn't want the item, she has to pay for the postage correct?

I have a feeling something is going to go wrong here, can I alert eBay or is it a case of sitting and waiting and hoping for the best.

So what happened in the end? Did you hear back from the buyer?