ebay question

lkenefic

Hello Everyone... I had some weirdness happen to me on ebay and I don't know where else to turn. I figured the people on this forum have a long history with this platform, so..... I recently sold an item on ebay and it was paid for immediately. I checked my PayPal account and all looks good. I got the ship to address last night and sent the package out this afternoon. Good so far... when I got home I wanted to list the item as "shipped", but I couldn't find it in my "sold" items. Apparently, ebay ended my auction because I used a specific word in the description that was copyrighted... I find this odd because this word was used in the original description when I bought it. I find it really odd because ebay "ended" my auction after my item sold! Anyway, it looks like ebay says that fees were not processed, but the money is in my PayPal account. I shipped this item out already. We're not talking princely sums of cash...$50... but it's money that was earmarked for something else.

Has anyone had this happen? I don't sell a whole lot on ebay, but it was convenient as heck when I did. Is ebay going to refund the buyer? Am I out the cash and just waiting for it to be taken out of my account? Any thoughts or advice would be most appreciated. Thanks!

coinbuf

I have no idea as I don't sell on ebay, but I'm sure one member will be along soon to rant about how your out the fees and just what a travesty that is. In all seriousness I hope it all works out ok for you, have you attempted to contact Ebay directly yet?

astrorat

I recently used Buy it Now to purchase a non-coin item that eBay deemed 'not allowed.' The item disappeared from my purchase history. My PayPal payment was processed, including tax. I contacted the seller and she had been in contact with eBay. I asked the seller to cancel the sale and process a refund, which she did.

As a buyer, eBay responded to me with little more than platitudes.

What is odd, is that eBay recommended to the seller that she complete the sale outside of eBay (and she shared her email correspondence with eBay to prove it). I passed, nonetheless.

It all worked out in the end.

Good luck with your situation. It will likely work out if you keep on top of eBay.

Bochiman

Someone had this happen, years ago, and mentioned this on the forum.
In their case, they completed the sale, they were wary but happy, the buyer was happy, and ebay had refunded the fees.

bsshog40

I would contact ebay. I would also contact the seller and let them know what's going on via Ebay email for your records.

airplanenut

This happens sometimes. In short, the item should have (as far as eBay's rules are concerned) been taken down while it was live, but since they missed the chance, they went through with it after the fact. It's kind of a win-win. You get your fees back, and as long as the buyer is happy with the transaction, it can continue like you're just two people making a deal. I'd probably message the buyer just to let them know that eBay took the listing down, but you got paid so you've shipped the item and send along the tracking number.

amwldcoin

Interesting minds want to know. What was the verbiage that got your listing cancelled?

lkenefic

@airplanenut said:
This happens sometimes. In short, the item should have (as far as eBay's rules are concerned) been taken down while it was live, but since they missed the chance, they went through with it after the fact. It's kind of a win-win. You get your fees back, and as long as the buyer is happy with the transaction, it can continue like you're just two people making a deal. I'd probably message the buyer just to let them know that eBay took the listing down, but you got paid so you've shipped the item and send along the tracking number.

Yeah, I figured I'd contact the buyer to let him know what's going on, but since the listing is gone from ebay, so is his contact information. The only thing I have is an address. I figured I'd try to contact the buyer through PayPal, but they defer to ebay as far as contact goes. I guess they're only there to process money.

As far as contacting ebay right away... they don't make it easy! I went to the message they sent and it was a "do not reply" sort of a message. They gave me the e-mail of the people that barked "copyright violation" so I could take it up with them, but it seems like ebay doesn't really want anything more to do with it.

So far, everything seems ok... The money is in my account and the package was sent out Priority 2-day. I guess I'll just have to wait and see how this unfolds...

Jimnight

derryb

As long as it still shows in your paypal ship away. Talk with the buyer first, but he will still be covered by paypal protection. Print your label from paypal and send ebay a thank you card for returning your ebay fees.

airplanenut

@lkenefic said:

@airplanenut said:
This happens sometimes. In short, the item should have (as far as eBay's rules are concerned) been taken down while it was live, but since they missed the chance, they went through with it after the fact. It's kind of a win-win. You get your fees back, and as long as the buyer is happy with the transaction, it can continue like you're just two people making a deal. I'd probably message the buyer just to let them know that eBay took the listing down, but you got paid so you've shipped the item and send along the tracking number.

Yeah, I figured I'd contact the buyer to let him know what's going on, but since the listing is gone from ebay, so is his contact information. The only thing I have is an address. I figured I'd try to contact the buyer through PayPal, but they defer to ebay as far as contact goes. I guess they're only there to process money.

PayPal has made it more difficult to contact buyers because when it's an eBay transaction they no longer provide the email address, but you can send a message through eBay. You should have the buyer's user ID, and if you go to their feedback page, you will see "Contact Member" on the right side. Click on that and you can send a message.

MasonG

@lkenefic said:
Yeah, I figured I'd contact the buyer to let him know what's going on, but since the listing is gone from ebay, so is his contact information.

The email you get from eBay when something sells should show his eBay id.

Mizzou

I had a similar situation on Ebay. I listed a flare gun, the kind that you can shoot in the air if you're stranded out on the water. (No flares, just the gun) It sold the same day, I received payment and took it to the post office. When I got back home I received an email that the auction had been cancelled and they included a list of prohibited items that you can't sell.
The buyer received the flare gun and the payment stayed in my account. Never heard anymore about it.

WaterSport

With all the bogus stuff listed I can not believe they follow thru on words rather than crooked listings...UB.

WS

jmlanzaf

@WaterSport said:
With all the bogus stuff listed I can not believe they follow thru on words rather than crooked listings...UB.

WS

The words are easier to find. Try to list something with the word "replica" in it. Try to list something from Cuba with the word "cuba" in it. The bots can find the words and the words might indicate a violation.

Nazi material, for example, is technically verboten.

Items from Sudan, Cuba and Iran are verboten.

Guns are verboten.

Brand name knock-offs.

eBay will also end crooked listings. There just isn't an automated bot that can find them.

lkenefic

Thanks for the advice. I messaged the buyer. Hopefully, this will be just a simple transaction at this point and it much ado about nothing...

airplanenut

@jmlanzaf said:

@WaterSport said:
With all the bogus stuff listed I can not believe they follow thru on words rather than crooked listings...UB.

WS

The words are easier to find. Try to list something with the word "replica" in it. Try to list something from Cuba with the word "cuba" in it. The bots can find the words and the words might indicate a violation.

Nazi material, for example, is technically verboten.

Items from Sudan, Cuba and Iran are verboten.

Iran is only prohibited if shipped to certain countries (Germany among them, if I recall). I just switch those listings to USA shipping only and they’re fine, unless something changed very recently.

jmlanzaf

@airplanenut said:

@jmlanzaf said:

@WaterSport said:
With all the bogus stuff listed I can not believe they follow thru on words rather than crooked listings...UB.

WS

The words are easier to find. Try to list something with the word "replica" in it. Try to list something from Cuba with the word "cuba" in it. The bots can find the words and the words might indicate a violation.

Nazi material, for example, is technically verboten.

Items from Sudan, Cuba and Iran are verboten.

Iran is only prohibited if shipped to certain countries (Germany among them, if I recall). I just switch those listings to USA shipping only and they’re fine, unless something changed very recently.

No, I think that is still correct.

JBK

OP's has a fascinating example I was not aware of, Seems eBay wanted to get its fingerprints off the transaction even after the fact, but did not care if it happened otherwise.

Classis CYA. They are so committed to it that they gave up their fees. Now that is a neat trick.

I wonder if you could find a way to make this happen more often.

FilamCoins

I win an auction for a good price, but the seller immediately cancels, and says he can't find the item. His feedback indicates he has done this before with other buyers. However, I can't find where to give feedback on the transaction. Since I never paid, am I not allowed to give feedback? Thanks.

ms70

@FilamCoins said:
I win an auction for a good price, but the seller immediately cancels, and says he can't find the item. His feedback indicates he has done this before with other buyers. However, I can't find where to give feedback on the transaction. Since I never paid, am I not allowed to give feedback? Thanks.

If he cancels the transaction it's like it never happened. No feedback can be given.

lkenefic

Update: Everything went off without a hitch. Sort of... I got paid and the buyer got the item. Since from ebay's perspective there was "no transaction", I was refunded final valuation fees (~$3) and there was no opportunity for either of us to leave feedback. The only real wrinkle (if you can call it that) was the anxiety of waiting in limbo for the 3-4 days it took for the postal service to deliver the package while monitoring Paypal to see if the funds stayed in my account.

Thanks All...