Yeah, that tends to happen at times, though that's never happened to me. ...Since I've never sold anything on eBay, only bought stuff... I REALLY hate Paypal.
Did you do a request to cancel the transaction or a full-on unpaid item claim? The former will cancel the transaction and get your fees back (once the buyer agrees). The latter attempts to force the buyer to pay, gives him a strike if he doesn't, and only then gives you your fees back.
I sell all my stuff here at the boards. I'd rather deal with the folks here than Ebay. Here you don't get taken advantage of by Ebay's fees (though beware the "low ballers )
Personally, I love Ebay. I never have problems with it at all. If someone does a Buy It Now and ends up not paying (only happened twice that I remember in over 10 years) I just report them and relist the item. Relisting an item due to an unpaying bidder gives you a credit on the first auction, so the second listing is free as long as you change nothing about it.
The old 'blame the kid' trick. They probably didn't really want it and got stuck with being the winner bidder and are blaming their 'kid' to get out of it.
I've had the "blame the kid" gimmick pulled twice on me: the first time I let it slide, the second time it happened I stood my ground and forced em to pay. As a buyer, I've had mostly good experiences, though I recently bought a lot of classics, paid for the item immediately, then a week later the seller opened up an unpaid item dispute. On paypal it shows the payment as "unclaimed"?? - I'm not sure what to do at this time?
This is what happens when you remove the negative feedback option for buyers. Now that they can't get a bad rep for it, it will happen more often. File non-paying bidder, at least get your fees back. Then make a second chance offer to the next high bidder.
I doubt it is binding at all... but this is eBay, so real world rules rarely seem to apply. STFU and pay me? Oh wait... you wanted tactful. Sorry. I use the blame the dog trick... but that is for something totally different. I still think the "my kid did it" is a lame excuse. Hopefully you get your money out of them, or at least get the satisfaction of messing with them for a while.
here's the rub: it could be voided by that, but the fact that one person tried to evade a contract under false pretenses can also make it just as binding. point being, bidding, whether by your mouse click or your snot nosed brat, is an agreement to pay for your bid if you win. as with people who get burned when they lose a house to flooding and the insurance company won't pay: ignorance is not an excuse- and not our problem. not knowing what your kid is doing is not the seller's fault or concern. pay the dude. caveat emptor to bad parents
