I wasn't sure to post this here or in the Ebay section.

I won this auction earlier today:

Transformers 2009 BotCon Exclusive Leozack - eBay (item 190433219148 end time Aug-26-10 07:29:31 PDT)

As soon as the auction ended, I sent the payment. A few minutes later I get a refund from the seller and a message from him through Ebay asking to cancel the transaction:

kong3686 has sent you a request to cancel the transaction for Transformers 2009 BotCon Exclusive Leozack (190433219148).
Reason for request: The seller did not provide a specific reason.

Please click the Take action button to accept or decline this request.

Seller selected the following reason: Other.
Additional information from seller: Sorry I no longer have this item, I apologize for the inconvenience. Kind regards, Kong

Normally, I don't like to make waves, but this auction was out there for several days with no bids. I placed a bid over a day ago, and no other bids were placed. If he didn't have the item, shouldn't the seller have ended the auction prior? Even when my bid was placed, why didn't the seller contact me?

I understand that the auction sold low for this item, but there is some risk involved if you don't put a reserve or BIN to protect yourself. I'm just a little annoyed as I thought I picked up a great buy, and the seller appeared not to want to let it go for so low of a price.

Is there a course of action I should take at this point? Should I even bother, since he refunded the money? Keep in mind I haven't accepted or denied the transaction cancellation request.

Just trying to get some suggestions or opinions at this point. Thanks for reading, folks.

 

It certainly would appear that the seller was unhappy with the final price and is attempting to keep the item. I'd challenge it. What's the worst that can happen? Maybe ebay's threat of negative feedback for the seller will entice him to 'find it'.

 

I'm going with what you hinted at: it sold lower than the seller anticipated. Frankly, I doubt you will see Leozack go that low ever again. What you do next depends on how spiteful you are for him not selling it to you. Regardless, you're not likely to get the item.

You can:
1) Report him for Seller Non-Performance:
http://contact.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAP...+Non-Performance&instruction=&expirationDate=
2) Leave a negative
3) Disagree with the transaction cancellation
4) Agree to the transaction cancellation. I don't know what happens on eBay's end, but this might prevent them from putting some kind of strike on his account if you agree to cancel. Enough shady seller activity could get him suspended if buyers hold him accountable.

Personally, I'd go for options 1-3, since I'm cynical and don't buy his BS story given the circumstances.  

 

I agree. It ended for less than he wanted, so he's trying to cancel the auction. Challenge it. You won it fair and square.

 

I'd do the same. You got a pretty good deal I'd say.
-G

 

Yup. You won it fair and square. Never put something on eBay at a price you're not willing to sell it for. And really, he could have ended it early if he wanted but missed the boat.

 

Challenge him, next time he should put a minimum price for it, what a jerk! Thats the risk of being a seller if you dont like the results then dont sell.

 

personally I'd let it go.

because ebay's system is so slow on the internet & even slower on the customer service phone line.

It just isn't worth all the hours & days going in repeated emails,ebay procedures & worrying about the stressful outcome.

just be glad you got your money refunded,cut your loses & move on. it'll be less stressful & less time consuming.

transfer those hours to enjoying your family,friends or going shopping,toy hunts,movies & so forth.

 

Its not like the OP is going to sit by his pc for "hours & days" trying to resolve this.

I'd challenge it. Seller had plenty of time to realise he didnt have the item.
Imo he got too low a price.

 

Thing is if the seller wanted to be a real bastard about it, he could toss some crap in a box, send it to the buyer with tracking. When the buyer complains about it the seller can simply sit back and say "what I sent you your item, you're just trying to get your money back by saying I didn't send you the right item." From what I understand, as long as the seller has tracking info for a package that goes to the buyers zipcode, the buyer is screwed.

 

that no longer applies.if they don't make good on the item regardless of tracking,they(the seller) are held responsible.on a personal note,he just canceled a transaction for a cybertron snarl that ended at 99 cents on me.i wish i had found this thread sooner.sounds like he just doesn't want to pony up on the items for such a low price

 

^This.

That guy is everything that is wrong with eBay.

 

What a douche. Challenge that shit.

Better yet; create a dummy eBay account and then bid super-high on all his shit and then don't pay when you win.

 

Challenge it if you want, but you should probably accept the fact that you aren't going to be getting your Leozack in the mail. The seller refunded your money, and eBay isn't the cops: they aren't going to track the seller down at his house and verify whether he does or does not have a particular toy.

The most eBay would theoretically do is suspend or delete his account. And since he refunded your money, they probably won't even do that. From their perspective, the seller hasn't done anything illegal and he hasn't done anything unethical that they can easily prove.

For what it's worth, I'd be stomping mad too if I'd won a steal like that and then didn't get it. The most you can do is give this guy a bad reputation.

 

Chiming in with the Challenge That Mofo crowd. If he wanted a specific price for the item, he should have put that price in.

 

Challenge it. The seller is wrong either way:

1. Selling an item he doesn't have.
2. Backing out on a deal he doesn't like.

You probably won't get your item, but at least you're doing a service for future bidders.

 

Wow. That sucks. Nice price for you as a buyer - I can see why the seller wouldn't want it to go for so little. When I sell on ebay, if I am going to be disappointed below a certain price, I set that to the starting bid.

 

Stuff this advice - challenge that fucker. It's, what, five minutes to write an email every so often to ebay or him. Go out of your way to make life annoying for him. Piss him off in legitimate, official ways. Hopefully you'll get a sense of satisfaction, because I doubt very much you'll get your toy, sadly.  

 

If you can afford to risk the money, I'd say decline the request to cancel and press the issue. If/when a box arrives, take careful documentation in case you do get a box of crap (or scorpions or something). I would like to think that if the issue is pushed the seller will relent and give you your won item, but how often does it actually work out that way?

If you can't take the risk to try and fight this through, then at least you did get your money back even if you lost out on an awesome deal. You can report it to Ebay, but they'll never do anything about it, so on this side of things, Deathy's kinda right. I don;t guess you have an option to leave feedback on a canceled transaction... too bad.

(I must say, I have a mind to bid on the laptop he also has for sale right now.  )

 

I was so tempted....  

If I had some spare cash to bid with, I'd do it, just to see if something similar happens.