Can I cancel a sale after payment has been made and refunded?

[found-in-australia]

I had a Saudi Arabian buyer purchase a catalogue last night which was "Ship to Australia Only". They subsequently requested postage so they could pay. I have sent through the minimum parcel rate which has tracking - $30.15, and sent them the link to the Australia Post site with shipping costs. They have then written back and asked how much shipping is within Australia. I quoted them the $3.50 if they supply an Australian address to ship to. They wrote back and asked me to adjust the postage. I adjusted the postage with a clear explanation in the message box that the quoted shipping only applies to shipping to an Australian address, and that the PayPal payment must have the Australian address as the shipping address. They paid immediately, but with a Saudi Arabian address.

I immediately refunded through PayPal. I have also "reported a problem" through a feedback link, but I can't find how to cancel the actual sale. Is it possible to cancel the sale after payment has been made (and refunded)? Or am I outright expected to ship "Post by Fri 30 Oct", as it still states in My Ebay as I allowed them to pay?

[found-in-australia]

In answer to the refund:

"It is supposed to send it to Australia. Are you crazy or what did I not tell you? I sent it to Saudi Arabia. I told you to send it to Australia. I changed the address and was unable to pay. You are the cause of the problem."

[davewil1964]

The buyer is the cause of the problem in that they didn't change the address at checkout.

From what I have recently read, if you refund through Paypal you can't cancel in eBay. Makes sense - the transaction occurred on eBay, only the payment went through Paypal.

You have also done your Paypal fees, which are non-refundable anyway, and your eBay sales fees.

I would refuse to deal with them any further. If you do decide to, ensure that they clearly understand the Australian address is the one that has to be used at checkout. And be aware if it turns pear-shaped again, even if you cancel properly, you will still be out another lot of eBay FVFs.

[davewil1964]

Sorry, that should be Paypal FVFs.

eBay will credit your fees if you cancel properly.

[found-in-australia]

Thanks Dave,

When I have just refreshed after billing tonight's multiple buyers, and I see that I don't have the instruction to post by tomorrow above that item. I assume the reporting the problem through the feedback mechanism has fixed that.

In this case I am not worried about the fees - it would have cost me $17 above the total payment just to send the parcel to Saudi Arabia. I was worried about not sending the item being a black mark against me, and wanted to officially cancel the sale. It looks like that has more or less happened thankfully.

I put them on my blocked bidder list as soon as I refunded.

Ebay has become so much more complex over the last 22 years, and a damn pandemic has me trapped here again indefinitely. That'll teach me to go back into an obsolete business model (live auctions, and not online). It was working as a niche small business in spite of it being an obsolete business model, I just didn't allow for social distancing to be introduced and bring it to a halt. Ebay sales have been surprisingly good since I got back though, all things considered.

Kind Regards,  Kevin

[lyndal1838]

Cancel the transaction using the reason "problem with buyer's address" as this will not give you a defect.