Non paying buyer - cancel transaction or relist?

[88gustaf]

Hi,

Apologies for the obvious question, but I am still a fairly inexperienced seller, and I require some advice.

I had an item for sale that was bid on by a certain member, but an hour or two before the bid ended I received a message from this member stating that he was incredibly sorry but he wouldnt be able to pay for the bid he had put in. He claimed he was 16 years old and simply did not have the money to pay me.

Am I able to relist the item without having to cancel the transaction? I do not want to pay seller fees on an item that was not payed for.  I have already offered the second highest bidder the second chance offer, but they have not responded. 

The other option is opening a dispute, although I cannot see this going anywhere as the buyer has already stated he wasnt going to pay, and what more can I actually do after that? I do not see the point in opening a 1 month long case to no avail. Can I even relist an item when there is a dispute in progress? If so, then this would be the obvious option to take.

Any advice appreciated.

Gus.

[putney32]

technically you should not make a 2nd chance offer until first transaction is closed.

to close it you need to open a non payer dispute after 4 days and 4 days later close it... that gets the 'buyer' a strike and you get your fvf refunded AND you are free to relist or make 2nd chance

it takes 8 days not a month and is well worth doing.

btw under 18s are not supposed to use ebay

according to ebay rules

[88gustaf]

Thank you for the quick response. I will end the second chance offer, and open a dispute within the next two days. Is the 'cancel transaction'  option not a good option? As far as I am aware I did not pay any listing fee, and if the the transaction is cancled I shouldnt be charged a sellers fee.

I guess what I am getting at, is that it just seems easier to cancel the whole thing and get the item relisted, than what it is to chase moeny from a kid who I know will not pay.

I also did report his account for being underage.

Thanks again for the advice.

[putney32]

NO you cannot just 'cancel a transaction'

you could send your ''underage buyer'' a Mutual Cancellation Request, and if he agrees and responds to ebay that he agrees then yes it cancels the transaction but if he does not hit the agree button but says NO. then that's it and you pay ebay the sellers final value fee !!!!

if he ignores the 'cancellation request' then you still have to wait a week before ebay will close it.

so with an underage/ indifferent / stupid buyer it is always best to go the Non Payer Dispute.. quickest too most of the time

[88gustaf]

Thank you very much for the assistance, I will sort this out through the resolution center.