a buyer bought told me it was a mistake then asked for a refund

[supremepeace]

A buyer bought 3 items - ebay said payment was approved but nothing has appeared in my bank account .. i refunded 2 of the purchases before i wondered whether it was a scam.. How can ebay tell me payment is approved..?

[papermoon.lady]

With Managed Payments, it can take some time (up to 21 days) for the money to appear in your bank account if the funds are on  hold.

[jellybirddesigns]

edited

[jellybirddesigns]

If a buyer tell me they ordered by mistake and want a refund, I always just cancel the order with the issue "problem with buyers address", so I don't incur a defect.

As long as you hadn't sent the items, I don't see a problem. I would, however, put them on my blocked list.

How could it be a scam if you haven't sent anything?

If you're on the new managed payments system, everything you need to know is in your Seller Hub under Payments. It will show how much is processing, how much is on hold and how much is available for deposit.

You should also check your Payout Settings to see what your schedule is and edit accordingly (although if you are an intermittent seller, your funds could be on hold for 21+ days for a period of time, regardless).

[janeababe]

How could it be a scam if you haven’t sent anything? 

Jelly, I’m guessing the OP is worried that the eBay notification that payment has been received might be fake, and now she has refunded 2 payments that may not actually exist.

Let’s hope they follow your advice to check their payments in seller hub.  Fingers crossed it’s all above board. 

[davewil1964]

eBay can tell you payment is approved because it is. The processing time for Managed Payments is up to 30 days, depending on your status as a seller.

None of which has anything to do with a buyer requesting cancellation.