Seller “cancelling” an order

[pladanwalt]

As a long time buyer have just experienced a novel and very frustrating transaction. Basically I purchased and paid for an item for nearly $400 and for which delivery was included. A day ago the seller contacted me to say their freight costs had gone up and requested I pay the additional amount in question($45). Having thought about it I messaged them and politely suggested that cost should not be on me and that I wished them to honour their bargain. Shortly afterwards they replied that “it was no longer financially viable” for them to complete the transaction and they had “ cancelled” the order and were refunding the price. To my frustration eBay had accepted their purported cancellation and the item was now listed as cancelled so any usual remedy I had for eBay to step in was thwarted. Nor it seems can I now leave negative feedback. I  did report this only to discover any repercussions would remain confidential between eBay and the seller. I then used the “ talk to an agent” facility because I wanted active intervention. The agent, whilst polite and solicitous,  seemed to accept a seller could “ cancel” and didn’t suggest eBay could intervene to get the seller to perform the bargain.

Anyone experienced this sort of Catch 22 where a seller finds it inconvenient to honour their bargain and simply steps away with impunity? It seems to violate any principle of contract law that I’m aware of but eBay apparently condones it.

[4channel]

Yeah I read the one before. States the obvious. You know there are some things that transcend legal technicalities. When I was a seller, and I didn't get what I wanted for an article, I was happy to let it go at that price. Now in this here situation it is not a bad idea to keep a good vibe going. My suggestion of "Oldie-but-goodie - "How about we split the costs" " is something I would initiate at the very least even if I was faced with an exy addition to my sale. If it was that bad where it would send me to the poor house I would have some good dialogue with the customer explaining the situation from my perspective.

[davewil1964]

You know there are some things that transcend legal technicalities

Not on an eCommerce site. They are all about legalities. And common sense on the part of a buyer.

Which is to move on.

[springyzone]

I think the legal technicality is no seller has to proceed with a sale but as we know, it doesn't make for happy customers when a sale is cancelled or a seller asks for more money because a mistake was made calculating postage.

That's why I think your suggestion of explaining to the buyer what has happened and offering to split the difference is a good option because it shows good faith on the part of the seller and that they are willing to shoulder some of the extra cost.

I think where it is a really massive loss a seller might be facing eg the new seller who lists an antique item for eg $1 with buy it now at eg $500, thinking $500 is a reserve or some such thing, then their best option is as you said to explain to the buyer what happened and cancel the sale.

Sometimes mistakes happen. I think postage can be a really common area where mistakes can be made.