Seller refused to cancel transaction

[monkeymui15]

I put in an offer for an item, seller messaged to say that he's away until a week later, if I can wait until then he would accept the offer.  However, before I got to reply the message, he went ahead and accepted the offer.   Item is located in Italy, shipping is expensive as he's using DHL, I looked up Italian post service and many left negative feedbacks.  I decided to cancel the transaction, but he refused to do that.  What's the best course of action?

[jellybirddesigns · Accepted solution]

The seller is not really obliged to cancel, as there is a reasonable expectation that the buyer will have done their due diligence in terms of checking feedback and postage.

Having said that - have you paid yet?

[sugar249]

You should have checked postage and feedback before putting in the offer.

[sandypebbles]

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@monkeymui15 wrote:

  I decided to cancel the transaction, but he refused to do that. 

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As is their right to refuse

[springyzone · Accepted solution]

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@monkeymui15 wrote:

I put in an offer for an item, seller messaged to say that he's away until a week later, if I can wait until then he would accept the offer.  However, before I got to reply the message, he went ahead and accepted the offer.   Item is located in Italy, shipping is expensive as he's using DHL, I looked up Italian post service and many left negative feedbacks.  I decided to cancel the transaction, but he refused to do that.  What's the best course of action?

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It doesn't matter if you had time to reply to the message or not. Once you send in an offer the seller has the right to accept it immediately. The message was redundant anyway as the seller decided not to make you wait. One of the first things you should check when buying overseas is the postage rate. It isn't the seller's fault the italian post service has some negatives.

Having said all that, what is done is done. You made an offer, the seller has not cancelled. You can't decide to cancel, it is a seller decision so store that info for the future. Meanwhile, if you have not paid, just don't pay. Politely let the seller know you are not going ahead with it and explain why. Apologise for the inconvenience.

The seller will do one of 2 things.

1. cancel

2. issue you with a non payment claim. This will result in one strike against your account but if you are normally a good buyer and have no other strikes, it won't affect you in the slightest and no one can see it.

That's probably your best course of action at this stage.

[papermoon.lady · Accepted solution]

The seller is not obliged to cancel, and you are not obliged to pay, but you will most probably have a non-payment strike in your account if you don't pay.

You say that he accepted your offer before you replied. Did you intend to say no when he mentioned he would be away? Maybe it would have been easier if you had just retracted the offer immediately after his email. 

From the eBay site:

Cancelling a Best Offer

When you make a Best Offer or a counteroffer, you're agreeing to buy the item if the seller accepts. However, if you've made a mistake when making an offer or a counteroffer, you can retract or cancel it in certain circumstances.

You can retract a Best Offer or counteroffer if:

• You accidentally entered the wrong offer amount (for example, you submitted an offer of $99.95 instead of $9.95)
• The description of the item has changed significantly since you made your offer
• You can't get in touch with the seller

And yes, sorry, you should have checked postage and feedback before submitting your offer. I understand that maybe you had not noticed the location etc., but it is a good idea for the future.

[digital*ghost]

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@monkeymui15 wrote:

 Item is located in Italy, shipping is expensive as he's using DHL, I looked up Italian post service and many left negative feedbacks.  I decided to cancel the transaction...

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Wait, that's like saying "The seller is using DHL, I looked up reviews for Australia Post and many have left negative feedback, so I decided to cancel...."

They are two different companies and services (DHL has poor reviews, too, but then so does pretty much every carrier, anyway - these days it seems no one makes time to leave positive reviews online, but everyone has plenty of time to complain). The seller is probably using DHL for multiple reasons, the unreliability of the national postage service, coupled with covid delays probably being the main ones. 

Besides which, most of the negative feedback for Italy's postal service - as far as I know, anyway - is from sending stuff to Italy, not getting stuff sent from there. 

[monkeymui15]

Thank you for the detailed reply.    I've learned my lesson in this case, it looks like seller is going to issue a NPC,  but as you mentioned if I'm usually a good buyer it is not going to affect future buying. 

[monkeymui15]

I've rushed in as it's a rare piece:-(    I thought shipping could be worked out later but apparently it didn't turn out well as I expected.  

[monkeymui15]

Seller accepted the offer within a few hours after he messaged to say he would wait for my reply that I am okay for 1 week shipping delay.   I couldn't retract the offer,  afterwards the seller was rushing for payment. 

Like you mentioned I should have checked with seller the postage and feedback - it's a very rare piece I stumped myself for the impulsive move!   Later I found out it's been more than a year since this seller made any transaction, so I guess seller must have been desperate for the sale.   What happened was purely a mess!