Seller wants to cancel transaction on eBay..

[insontis]

Story in a nut shell:

I found a jewelry lot listed as $60 OBO and made an offer of $45.

The seller accepted my offer.

I made payment.

Seller sent me this message:

I am sorry but I cannot accept the offer you have already paid for - I will be filing a cancellation agreement and refunding your money in the next few minutes.
You got a great deal but I cannot lose a couple hundred or so dollars on this item. It is my mistake and I hope you will understand. I did not know the SAE was so valuable or even what it was until another E-Bayer told me. I did try to research it but could never find it. Once again I am very sorry but it makes no since to lose this much money. I have never done this before (I have 100% feedback) and I am honest.
I hope you will understand and agree to cancel with no bad feedback.

Seller then refunded my money and requested to cancel the transaction.

And this is where the story is now.

I've never had a seller request to cancel on me before and the "polite" thing to do would be to accept, right? I was purchasing this lot mainly for scrap and possible resale as jewelry, but I am assuming they are referring to one of the fraternity pins in the lot. I can't confirm the amount that they are claiming the item could resell for, nor do I care to look into it at the moment.

What it boils down to is this: My offer was accepted and payment was exchanged. I am a nice person and would normally go along with this no problem, but I can't help but feel that I'm being cheated here. I took a gamble in purchasing this small lot in hopes that A. I purchased items at/better than spot price and that B. I can possibly resell some as jewelry. Is it wrong to think that this is unfair for me and should I contest it? Or is it hopeless to contest it either way and should I just nod in agreement?

 

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[pong12211]

Well you did win the bid. But it's always good to stay on karmas good side. I say let him cancel it and be happy knowing you were the better person.

 

[insontis]

I did just research the piece and it does appear to be a Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity pin. The only similar one that I can find sold for just over $100. There are a handful of listings (unsold) for $200+. Scrap wise I probably paid about what it is worth/maybe a little under as it is only a 10K pin. I should probably also mention that this lot was listed as "scrap gold and silver".

The more I read into it, the more annoyed I become. I will probably go quietly, but I'm not happy about it. I've purchased numerous scrap lots in the past and anything that is in "good condition" can possibly be resold as jewelry for more than scrap value. This is the first time I've had someone cancel a transaction because they just had an epiphany that their item may be worth more than scrap.

 

[dieselram94]

Seller should honor the deal...seen this crap before...

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[jbm349]

I agree with Pong...just let it go and write it off to experience. I don't think even contesting will get you anywhere.

 

[Iron Patch]

Well he's going to keep it regardless, so your best bet would be to let him have the item he wants, and get the rest for a better deal. That way you both get something out of it.

 

[trdhrdr007]

Interesting that this thread came up the same time as the other one about accidently listing a 14k ring with a .99 cent BIN. IMO a deal is a deal. It might suck to lose money, but that's part of it. The seller should sell.

 

[insontis]

Seller should honor the deal...seen this crap before...

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Even if the seller should honor the deal - do they even have to? I mean, if I decline the cancellation offer, then what? If the seller still doesn't accept the offer, they get a mark from ebay and possibly receive negative feedback? I'm not exactly sure what my options are if I even have any. If the seller isn't going to sell me the item either way, I may as well just accept their cancellation request. Still I find it ridiculous that they purposely accepted my offer with over 24 hours to still consider it before it expired. Why list the item let alone accept my offer if you are unsure what you want to sell it for?

 

[insontis]

Interesting that this thread came up the same time as the other one about accidently listing a 14k ring with a .99 cent BIN. IMO a deal is a deal. It might suck to lose money, but that's part of it. The seller should sell.

Well if an accidental listing price is still viewed as a seller being at fault... then a case where a seller posts and accepts a price on purpose then I guess they should be held responsible.

 

[insontis]

Well he's going to keep it regardless, so your best bet would be to let him have the item he wants, and get the rest for a better deal. That way you both get something out of it.

I would look to negotiate a deal that way, however the lot only included the 10K pin, a pair of sterling cufflinks, and a small sterling pendant. Can't be more than $3-4 of sterling and none of it is of any sort of significance that I can tell. The 10K pin is really the only reason I bought the lot/paid that much. I've purchased a few fraternity pins in the past. One of mine has received a decent amount of interest for a few hundred, but the others aren't even getting a watcher for under $100. So far none have sold, though.

 

[insontis]

I agree with Pong...just let it go and write it off to experience. I don't think even contesting will get you anywhere.

I understand the concept of letting it go, but what do you mean write it off to experience? Neither of us made a mistake, not in the listing nor in the offer. We were in agreement and the seller backed out afterwards. Not sure this would be any sort of "experience" gained, especially if I just roll over.

 

[billn1956]

You made an offer ,he accepted and you payed him.E-bay should make him honer the deal or be banned from ebay.

 

[billn1956]

If he had backed out before you payed him you would be out of luck.

 

[sliverofsilver]

i sell on ebay and if i make a mistake or misjudgement then its my loss for not doing my home work.
this person finds out after the fact its value and cancels? Even after accepting your payment ?
deal is done
file a complaint with ebay and paypal asap.i would its a binding contract
he has to honor it.all you have to do is let ebay know and the rest is taken care of
i dont like trouble either but i want what i pay for
the decision is yours good luck
HH

 

[insontis]

I appreciate everyone's responses. I can see eye to eye with all of your views and understand why I should go either way. However, I do believe that the seller should be held accountable for this sale. My offer was accepted, not by accident, and should be honored. If I was the seller in this situation I would have to bite the bullet. I recently sold a 10K gold chain and 10K/CZ journey pendant for just $15 after a less than stellar $0.99 auction run. Did I know that I could likely sell it for 4x or more the price I sold it for? And did I actually lose money on the sale? Yes, but I still honored the sale regardless. This is the first instance where I've run into this situation. Hopefully it will be the last time. If it isn't, perhaps I will have learned from this one.

 

[Iron Patch]

If he had backed out before you payed him you would be out of luck.

Not really, it's binding when the button is clicked, and there's messages saying that when you do.

 

[Beachkid23]

Interesting that this thread came up the same time as the other one about accidently listing a 14k ring with a .99 cent BIN. IMO a deal is a deal. It might suck to lose money, but that's part of it. The seller should sell.

I sent them a nice 1942 half for helping me out! I'm glad he did, lesson learned today on that one!

 

[trdhrdr007]

I sent them a nice 1942 half for helping me out! I'm glad he did, lesson learned today on that one!

I saw that in the other thread & give you credit for it. Not the way I would have handled things but acceptable as long as the buyer agreed. No doubt in my mind many people would refuse to sell & take the negative feedback. That's just not how I would conduct business.

 

[billn1956]

Not really, it's binding when the button is clicked, and there's messages saying that when you do.

I agree but I bet ebay mite not stand up for you.But after the money has changed hands then any small claims court would see you as being wronged,,not just ebay

 

[Jim in Idaho]

In my mind, the problem is really his expecting no negative feedback.....I mean other than he went back on his word. That was his first sin. He's not willing to follow thru, but expects YOU to go the extra mile (which he isn't willing to do) and let him get away with it, and not give him negative feedback. He wants it ALL...and both ways. He needs to learn a valuable lesson, and you are in position to give it to him. I would, at least, give him lousy feedback. If his feedback rating isn't worth the $100 he MIGHT lose, it isn't worth much.
Jim