Seller says he sold card already. What do I do now?

[sigmachi]

So I just won an auction, the seller messaged me and said that he had already sold it (i'm sure he just didn't get what he wanted) and thanked me for my understanding. I'm not really out anything except minor aggravation but what do I do now because it's just going to sit there as an unpaid item in my cart. Can he just cancel the item as a seller?

[nabzy28]

Yes, the seller can cancel.

Hopefully he's just being truthful with you.

From personal experience, I've also had a couple instances where eBay, somehow, re-listed items that I had previously sold. It actually happened to me sometime late last year. I have absolutely no idea how, but I had a lot of auctions going and I did not even notice it until afterwards. I let the buyer know and sent a cancellation request. Thankfully, they understood, as I did not even have the item or a suitable replacement.

I did, however, refund their payment and offer that same amount off of any other item(s) of mine they wanted, so I was able to completely turn the situation around and make 2 more sales.

Anyhow, just stating that it could have been an eBay glitch too. They absolutely happen.

[shrevecity]

Not much else you can do, he should cancel it. You can leave feedback but there is a long running glitch where items are being accidentally relisted. Had one I did not want to get relisted last night after I gave a buyer a strike. Was going to sit on the listing, but it auto relisted despite me having it set to not do so.

[sigmachi]

Yes, the seller can cancel.

Hopefully he's just being truthful with you.

From personal experience, I've also had a couple instances where eBay, somehow, re-listed items that I had previously sold. It actually happened to me sometime late last year. I have absolutely no idea how, but I had a lot of auctions going and I did not even notice it until afterwards. I let the buyer know and sent a cancellation request. Thankfully, they understood, as I did not even have the item or a suitable replacement.

I did, however, refund their payment and offer that same amount off of any other item(s) of mine they wanted, so I was able to completely turn the situation around and make 2 more sales.

Anyhow, just stating that it could have been an eBay glitch too. They absolutely happen.

He's a new seller he says so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Though he has 200 feedback. I just wrote him and told him I understand things happen and while I was disappointed that I understood. I told him to look for a button to cancel. Thanks for the info as I've never canceled an item before payment before in all my years on eBay.

[shrevecity]

He's a new seller he says so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Though he has 200 feedback. I just wrote him and told him I understand things happen and while I was disappointed that I understood. I told him to look for a button to cancel. Thanks for the info as I've never canceled an item before payment before in all my years on eBay.

Happens all the time, the buyers have 2 hours or so to request cancellation after winning an auction, a seller can do it anytime.

[sigmachi]

Happens all the time, the buyers have 2 hours or so to request cancellation after winning an auction, a seller can do it anytime.

I see, I didn't know that. I have only used BIN's on my listings for several years now with immediate pay required. I might lose some sales but it saves me some hassle.

[shrevecity]

I see, I didn't know that. I have only used BIN's on my listings for several years now with immediate pay required. I might lose some sales but it saves me some hassle.

They can still request to cancel. If you choose not to then you are open to other issues.

[LVDan]

Just had this happen today on an auction I won last week. Seller's message said ebay accidentally double listed it. But wouldn't I see 2 completed listings if that were the case? High fb seller so I want to believe him/her. Sucks-wanted the card and the price was good.

[shrevecity]

Just had this happen today on an auction I won last week. Seller's message said ebay accidentally double listed it. But wouldn't I see 2 completed listings if that were the case? High fb seller so I want to believe him/her. Sucks-wanted the card and the price was good.

There have been cases where Ebay will relist items that have been sold. It could have been a while back when it first sold and then Ebay glitched and relisted it and the old listing has rolled out of search.

[LVDan]

There have been cases where Ebay will relist items that have been sold. It could have been a while back when it first sold and then Ebay glitched and relisted it and the old listing has rolled out of search.



I suppose. Judging by his feedback I’ll just have to believe it and move along.


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[mjohnatgt]

It's happened to me in the past, so it's believable. Was the item part of a multiple card/variation listing? If you cancel those and restart them, it resets the amount in stock to 1 unless they've fixed that glitch.

[gregr2]

I sold a card in December and somehow it got resisted without me knowing it. It was a 9/50 card so I know the exact card. Somehow eBay relisted it and it sold yesterday, again. Had to inform the buyer it was previously sold. Unfortunate, but the eBay system has its flaws.


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[frenchquarter]

I never had a problem with this until eBay forced us to switch to the Good Until Cancelled listings. I had several items that had previously sold that suddenly reappeared for sale. I didn't realize it until a few of them sold and I found out that they had been sold previously.

At the time, I had around 500 listings, so I went through each listing and compared them to the items that I actually had in stock, and I discovered several other items that had been automatically relisted.

[shrevecity]

I never had a problem with this until eBay forced us to switch to the Good Until Cancelled listings. I had several items that had previously sold that suddenly reappeared for sale. I didn't realize it until a few of them sold and I found out that they had been sold previously.

At the time, I had around 500 listings, so I went through each listing and compared them to the items that I actually had in stock, and I discovered several other items that had been automatically relisted.

THese issues have been reported for a few years now well before that switch was made. It mostly occurs on items that either have variations or other multi-item listings.

However it also seem to happen from time to time on items you have to refund for some reason and cancel through Ebay. If not careful you can click that relist button or I had a case where I did not have that clicked and it relisted on its own, luckily I caught that one.

[xtwinstarx]

I know you guys are going to bark at me about this. But how slanted you are toward sellers makes me laugh.

Buyer doesn't have the money for the item - Give me their name so I can add them to my block list!
Seller doesn't have the merchandise that buyer has paid for - Oh, well these things happen!

Surely, you see this bias in the thread? Are they really different situations? Is the obligation here really one sided?

[shrevecity]

I know you guys are going to bark at me about this. But how slanted you are toward sellers makes me laugh.



Buyer doesn't have the money for the item - Give me their name so I can add them to my block list!
Seller doesn't have the merchandise that buyer has paid for - Oh, well these things happen!

Surely, you see this bias in the thread? Are they really different situations? Is the obligation here really one sided?

And there needs to be. Its far easier for a seller to get screwed by a buyer on Ebay than it is the other way around. Sellers have very limited resources when it comes to dealing with things like this. This is a glitch that has been going on for years now and buyers need to be reminded this does happen from time to time and take that into consideration.

One thing does no good to block sellers. Yes the OP can neg the seller, but if its an honest mistake due to an Ebay glitch then the the sellers only choice is canceling it. I have pulled many listings over the last few years due to getting offers on items I have already sold that got relisted. I am lucky I got offers and was able to find it before it became an issue.

Most non-payers I get make offers and then when accept they do not pay. There was no I am suddenly out of money, the buyer should have known that before they made the offer.

Now if the seller relists the item then its a completely different story but nobody has said the OP cannot neg the seller but stating there is a long running glitch.

[LVDan]

It's happened to me in the past, so it's believable. Was the item part of a multiple card/variation listing? If you cancel those and restart them, it resets the amount in stock to 1 unless they've fixed that glitch.

Mine was a standard 7 day auction
Maybe it was sold previously on BIN, don't know.

[Saraste]

These glitches are real. It has happened to me as a seller 5 or 6 times over the last 5 years. A couple of times I have caught the relisting before it resold. Others I did not. In every case the buyers were rather understanding. In fact one time a serial numbered card got relisted and resold. The original sale was recent enough that I was able to point the original sale to the buyer in my sold items.

It should not be up to the sellers to catch these things. Ebay needs to fix the problem. The catch is the glitch seems to be so intermittent that finding the root cause of the problem may not be easy for them to find.

For someone who has thousands (or even hundreds) of items for sale, it cannot be reasonably expected for the seller to catch these glitches. This is especially true if a previously sold item is relisted and sold within hours of the relisting. General awareness of the issue is key.

[NickM]

There has also been a problem where items that a seller has multiples of available sometimes do not update the quantity that shows as available after sales.
I have lost out on ebay coupons as a buyer due to this.

[altaeria]

Just ask him how much he wants for it.

[coachnip13]

I know you guys are going to bark at me about this. But how slanted you are toward sellers makes me laugh.

Buyer doesn't have the money for the item - Give me their name so I can add them to my block list!
Seller doesn't have the merchandise that buyer has paid for - Oh, well these things happen!

Surely, you see this bias in the thread? Are they really different situations? Is the obligation here really one sided?

Is this serious? Every one of us has had some kind of eBay glitch that allows this to happen. Very few of us, though, have purchased an item and then realized we have no money.