Purchase of an item that turned out to be no longer available | Buying on eBay | eBay Italy

Skip to main content

Purchase of an item that turned out to be no longer available | Buying on eBay | eBay Italy

Purchase of an item that turned out to be no longer available

Hello,

these days I bought - by making a purchase offer - a pair of kids' shoes from the United Kingdom.

The seller accepted my offer and within a couple of hours I paid for the item with Paypal, as usual.

Yesterday the seller, after telling me he would soon prepare the package, wrote to me, apologizing, that for unknown reasons the product is no longer available (I think he has a physical shoe store) and предложed me an alternative with a pair of shoes from the same brand, but a different model. On the box there was a price 10 pounds lower than the one I had originally bought, but oh well…

Even though for this purchase I had used a personal Ebay coupon, so as not to waste the discount (which Ebay certainly would not give me back for a new purchase), since the replacement product was still to my liking anyway (even if not my first choice), I decided to allow the swap with this one and not ask for a refund.

When I receive the package, I'll see if everything is in order.

In these cases is it correct to leave neutral feedback? because it's not nice for a buyer to buy an item, investing time and resources, and then it turns out not to be available.

or should I give positive feedback, given our agreement?

I'm unsure!
What is your point of view?

erinapi

59 View listings

Posted 3 years ago·Last reply 3 years ago

15 comments

tokitasojin

·3 years ago

In case of order cancellation, the coupon is returned unless the seller writes ''the buyer asked to cancel the order''.

I know because I once received a cancellation for a purchase paid with a coupon.

According to Ebay customer support, which evaluates the return of the coupon, you are eligible only if the cancellation does not depend on the buyer.

heavenwelkin

·3 years ago

@tokitasojin wrote:
In the event of order cancellation, the coupon is returned unless the seller writes ''the buyer requested to cancel the order''.
I know because it happened to me to receive a cancellation of a purchase paid with a coupon.
For Ebay customer support, which assesses the return of the coupon, you are eligible only if the cancellation does not depend on the buyer.

But is the coupon credit automatic or do you have to ask support for it ?

Even when it is their mistake, most sellers declare: the buyer requested to cancel the order.

erinapi

OP3 years ago

@tokitasojin wrote:
In the event that the order is canceled, the coupon is returned unless the seller writes ''the buyer requested to cancel the order''.
I know because it happened to me to receive a cancellation of a purchase paid with a coupon.
For Ebay customer support, which evaluates the return of the coupon, you are eligible only if the cancellation does not depend on the buyer.

Ah, I see, good to know! I thought it was always lost!

but if sellers do as heavenwelkin says, in practice maybe you don't get it back anyway

actar80

·3 years ago

Maybe the only thing you could have done was contact eBay support first via chat or phone and point out that any cancellation wasn't your fault, and ask whether you could get the coupon back. Then, based on support's response, you would have been able to better assess what to do.

actar80

·3 years ago

Good to know, thanks for the info, it will come in handy for those reading in the forum.

vonbalden

·3 years ago

An old English saying goes : ..don't put the cart in front of the horse ! And it corresponds to our putting the cart before the oxen. Erinapi, you know that transactions with merchant sellers can be full of surprises. But even with those on the road these days, it's worse than traveling at night. Stay calm. Wait for the package with the shoes to arrive. Open it with curiosity, and only if the English seller has sent you two size 12 men's shoes, think about negative feedback. Otherwise it may be that the contents are even more welcome and of higher quality than first choice, right ? So wait for the package confidently before thinking about the verdict. Best regards.

erinapi

OP3 years ago

I would definitely have waited to receive the package to check it and, barring any new surprises, I don't think the feedback will be negative... well, only if I received men's shoes in an absurd size 🤣

anyway, I've been a member since 2010, I think, and I remember that when items were missing in auctions, there were people who immediately left negative feedback without batting an eye... and they didn't even talk to the seller!

So much for calls for moderation 😂😂

actar80

·3 years ago

@erinapi wrote:.. I’ve been registered since 2010, I think, and I remember that when items were missing from auctions, there were people who would immediately leave negative feedback without batting an eye… and they didn’t even speak to the seller! So much for calls for moderation 😂😂
In fact, years ago it happened more or less like that, but many times it was wrong behavior toward part of the sellers (the honest ones).
By now all you can do is wait and see what you receive; if the item is of the same quality or close to it, at most you can leave neutral feedback with a comment explaining that the item you bought was no longer available and, at the seller’s suggestion, you accepted a replacement. After all, he apologized, it can happen. Or you can just not leave any feedback like they’ve already told you, which maybe is the best thing.

daxsisko

·3 years ago

@erinapi wrote:
Hi,
these days I bought - by making a purchase offer - a pair of kids' shoes from the United Kingdom.
The seller accepted my offer and within a couple of hours I paid for the item with Paypal, as usual.
Yesterday the seller, after telling me that he would soon prepare the package, writes to me, apologizing, that for unknown reasons the product is no longer available (I think he has a physical shoe store) and he proposes an alternative with a pair of shoes of the same brand, but a different model. On the box it was indicated a cost 10 pounds lower than the one I had initially bought, but oh well…
Given that for this purchase I had used a personal Ebay coupon, to avoid wasting the discount (which would certainly not be returned to me by Ebay for a new purchase), since the replacement product was still to my liking (even if not my first choice), I decided to allow the exchange with this one and not ask for a refund.
When I receive the package, I'll see if everything is in order.
In these cases is it correct to leave neutral feedback? because it's not nice that a buyer buys an item, investing time and resources, and then it isn't available.
or should I give him positive feedback, given our agreement?
I'm in doubt!
What is your point of view?

if you accepted the seller's alternative solution, leaving a neutral is pretty borderline;

maybe it would be more correct not to leave any feedback at all (since it's optional)

heavenwelkin

·3 years ago

Good morning erinap

If you purchased in the UK you will also have had to bear the costs related to PayPal's euro/pound exchange rate (if you paid with PayPal) or the bank that issues the credit card (if you paid with that), which are never 1 : 1 but are always at an unfavorable exchange rate where PayPal makes a huge profit while the banks behind the credit card generally settle for more honest exchange rates.

The fact remains that in the event of cancellation you would have lost, in addition to the coupon, also some money related to the double pound / euro conversion.

Sellers who make international sales should be careful to avoid this happening.

It's hard to give advice regarding feedback, the final choice is up to you.

Kind regards.

erinapi

OP3 years ago

You're right, I'd also be on the hook for the currency conversion rate applied by the bank, which I wouldn't have gotten back in case of cancellation, I hadn't even thought of that!

I paid with Paypal, keeping the currency in pounds when they asked me to choose which currency to pay in. If I'd paid in Euros, I saw that Paypal would have taken too much in conversion fees, just as you wrote.

Thanks for understanding the situation

heavenwelkin

·3 years ago

@erinapi wrote:
I paid with Paypal, keeping the currency in pounds when they asked me to choose which currency to pay in. If I had paid in Euros, I saw that Paypal would have taken too much in terms of conversion, just as you wrote.

Yes, it's true, there is also the Paypal option to pay in the current currency without doing the exchange.

The option is there but of course it isn't made too prominent.

By doing so you pay directly in pounds and then the card issuer credits it in euros with an exchange rate that is much better than Paypal's.

👍

marioelegio

·3 years ago

Granted, this is just my point of view.

If you accepted the replacement with another item and a partial refund..... you should have been satisfied with their proposal. Otherwise, if what was offered didn’t convince you, you should have asked the seller to cancel the order so you could be refunded.

@erinapi wrote:
In these cases is it correct to give neutral feedback?............or should I give positive feedback, given our agreement?

There’s a third option, not leave any feedback.

hi

mario

erinapi

OP3 years ago

@marioelegio wrote:
If you accepted the replacement with another item and with a partial refund..... you should have been satisfied with his proposal

Actually he only offered me a replacement with one of lower value, saying that he had other models (and that could very well be true). No partial refund.

anyway thanks for your point of view, I'll think about it

erinapi

OP3 years ago

I can't edit my previous post, so I'm rewriting it.

Actually, they only offered me a replacement with a cheaper one, saying they didn't have any other models in the size I needed (and that may well be true). No partial refund.

It's not always easy to find the product you need elsewhere, of that brand, that color, and in that size. That's why I accepted, not because I was fully satisfied.

Anyway, thanks for your point of view, I'll think about it, I can also leave nothing, that's true too