What's the deal with sellers backing out of sale?

My hubby and I have purchased 2 items on ebay since the 1st of the year - paid for the items, then receive an email from the seller saying "sorry". What's up with that? What happened to the contract aspect of buying something? Doesn't it work the same way for the seller?|||It is supposed to. All you can do is file a non-performing seller report at this Link~ Lucy ~ Guide to eBay Board AcronymsClick on for links to Help Pages for a new eBayer|||I'm assuming they did not write back and offer an explanation? Meaning the item probably did not bring the amount of money they hoped for vs. some kind of snafu like it was sold to someone else, misplaced, etc? The first annoys me. I've had a few items close at a low enough price where I actually lost a small amount of money by selling and shipping. I still followed through and sent the items. I could understand the occasional "Oops"/misplaced/listed in error thing happening though.|||While there is a valid sale contract made, which you could take to court if you wanted to, in reality eBay cannot force a seller to honor the sale. Your best options are to file the report as noted in post #2, and leave appropriate feedback. If the seller doesn't voluntarily refund, you can also file an Item Not Received dispute to get your money back.friends Director,|||Hope that you get a seller that will explain..with a good explanation. If not really hope you get a seller that will refund your money. If the seller doesn't I want to stress how important it is to contact Ebay. They are really helpful and will resolve problems for you.|||If not really hope you get a seller that will refund your money. If the seller doesn't I want to stress how important it is to contact Ebay. Just file INR, Escalate and call it a day. .Delivery Confirmation is confirmation of delivery, not tracking.|||Usually sellers who are drop-shippers do this becasue their source is out of stock. When it happens to me, if the seller is very apologetic, refunds immediately and takes the item down off his listings, I do not fuss about it. If he doesn't refund quickly or continues to list the item for sale, then i get mad and report.|||Even if the seller refunds your money, you can still file a NonPerformingSeller report. Just as an Unpaid Item Dispute puts a Strike on a buyer, a NPS puts a mark on the seller. You can also leave appropraite feedback and Detailed Seller Ratings. Since you did not ever see the item you can leave no rating for As Described, and Shipping Fee, while rating the transaction a ONE for communication and delivery time.|||how can you rate delivery time when the item was never shipped? Just sayin'|||I've never had a seller do this to me but I've read countless posts by buyer who had this problem. I don't buy anything on eBay that would be dropshipped so perhaps that is why I've never encountered the situation.... If the seller refunds and apologizes immediately I might not report him for NPS but if they are just jacking me around because it didn't get bid as high as they want I'd file. I think out of stock is a better excuse then it didn't bid as high as I want....|||Thanks for the link.|||I don't know what a 'drop shipment" is but i don't think these items would qualify for that. These were both items the sellers had in their posession. My guess is the items didn't go as high as they had hoped - although there was no reserve on either item.||||||There are valid reasons for having to end an auction early or cancel the transaction. I have had to cancel one time because when I was packing up the dish it dropped and broke. I was mortified and afraid my buyer was going to give me bad feedback. I did appologize and gave a full explanation luckily I had an understanding buyer. I personally would move on and look for the item elsewhere. The only time I would be less than happy is if I had to ask for my money back. A seller should give your money back immediately. I am just the type of person who sees good in others and unless I have proof I would never file a report just because I THINK they backed out because they didn't get enough money. Life is to short, IMO, to sweat the small stuff.This is a posting ID to help fight against AI or RLI. I have no agenda other than to express my opinion, which is just that, an Opinion.|||"I don't know what a 'drop shipment" is but i don't think these items would qualify for that. These were both items the sellers had in their posession. My guess is the items didn't go as high as they had hoped - although there was no reserve on either item." A "Drop Ship" seller is when the seller does not have the actual item in hand. They order the item from a supplier" after the auction listing has ended with a Ebay buyer. The Drop Ship supplier ships the item to the Ebay buyer directly from their location/warehouse. Many /most Drop Shippers use "stock manufacturer photos" and many of the items are new items easily found in retail locations. If the seller is not using an actual photo of the item and using a "stock photo" from a catalog/ manufactuer, then 9 times out of 10 they are drop shipping the item. Since the seller does not have the actual item to photograph or in hand, it is very common for the item to be "out of stock, discontinued or on back order" after the Ebay auction ends. This is in direct violation of the Selling Practices policy Link A selling practices policy report and the NON Performing Seller report should be filed here Link It really does not matter, if the seller did not get "enough for the item or they are out of stock", they are not able to deliver the item to the buyer and should be reported. Appropriate feedback such as (example) "Item out of stock ,not available Poor transaction" will quickly alert Ebay the seller is not performing as required. Link