How to cancel an order on eBay

Mistakes happen. Thankfully, eBay has a one-hour grace period for buyers or sellers to cancel an order if they didn’t mean to buy or sell an item. However, once that hour has passed, it will be up to the seller and buyer to negotiate a resolution. Here’s how to cancel an order on eBay.

Read more: How to cancel an Amazon order

How to cancel an order on eBay within the first hour

When you make an offer or buy an eBay item, you are committed to that purchase. Likewise, sellers are obligated to complete the sale to the buyer. However, there is a window of opportunity to cancel an order in case it was accidental (or if you saw the item sold for much cheaper).

For Buyers

If you want to cancel an order, it’s good practice to let the seller know as quickly as possible. Also, remember that if your order contains more than one item, the entire order will need to be canceled.

If you made your purchase within the last hour and the seller has not yet shipped the order, you can begin a cancellation request. If the seller has already sent you the item, you won’t be able to cancel it.

Navigate to your Purchase history and find the order you want to cancel. Open the More actions dropdown menu and select Ask to cancel the order.

Then, select a reason for canceling the order to let the seller know why, and click Submit.

After that, the seller will have three days to respond to your request. If they haven’t responded by then and you haven’t yet paid, then eBay will automatically cancel the order. If you have paid and the seller doesn’t respond, they will be held accountable for shipping the item.

For Sellers

Sometimes, sellers may sell the item on a different platform, or the item is accidentally damaged. In such cases, the seller can cancel the order so that eBay will let the buyer know and if they’ve already paid, they’ll get a refund.

In Seller Hub, go to Orders. Alternatively, you can go to My eBay and select Sold. Find the order you want to cancel, open the dropdown menu beside it marked by a small arrow, and select Cancel Order.

Choose a reason for the cancellation and then select Submit to finish.

How to cancel an eBay order after an hour

eBay will email you a confirmation when you have bought or sold an item. If you happened to have missed that or changed your mind after an hour, it’s a bit trickier to cancel an order, though not impossible.

For Buyers

If it’s been more than an hour since your purchase, you need to contact the seller and ask them to cancel it. To do so, go to Purchase history and find the order you want to cancel. Select the More actions dropdown menu and select Contact seller.

From there, choose Request to cancel this order under topics. Write a message explaining to the seller why you need to cancel and select Send to issue your request.

For Sellers

Sellers can cancel an order on eBay up to 30 days after a sale, even if your buyer has already paid. But keep in mind that if you cancel an order, you may receive a transaction defect, affecting your seller performance level.

In Seller Hub, go to Orders. Alternatively, you can go to My eBay and select Sold. Find the order you want to cancel, and from More actions, select Cancel Order. Choose a reason for the cancellation and then select Submit to finish.

When you cancel an order, a full refund will be issued automatically. If the buyer doesn’t receive their refund within ten days from the cancelation date, they can open an eBay Money Back Guarantee request, and you can refund them through that.

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