Sold something that I don't have on stock

Yeah shit it happened,
(for quick readers: just read the bold parts)

I did a dumb newbie mistake on ebay: I've ordered a few items from overseas and got them. However they are all pretty much alike and I wasn't paying attention this one time I put on the auction (Buy It Now).

I sold it and now I've noticed I don't got the item. There is also pretty much no way for me to get the item within the next few days.

My account is pretty old, however not that much activity going since I haven't been a big fan of ebay all my life. About 3 positive comments within the last 12 months and that's it-

I am fearing that the buyer will leave a negative comment, that would pretty much ruin my ebay account??

How to prevent negative comments from ebayer - a solution?

What I would do:

I have been thinking about offering them another Item for a cheaper price or give them a 10-20% discount on the item they want + notification as soon as I get it in stock. Would that help? Has anyone tried something like this before?


Thanks in advance guys, really in need of help right now

Can't you just give him back the money?

If its a cheap item
give him back the money and offer it to him for free as soon as it arrives into stock

Be generous and it will repay you in the long term

Oh sorry I was stupid NOT to mention it:

I refunded the money immediately!

@nanavlad: It's unforntunately not a very cheap item :/

To ohter readers to engage them: Have you guys ever dealt with something like this? How did you solve it?

Make up an excuse and say sorry, I will refund you straight away.

Used to happen to me all the time to me when I drop shipped and only got 1 neutral feedback from it.

dondada7 said:

Make up an excuse and say sorry, I will refund you straight away.

Used to happen to me all the time to me when I drop shipped and only got 1 neutral feedback from it.

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Thats AWESOME to hear. So a refund right away + excuse shoudl do the trick huh? I will most probably offer them an additional discount on the product or any others in my stock, I think that should be more than enough? (Have to admit that I will be selling to germans, not sure how they will react, IMO they are a bit more negative in their mentality etc. hahah)

I think it would be overkill but sure do it if you want. I just normally say there was an error in entering the stock as a couple of items came to us damaged and are inadequate to ship to you.

dondada7 said:

I think it would be overkill but sure do it if you want. I just normally say there was an error in entering the stock as a couple of items came to us damaged and are inadequate to ship to you.

Click to expand...

Thanks, I will try this then and if the buyer still bitches around or threatens to ruin my virgin ebay account, then I will follow up with my discount idea!

Thanks brother!

3 years ago I sold iPads. A friend of mine said he was able to get it below market price. I was excited and immediately promote it on eBay. I got 2 item sold & the buyers already made the payment, and I was about to place order from that friend, he simply gone.

So, I told the buyer exactly what happened, and refund the money back of course. The buyers simply leave a review saying something like "The buyer said the item out of stock but I got my money back.. etc2".

And yeah.. some buyer might pissed at it and leave you negative review. Just tell them the truth. You are not scamming anyone. The discount idea might be great as well (if the buyer not satisfied with your explanation)