eBay seller refunded money because item is "misplaced"

[emery]

What is my best course of action here? I was watching a pony that had a BIN of $20 but a $0.99 starting bid. I don't use sniping programs but I generally only bid in the last minute if I'm going to put in a bid as then there is no time for me to change my mind and make additional bids higher than I planned. Anyway, on this pony someone else put in a bid towards the end so the BIN went away and then I placed my bid in the last minute and won for $1.04. I paid right away and then less than 24 hours later I have been refunded by the seller. She also sent this message:

Hi, I am really sorry to inform you that when I went to package up this pony I couldn't find it. I am not sure how it got misplaced but at this time it is so I will refund all of your money back instantly. Thank you again.

I have replied that I am not in a rush and please look again, also mentioning that a reserve or higher starting price should have been applied if the issue is the ending price.


I am still waiting for a reply (which I doubt that I'll receive) but I was wondering if I have any other course of action than a negative feedback and low stars. And I am betting that the pony will be relisted at a higher price...

[ClosetAvalanche]

I'd wait to see if they relist at a higher place before leaving feedback. As a seller, I've misplaced items or oversold them, It's an honest mistake and would hate to be penalized for it :/

[banditpony]

I once misplaced an item that I sold on ebay. It was the worst amount of panic ever (I ended up finding the item, and sent it in a timely fashion... ).


P: I still believe most sellers on ebay are human, and mistakes do happen. She could be completely honest, or lying and you really won't know (unless it's relisted). 

[hokuspokus]

Mistakes dó happen yes, but... it is a bit foolish to lose an item you listed to sell
I myself am always a bit suspicious at these things. Once i won a lot of ponies for a really nice price and the seller made up a story about shipping costs being around $100 (believe me, in NO WAY that was possible) and some other excuses. I am not saying that it will go the same for you, but i think there are sellers who make up stories when they did not get the amount of money they'd expected.

The seller in my experience just replaced the lot i originally won and got twice as much this time.
It was so unfair i cried about it.

But i think its best to wait maybe a few days and keep a real good eye at ebay, or just they person's listings.
I hope you'll get your pony though!

[CrazyCatLady]

I just had to send a message like that about a book I sold on eBay. I've torn the house apart and I have no idea where it's disappeared to.  I'm starting to wonder if I took it up to WI at Christmas. I offered the buyer a refund or she could pick 2 other books from the ones I had available.  She was very nice about it and took the refund. 

[Ringlets]

Sometimes its a genuine mistake.. sometimes it isnt.  I had a seller tell me they couldnt find the item and offer a refund... but I asked her to double check for the item and she did find it in the end ( so I left a positive). Another seller I had tell me that she lost my item after I won an auction for a  low price had actually  sold the pony  to someone else who offered higher (in which case I left a neg) You already sent her the kind of message that I would have done - asking her to check to see if she can find the item    You'll probably have to accept the refund for now, but  see what response you get (if any) and keep an eye on her listings for a while before deciding on the feedback to leave

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Let us know if she relists!  Hope all goes well for you!

[emery]

I've been checking and she just relisted 4 ponies today.... 3 of which were sold if you check her completed listings? I checked the bidders and it was 2 different bidders between the 3 ponies and both had a big "0" for feedback so I guess they could have been NBP? Just looks fishy to me. I'm gonna keep checking as I never got a response to my last message to her asking her to look again.

[Ringlets]

that does sound very dodgy

[Stormy31685]

I would definitely wait to see if the item was relisted.  I actually just had an issue where I was unable to find something and I had to refund a buyer.  It does happen.