Not sure that you want an item that you bought on eBay anymore? Unfortunately, eBay doesn’t make cancelling a purchase the easiest thing in the world to do. Cancelling an order for something you’ve directly bought on eBay is complicated enough, and if you’ve bought an item on eBay by winning it in an auction, it’s even tougher (though this is more for legal reasons than technical ones).
When can you cancel an eBay order?
You can attempt to cancel an eBay order within 30 days of purchase if you cannot complete the sale, either as a buyer or a seller. You must contact the opposite party through the eBay website, and ask them to accept your cancellation. In most cases, if the cancellation is accepted, you will receive a full refund.
To cancel an order in eBay:
- Find the seller and click Contact.
- Click “Select a Topic,” “Other,” “No, I Want to Contact the Seller,” and Continue.
- Type a message and click Send.
- Confirm your cancellation by clicking Respond Now in an email.
- Click “I Accept the Seller’s Request to Cancel This Transaction,” and then Send Response.
Was that too quick for you? If you want a more detailed set of instructions, be sure to read below where we explain the process step-by-step (with pictures)!
Detailed instructions for cancelling an order in eBay
1. Visit www.ebay.com in your web browser of choice, and sign in to your account.
Go to www.ebay.com. For this tutorial, we’ll be using Google Chrome, but any web browser you prefer will do.
2. Locate the seller.
Find the store or user that you bought the item from, and click on them to see their details.
3. Contact the seller.
In the top-right corner of the user’s profile, click Contact.
4. Choose a topic for your message.
Click the “Other” button under “Select a Topic”. At the bottom of the screen, click the button beside “No, I Want to Contact the Seller” (if there are any answers to questions under this category) and then click Continue.
(HINT: You can also get to the next step by moving your mouse cursor over My eBay in the top-right-hand corner, clicking on Purchase History, then clicking on More Actions and then Cancel Item underneath the item that you wish to cancel, and then clicking Contact Seller on the new screen that pops up).
5. Send a message to the seller.
On the next screen, click in the box marked “Enter a Topic” and type in “Need to Cancel Purchase”, or something to that effect. Then click in the box labelled “Hi [seller’s username]” and type in some details about why you have decided to cancel your purchase. Then click in the box next to the distorted image and type in the numbers that you see; this is a security check to prevent computer programs from automatically sending fake emails to people. When you’re done, click Send.
6. Wait for a response from the seller.
You should receive a response within a day or so. Move your mouse cursor over My eBay and click Messages.
7. Respond to the seller’s answer.
If the seller has agreed to accommodate your cancellation request, there will be an email from eBay asking you to confirm your cancellation. Click Respond Now.
8. Confirm that you want to cancel your order.
On the next screen, make sure the button beside “I Accept the Seller’s Request to Cancel This Transaction” is filled in (and click it if it isn’t). (NOTE: Be sure that you either haven’t already paid for the item, or have already received a refund confirmation from the seller, before you do this. Otherwise, you need to contact the seller again and work this out).
Click in the box marked “Give Additional Information to the Seller” and type in some last comments if you wish, and then click Send Response.
If you have difficulty completing this process, or your request is denied, you can always contact eBay’s customer service department, and they may be able to help you cancel your order. It’s always a good idea to try to resolve issues with the seller directly first, as eBay will ask you if you have already done this. But if you need the extra help, we’ll teach you all about how to do that in our tutorial on how to contact eBay customer service here.
That’s how to cancel an order on eBay! Thanks for sticking with us through it! If you’re looking for some more information about your eBay orders, consider reading our tutorials on how to track your eBay order. If you haven’t made a payment yet, but accidentally bid on something you don’t want, check out our upcoming tutorial on how to cancel an eBay bid.
