Pat thought he had sold his PSP on eBay, but now complains that he’s stuck in a lurch — unable to get rid of the device — because the inexperienced buyer won’t pay up.

He writes:

I’m writing to share my ongoing drama on eBay with you and your readers. I recently posted and sold a PSP-1000 system on eBay which was won by someone with no feedback history, so I knew there might be a problem from the get-go. I was right. I sold the item over a week ago and have heard absolutely nothing from the buyer, even after sending the invoice three times and also sending a few e-mails. I also tried to cancel the transaction, assuming that the buyer had changed their mind…but the buyer unfortunately canceled that request, which has been the only sign of life he or she has shown throughout the process.

I am now stuck with the item I wanted to sell, no money paid to me from the buyer, and no more help from eBay because once you open a case in an attempt to close an auction and it is blocked by the other party, you aren’t allowed to open another one. If this goes 61 (yes, SIXTY-ONE) days without payment, eBay will automatically close the auction but they WILL NOT refund their cut of what the item sold for. So basically, my only option right now seems to be for me to wait and let eBay collect their fee.

Am I missing something? Is there some magic button that I missed on eBay’s website that would fix this? HELP!

Do eBay jockeys have some advice for Pat?

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