Locked
Antworten können hier nur von erfahrenen Mentor*innen sowie der Person verfasst werden, die die Frage gestellt hat.
Refund despite provable shipping
Summary: happat reports a problem with eBay in which a valid tracking number was not accepted, which led to a refund to the buyer even though the item was shipped correctly. bootyooty explains that buyer protection applies when there is no proof of delivery, and recommends filing an inquiry with the shipping carrier. gebraucht-ist-gut and nina@ebay confirm that without proof of delivery, seller protection does not apply, and also advise contacting the shipping carrier. happat continues to ask why the tracking number is not being accepted in the system and expresses concern about possible system errors at eBay.
Hello to the ebay community.
I have a problem here where everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
I sold an item and shipped it correctly. I have a valid and correct tracking number for the shipment. But to my surprise and annoyance, this is not accepted in the ebay system. I get the message that this number has already been used for another shipment. But that is not true. I myself can clearly retrieve and track the shipment with this tracking number.
But now comes the actual problem. According to the tracking number, the shipment has been in a parcel logistics center for some time and has not been forwarded from there since then. The reason for this is not apparent. In the meantime, the buyer of my item has opened a case. But because I cannot enter the tracking number, ebay has now refunded the buyer the purchase price. That means for me that I shipped the item correctly. The tracking number proves that. But still the purchase price is being debited from me. The item is gone, my money too, and all without any fault of my own. I am a private seller. That means the shipping risk is borne by the buyer. So why is it being imposed on me now?
What can I do? How do I get the correct and valid tracking number entered into the system so that ebay sees that the item was shipped correctly? How do I get my money back, which was wrongly debited from me again?
Thanks in advance for any help here from the community.
bootyooty
Mentor1 month agoHey @happat Shipping risk is borne by the buyer… yes, everyone knows 447 BGB and everyone invokes it.
You just forgot that there is buyer protection here if an item doesn’t arrive. What else is your buyer supposed to do if not report an item not received? Besides, the tracking number is only secondary… what matters much more is proof of delivery. But there isn’t any, ergo buyer protection applies.
Have you ever looked into your package?
happat
OPSep 17, 2026 at 11:13 PMYes, based on the tracking information I can see where the package is right now. It has been in a logistics center in Witten (NRW) since August 26. Since then it has not been transported any further from there.
Since I can prove, based on the tracking number, that I sent it and that it is there in Witten, in my opinion it is now the buyer's responsibility. I have fulfilled my obligation according to the German Civil Code.
The problem is that I can't enter the tracking number into the eBay system. It isn't accepted there, although it is correct.
bootyooty
Mentor3 weeks agoAgain @happat it’s not (just) about the tracking number, but about the missing delivery.
You don’t have seller protection because you don’t have proof of delivery
https://pages.ebay.de/verkauferschutz-grundsatz/
bootyooty
Mentor3 weeks agoI'm sorry, but the BGB doesn't play a role here, I already wrote that. This is about a NON-delivery, I already wrote that it's not about "I did send it" but about actual delivery.
What's more, as the sender you should file a tracing request, since YOU are the customer at DHL and not your buyer. So I would quickly submit a tracing request online.
If the parcel was lost, the shipping service provider may be liable in some cases.
happat
OPSep 17, 2026 at 11:15 PMPS:
What about the "seller protection" that is also often mentioned by eBay ???
gebraucht-ist-gut
MentorSep 18, 2026 at 12:18 AMHello @happat ,
You can't apply your rights under the German Civil Code here, but instead have to enforce them, if necessary, outside of eBay.
You only have seller protection if the item was also delivered according to the tracking information.
That is not the case here, so the buyer now has a claim under seller protection.
Even providing the tracking number here wouldn't have helped, since no delivery is shown.
So contact DHL directly to find out what happened to your package.
From eBay's side, everything was handled correctly.
happat
OP3 weeks agoOK, thanks for the info for now.
Allow me one final question.
Why can’t I enter the completely correct tracking number into the designated field in the eby system? With that entry, at least ebay would have seen that I shipped correctly. I was also prompted to do this several times by ebay. The system won’t accept the tracking number and says the number has already been used for another sale, which is definitely not the case. The number is correct and can be viewed with the correct address.
bootyooty
Mentor3 weeks agoThen let's ask @nina@ebay 💗
nina@ebay
·3 weeks ago@happat Hey. 🙂 I’d be happy to take a look at this once. Here you could at least have sent the tracking number to your buyer via message.
That way, a shipment can’t be traced.
Please contact the shipping provider and submit a trace request.
@bootyooty Thank you very much for marking it. 💖
Best regards,
Nina
happat
OP3 weeks agoHello and thanks for the reply.
Yes, I could have sent the tracking number directly to the buyer. But unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to do that. I’m on vacation and don’t have the tracking number with me here. I also told the buyer that and assured him that I would take care of it right away after I got back from vacation. But the buyer ignored that and instead requested a refund through eBay.
But that still isn’t the answer to my question:
Why is the tracking number not being accepted in the eBay system? Is there perhaps a bug in the programming of the eBay data systems?
Can this error happen again? Are the eBay programmers or IT specialists looking into finding and fixing this error?