eBay Order but Your Supplier Is Out of Stock: What to Do, Step by Step

What should you do when an eBay order comes in and the supplier is out of stock?

When you get an eBay order and the supplier is out of stock, you have two honest choices: get the right item to the buyer within the time your listing promised, or cancel the order quickly with a full refund. Waiting and hoping, or sending something different, usually makes the outcome worse for the buyer and for your account.

Speed matters more than anything else here. The earlier you decide, the more options you have and the less the buyer is left guessing.

Do these things first, in this order:

• Stop it selling again. Set the listing quantity to 0 so a second buyer cannot order the same missing item.
• Check the clock. Look at the order date and your handling time, which is the number of working days you promise to dispatch within.
• Confirm the stock-out is real. Ask your supplier whether another warehouse has it, or whether a confirmed restock date falls inside your handling time.
• Decide the same working day. Either you can dispatch on time from a source you are allowed to use, or you cannot.
• Tell the buyer. A short, honest message before they start wondering is better than silence.

Can you buy the item from another retailer and have it sent to the buyer?

No. eBay's drop shipping policy says that dropshipping, where you fulfil orders directly from a wholesale supplier, is allowed. Listing an item on eBay and then buying it from another retailer or marketplace that ships directly to your buyer is not allowed. That includes Amazon and any other retail website.

If eBay finds a breach, it may remove the listing, issue a warning, restrict your selling activity or suspend the account. You can read the rule yourself on eBay.co.uk's drop shipping policy and eBay.com's drop shipping policy. Even when you dropship from a wholesale supplier, you stay responsible for the safe delivery of the item within the time frame in your listing and for the buyer's overall satisfaction.

Options that keep you inside eBay's rules:

• Stock you already hold at home or in a unit.
• Another warehouse or a new batch from the same wholesale supplier, if it can still dispatch within your handling time.
• A second wholesale supplier you already have an account with.
• Buying the item yourself, receiving it and posting it to the buyer. You are then the one dispatching, so it must still arrive on time and match the listing exactly. Any Amazon purchase is made under Amazon's own Conditions of Use and Sale, so read them before you rely on Amazon for anything.

Do not send a different brand, model, size or colour without the buyer's clear agreement. An item that does not match the listing can lead to a not as described return under the eBay Money Back Guarantee, which costs you more than a clean cancellation.

How long do you have before the order counts as late?

Your deadline is the handling time and estimated delivery date shown on the listing when the buyer paid. If you cannot dispatch inside that handling time, the order is already heading for a late delivery or a cancellation. Our guide to choosing an eBay handling time you can always meet covers how to set this with a buffer.

On eBay.co.uk, the late delivery rate has no minimum for Above Standard sellers, but Top Rated sellers need no more than 5 late deliveries or 3% of transactions. With tracking, eBay treats an item as late if the delivery scan is after the latest estimated delivery date and there was no carrier scan within the dispatch time. eBay.com has its own seller performance standards, which you can check in Seller Hub.

The law also sets limits, and they differ between the UK and the US:

US sellers can read more in our explainer on the FTC 30 day shipping rule for eBay sellers. In practice, your eBay handling time is the promise that matters most, and it is usually much shorter than either legal limit.

What should you say to the buyer?

Message the buyer through eBay messages as soon as you know there is a problem. Keep it short, say what happened, and give them a real choice. Do not promise a restock date unless your supplier has confirmed it in writing.

A message you can adapt:

Hello, thank you for your order. I am sorry, but the item has just gone out of stock and I cannot send it within the time shown on the listing. I will cancel the order now and eBay will refund you in full to your original payment method. I apologise for the inconvenience.

If your supplier has given a firm restock date that is only slightly later, you can ask instead:

Hello, thank you for your order. The item is temporarily out of stock. My supplier expects new stock on [date], so I could dispatch by [date]. Would you like to wait, or would you prefer a full refund now? Either is completely fine.

A few rules for these messages:

• Keep everything inside eBay messages so there is a record if a case is opened.
• If the buyer does not reply quickly, cancel and refund. Silence is not agreement to a delay.
• Do not pressure the buyer to wait, and do not ask them to request the cancellation just to keep it off your record. Choose the reason that is true.
• If the buyer asks for a different item, the cleanest route is to cancel this order and let them buy the alternative listing, so the order always matches what was paid for.

How do you cancel an eBay order when the supplier is out of stock?

If you cannot dispatch on time, cancel the order yourself rather than leaving it open. The steps are similar on eBay.co.uk and eBay.com, although menu wording can change.

1. Open Seller Hub and go to Orders.
2. Find the order and open the actions menu next to it.
3. Choose the option to cancel the order.
4. Select the reason that says you have run out of stock or cannot send the item.
5. Confirm. eBay refunds the buyer to their original payment method.
6. Go back to the listing and make sure the quantity is 0, or end it if you will not restock.

A cancellation because you ran out of stock counts as a transaction defect, which is an order problem eBay holds against your seller performance. That is why the reason you choose matters and why it should be accurate. Our guide on how to cancel an eBay order as a seller explains which reasons count against you.

Worked example: how one cancellation affects your defect rate

On eBay.co.uk, sellers are evaluated on the 20th of each month, over the last 3 months if they had more than 400 transactions, otherwise over the last 12 months. Above Standard allows a transaction defect rate of up to 2% (Below Standard applies only when the defects involve more than 4 different buyers). Top Rated allows no more than 0.5% (no more than 3 different buyers).

Example (hypothetical numbers): suppose you had 300 transactions in your 12 month evaluation window.

• Each out of stock cancellation adds about 0.33 percentage points to your defect rate (1 divided by 300).
• Two cancellations put you at about 0.67%, above the 0.5% Top Rated figure, although eBay also applies the different buyers condition.
• Six cancellations reach 2%, the Above Standard limit.

The smaller your sales volume, the more each cancellation weighs. Read the eBay UK seller performance policy to see how your own figures are judged. eBay says Below Standard can mean selling limits and higher final value fees.

What if the buyer opens an item not received case?

If the order sits too long, the buyer may report it under the eBay Money Back Guarantee. Buyers can report an item not received within 30 calendar days of the estimated delivery date. You must respond within 3 business days; after that, the buyer can ask eBay to step in.

If you have not dispatched the item, refund in full straight away rather than arguing or asking for more time. A case closed without your resolution counts separately against you: on eBay.co.uk the limit is up to 2 cases or 0.3% of transactions, whichever is higher. You can check the details on the eBay Money Back Guarantee policy page.

Never mark an order as dispatched before it has actually been sent, and never upload a tracking number for a parcel that does not contain the buyer's item. Both mislead the buyer and leave you with a worse problem when the truth comes out.

How can you stop supplier stock-outs turning into cancelled orders?

Most out of stock cancellations come from a gap between what your supplier has and what your eBay listing says you have. Close that gap and most of the problem goes with it.

• Check supplier stock often. The longer between checks, the more likely you sell something that is already gone.
• Drop quantity to 0 automatically. A listing should stop selling as soon as the source is out, not when you next notice.
• List a low quantity. Showing a small available quantity limits how many orders one stock-out can affect.
• Build a buffer into your handling time. An extra day gives you room to fix a supplier hiccup without a late dispatch.
• Keep a backup wholesale supplier for your best sellers, set up before you need it.
• Review repeat offenders. If one product goes out of stock again and again, end the listing or find a steadier source.

If you source from Amazon and use Dropizon, its stock guard sets the eBay quantity to 0 when the Amazon page shows out of stock, used-only, restricted, pre-order or a dead page, restores it when the item is back, and re-reads and reprices a listing first after each eBay sale. You can see the details on how Dropizon works. It does not make any sourcing method allowed under eBay's rules, and you remain responsible for every order.

A quick checklist for today

1. Set the quantity of the affected listing to 0.
2. Ask your wholesale supplier, in writing, for any other stock or a confirmed restock date.
3. Compare that date with your handling time. If it does not fit, plan to cancel.
4. Send the buyer an honest message through eBay messages.
5. Cancel with the accurate out of stock reason if you cannot dispatch on time, and confirm the refund has gone through.
6. Check your transaction defect rate in Seller Hub so you know where you stand before the 20th.
7. Pick one prevention step from the list above, such as automatic zero quantity or a longer handling time, and put it in place this week.