Ebay Cancels Auction After I Win AND Pay

So last night I made an offer on ebay for some brand new shirts. The offer was accepted, and there were more than 1 set available so the auction went on after I purchased mine. I paid immediately via paypal and things were good.

This morning I wake up to this email from ebay

Dear (my username and email removed),

Thank you for your bid on the following listing:

(item information here)

Unfortunately, eBay has removed this . All bids or offers on this listing have been canceled. Because the listing was ended, you no longer have any obligation to purchase this item.

Listings are removed for different reasons. For example:
- The way the item was listed may violate eBay policy.
- The sale of the item may be prohibited by eBay.
- The sale of the item may be prohibited by law.
- The removal may be part of a separate action taken by eBay that is unrelated to the listing itself.

We hope you understand that, due to privacy concerns, we’re unable to discuss the details of why this listing was ended. However, please note that the removal of this listing does not suggest that this seller’s standing in the eBay Community has been called into question.

For more information on why eBay may remove a listing, please go to:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/listing-ended.html

For information on how you can protect yourself and help ensure a positive buying experience in the future, visit:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/buy/buyer_checklist.html

We’re sorry for the inconvenience and thank you for your understanding.

Sincerely,

eBay Trust & Safety

So now ebay no longer lists this item on their site, and it isn’t even in my ebay anymore where you can normally find items you have purchased. I check my paypal account hoping the seller got word of this and refunded my money but of course that isn’t the case so I send an email to the seller explaining the situation.

The seller promptly replies that everything is fine and she will update me later tonight with the shipping details. Now you might think that everything is worked out, but ebay just completed an auction, sent us over to it’s partner paypal to transfer funds, and then ended the auction and completely removed itself from all responsibility. On ebay, there is no record at all of my purchasing or paying for these items, and I don’t see any way that ebay could help anything here. Now I used paypal so if there is any trouble I know I am protected through them, but what if I would have sent a money order when the auction ended and then ebay did this. I would have absolutely no course of action if something were to go wrong.

This transaction could still work out for me, and chances are it will, but it shouldn’t be okay for ebay to end an auction after someone has won and paid for the items. This leaves the buyer with no form of protection from ebay, and that is unacceptable.