Why was I charged for a buyers canceled order?

[ThelittlethingsByMya]

Why was I charged for a buyers canceled order? Ok so got a sale this morning - I haven’t gotten one since December. The buyer picked an existing listing that I didn’t have the exact colors for. So I messaged the buyer and was like hey, I don’t have the exact colors for the listing you bought, would you like to cancel or try similar colors, im really sorry. They messaged back and said they would like to cancel. So I did and it processed and whatever. But then it said that 2 dollars was charged to my card. Why? This was a 6 dollar item the buyer bought and why was I charged so much!? All help is appreciated- thanks amazing people at Etsy!

[cutebutton]

If the funds were not available to you yet anything over what you have in your payment account would be charged to your credit card.

[MaynardMillinery · Accepted solution]

Here's how it does down:

Buyer pays $6

Etsy immediately charges its fees $2

Your payment account receives $4.

Buyer requests to cancel. 

You cancel and refund in full, but your payment account only contains $4, so Etsy charges your CC the missing $2.

Once cancellation has processed, Etsy refunds you the fees they initially charged, so your payment account is now in credit of $2.

Once your next dispersement rolls around, that $2 will be deposited and you can pay off your CC bill. 

[ThelittlethingsByMya]

Ahh gotcha. This is disappointing as to how it works but well I supposethat’s how Etsy does businesses 

[TheButtonista]

It is a tad annoying, to have to remember to go back and pay off your CC bill. Especially when we're used to the likes of PayPal issuing the fees back at the point of refund and squaring off the deal in one go. 

[audreytherese]

Next time if you wait until the money is in your available deposit amount (mine account always updates at midnight), not just in your current balance, then they won't charge you for the difference of what's not available yet. 

[MaynardMillinery]

In this case, that wouldn't make any difference. The OP didn't have any funds in her payment account as she hadn't had a sale since December. She only ever had $4 in her account to try and refund $6 from.