what would you do in this situation?

Buyer send deposit for an animal for sale, and then sends a payment a few weeks later then after another few weeks tells me they are no longer able to buy and wants to back out of the sale?

What does your Terms of Service say happens when a buyer cancels?

Although I did make it clear that deposits are non refundable, I don't have a specific statement regarding backing out of a sale

Well, what was the purpose of the deposit?

Originally Posted by SilverRaichu

Although I did make it clear that deposits are non refundable, I don't have a specific statement regarding backing out of a sale

Well, the two are rather related, there's no concern about a deposit being refundable or not if the buyer follows through.

So, send back the remainder of the payments and post the critter up for sale again.

Originally Posted by bcr229

Well, the two are rather related, there's no concern about a deposit being refundable or not if the buyer follows through.

So, send back the remainder of the payments and post the critter up for sale again.

This is what I did, I wanted to make sure I did the right thing. Thank you

If you read the BOI, a nonrefundable deposit followed by a back out is not unheard of. A TOS is a good thing to have, but if you look at those BOIs, many times opinion is swayed by the reason the buyer backed out.

If the buyer just decided they liked another animal from another vendor better, that is one thing; keep the deposit and don't give it another thought;
on the other hand, if the buyer suddenly became unemployed, or his work vehicle broke down, or his house burned down, readers sometimes are in favor of a refund simply because of need, and sometimes will mention that doing so makes a friend who may well buy again once the disaster has been dealt with.

Kudos for returning the money. Keeping a backed-out buyer's deposit is a sure fire way to make enemies in this business no matter what your TOS says. However, I'm a firm believer in a 10% restocking fee though.

Originally Posted by Lucille

If you read the BOI, a nonrefundable deposit followed by a back out is not unheard of. A TOS is a good thing to have, but if you look at those BOIs, many times opinion is swayed by the reason the buyer backed out.

If the buyer just decided they liked another animal from another vendor better, that is one thing; keep the deposit and don't give it another thought;
on the other hand, if the buyer suddenly became unemployed, or his work vehicle broke down, or his house burned down, readers sometimes are in favor of a refund simply because of need, and sometimes will mention that doing so makes a friend who may well buy again once the disaster has been dealt with.

Originally Posted by JButera

Kudos for returning the money. Keeping a backed-out buyer's deposit is a sure fire way to make enemies in this business no matter what your TOS says. However, I'm a firm believer in a 10% restocking fee though.

There are certain situations where it is fine (justifiable) to keep a non-refundable deposit and there are certain situations where a non-refundable deposit should be returned no matter what one's TOS states (see Lucille's post).

Your 10% idea is not a bad one. I do believe there should be a reasonable "penalty fee" for buyers who back out.
However, calling it a "restocking fee" is ridiculous when there is nothing to restock if the animal never left the seller's home/facility.

....

How about "Breach of Contract fee", that less ridiculous? I still like restocking fee better, sounds less punishing.