Based on the rules/policies that govern trading at this site, when a prospective buyer makes an offer to purchase an item, the seller can select one of three actions pertaining to that offer,
1. Accept,
2. Decline, or
3. Counter.
Selecting one of these three actions triggers a specific outcome. However, the actions must be selected by using the tabs shown on the listing page, as there are no provisions for actions to be triggered by sending a message to the prospective buyer. In the event the seller does not select an action, then the offer expires after 48 hours. In this case, if the seller did not specifically select the action to "decline" the offer then, based on the buy/sell rules of this site, the offer would have remained active for 48 hours, during which time the seller could have still accepted the offer. The message discussed by the OP is not an accepted mechanism to decline the offer, based on the posted site buy/sell rules.
I agree with most here that, assuming the OPs story is factual, then the seller displayed incredibly poor form. However, it may be good to remember we have not seen the message from the seller, or heard both sides. At a minimum, this situation is a good reminder of the importance of knowing the rules, which can be found by selecting "sell" at the bottom of the homepage. Unfortunately, you will need to follow a couple of additional links to see all of the information.
1. Accept,
2. Decline, or
3. Counter.
Selecting one of these three actions triggers a specific outcome. However, the actions must be selected by using the tabs shown on the listing page, as there are no provisions for actions to be triggered by sending a message to the prospective buyer. In the event the seller does not select an action, then the offer expires after 48 hours. In this case, if the seller did not specifically select the action to "decline" the offer then, based on the buy/sell rules of this site, the offer would have remained active for 48 hours, during which time the seller could have still accepted the offer. The message discussed by the OP is not an accepted mechanism to decline the offer, based on the posted site buy/sell rules.
I agree with most here that, assuming the OPs story is factual, then the seller displayed incredibly poor form. However, it may be good to remember we have not seen the message from the seller, or heard both sides. At a minimum, this situation is a good reminder of the importance of knowing the rules, which can be found by selecting "sell" at the bottom of the homepage. Unfortunately, you will need to follow a couple of additional links to see all of the information.