Bought an item off eBay and can't pay.?

How would I go about not paying? Do I do a mutual wirhdrawl or something? So the seller can recover his selling fee?
Thanks

Mike i have been ebaying for 5 years and have a feedback of over 1100.
Personally if i was selling something and you had won the bidding but could not pay, an apology and an offer to pay the ebay fee's would be acceptable. People's circumstances can change overnight. I would not give a bad feedback to someone who paid the ebay fee's. It has never happened to me but i believe there is a route to both parties agreeing not to complete a transaction. Talk to the seller.

So why the heck did you bid?

You have 2 choices. Offer to PAY the seller his lost fees and then he won't need to file for the final value fee credit. Or, stiff the seller (and it wasn't the seller's fault you bid) and he files a well-deserved non-pay strike against you.

Many seller have their preferences set up to prevent someone who has a strike from bidding on their auctions. eBay may also restrict your bidding for several weeks.

There are two ways to do this.

Both ways require the sellers action. They can either ask to cancel the transaction, or file a non-payment report. Neither are serious for you, but about 3 non-payments within a month can lead to suspension.

I think only the final value fee is refunded, so they still pay the listing fee

to be fair its so annoying when someone doesn't pay as 9 times out of 10 the second chance offer to the lower bidder is rejected i myself used to pack and put label on so it would be ready straight away to post upon payment which of course lead to more loss as a seller. but ive learnt now ppl should not bid if they got no intention of paying and threatening to leave bad feedback is just wrong

Try asking the seller if you could pay his listing fee's. I know it's a bit sneaky, but tell him someone else bought you the item as a surprise cause you mentioned it. If they say no they want you to pay, tell them you'll leave a negative feedback for their unreasonable attitude.