Ebay Help! Won an auction, don't want it. What do I do?

I would send a note to the seller and ask!

Here’s the thing: You didn’t read the auction. Now the item has been sold, and eBay and PayPal are going to take their fees from the seller, no matter what. So, basically, you’re asking the seller to pay for your mistake, and list the item again, hoping to make enough money to make it worth their while.

So, you can send them a note and ask them, but it’s kind of a dick move.

Contact the seller.
Explain to them what happened, and that you will not be keeping the book, regardless. As a gesture of goodwill, you might offer to give them the cost of shipping one way (which you’d have to pay, regardless). The seller can initiate cancelling the transaction and re-list the book without incurring any charges.
Just be sure to check in at Ebay regularly, as you’ll have to be a party to cancelling the auction. I’ve been on both ends of this, and, well, sometimes crap happens. The last thing I sold on Ebay brought $78, the seller backed out and the relist brought $175!
It’s a lot less hassle for the seller to cancel the transaction than to go through the rigamarole of getting the book returned, having the payment refunded and then seeking final value fees return from Ebay.

It’s not true that PayPal and Ebay will require fees.
If the transaction is not completed, PayPal has not been involved and is due no fees.
If the seller cancels the auction on Ebay, there are no fees, especially if the seller relists the item (at no additional charge) and it sells.

Ebay’s not unreasonable and good sellers aren’t difficult to deal with, either.

As an eBay seller I always let people cancel because I don’t want bad feedback. It costs me money to do so and I get pissed off at the buyer but in the long run I feel it’s all I can do.

Yup eBay is a buyer’s world, lucky for you. Sellers dread negative feedback, and given they have a return policy, it shouldn’t be too tough to get it reversed. Just pay attention next time.

Buyers who rescind on their bids aren’t looked highly upon.

@gambitking Yep, and that’s why eBay doesn’t let you see who’s bidding on your items anymore. Used to be able to kick people off your auction if they’d screwed you over before.