I bought an item on ebay, but a few minutes after I canceled/requested a refund because I thought I really needed it, but turns out I didn't. they shipped it anyways. they refunded me and now it say's both "Unpaid item" under paypal but also says Item canceled/refunded. How will this affect me? I don't think there is an option to pay for it regardless and I don't have the item (I shouldn't, I canceled the order). I'd be fine with paying, but it's confusing.

Just ignore the 'unpaid item' notice. There's a bit of a glitch with eBay, whereby cancelled items show as unpaid. As long as the item was cancelled by mutual agreement (ie. there's no open dispute), everything is fine and this won't affect your status in any way.

If he filed an unpaid item dispute and listed it as mutually agreed to cancel, you MUST agree so he gets his final value fees back. (He still loses money on the deal.)

It effects your rating to the seller. The Sellers have options to block bidders with unpaid item strikes etc.

if they shipped it - you WILL get it - either return it or pay for it