Ebay Question on how to deal with non Payers

[romantico]

Ebay Question on how to deal with non Payers

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I just started selling items on ebay and kind of new to the game. I have been buying on there for years now and have excellent feedback.Well, I sold an item the other day and the buyer has still not paid me. In my auction I clearly state that payment must be paid within 3 days of the end of auction.Its now 5 days and I am leaving tomorrow night for a week long getaway and was hoping the money would be in my account and that I could send off this one last item. I have sent the buyer 2 invoices and even an email explaining my situation. All have been ignored. Oh, and I checked his feedback. Its pretty good but he has 3 strikes against his account (3 negatives)And they are for not paying for items. Still, his feedback is pretty positive and these 3 strikes happened over 12 months ago.

So, my question is should I in the future give buyers 7 days? Am I being to much of a nag on this guy? I don;t want to make trouble because my feedback is perfect and I fear he may ruin that. Of course, I know after a week I have the right to dispute it and all but it makes me angry that the buyer is ignoring my rues of my auction. Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated.

[BobRossi]

1. Check the eBay rules.

It's all there.

[grasswire]

2. you still have the item...

...so all you are really out is the eBay fees if the bidder doesn't pay. My position as a long-time seller is that life is too short to quarrel over the little stuff. People make mistakes, they change their minds, whatever. The relative cost of selling on eBay compared with a brick and mortar retail operation is so small that a bum listing can be absorbed. Call it the cost of doing business and have a great trip.

[speedoo]

3. Your buyer has terrible feedback.

Three non payment strikes is awful. I don't see how he's still an ebay member.

Start the unpaid item process immediately, and you'll be able to resell without any additional ebay fees. And hopefully get that buyer suspended from ebay.

[pitohui]

6. i agree, if there are 3 strikes there are FAR more unpaid bids

i too would start the process ASAP because i learned that if someone has even one strike for non payment, guess what, chances are about 99 to 1 (only a slight exaggeration) that they aren't going to pay

3 strikes is just beyond unacceptable

[gateley]

4. I was always irritated when people said they wanted payment in

three days. Sometimes I had to wait until payday to be able to pay. Three days wasn't very reasonable in my world. I have 100% positive feedback, and I've got a few thousand, so I felt as though the seller was losing an opportunity to establish a relationship with a good buyer.

That's how it looked from my side, anyway. :7

[pitohui]

5. then don't bid

i would request a payment in a certain amt of time for a reason, such as, i was leaving town and would not be able to ship after that time

if you don't have the money at the time you place the bid, PLEASE DON'T BID

"a good buyer" is a buyer who pays under the conditions stated in my ad, not someone who pays if and when they damn well feel like it

[romantico]

7. I am like that to

I always pay as fast as I can. If I am online and an auction ends and I won the item, I always pay as soon as possible. I see other people ask for payment within 3 days and my attitude is to complete the transaction as soon as possible after the auction ends. If someone emailed me and asked if they could delay payment, I would do so with no problem. This person is not answering my emails at all. I don't think I could get ebay involved until a week passes. So, if I don't have payment in the next day or so I will have to dispute it. Its not exactly a couple dollars we are talking about. Its a $300 item and the money will help me pay for some other items ending soon,so the delay is slightly screwing me up.

I know what I have to do. I just have to wait 7 days before I do it. I was just looking for other sellers experiences and stories. Thought maybe there was something I wasn't doing that they would suggest. Anyway, I do appreciate the responses!

[miles 2 go]

9. You might want to contact the next highest bidder

and see if he is able to pay immediately and wants the item at his highest bid which should only be a buck or two less than the original winner. If he wants it, then sell it to him. Go the the next guy down if he doesn't. If the original guy sends his money after you have sold it to guy # 2, just refund him with an apology that includes him not answering your emails or following your stated payment requirements.

Since you are on a time restraint, contact bidder 2 before sending him a second chance offer, as he will get a day or so to accept that offer or let it expire.

[gateley]

10. I DON'T bid if it has a three day limit and I didn't have the funds!

You may want to re-read my post. I said those who imposed a limit I couldn't honor, lost a potential future buyer -- I did not bid.

I don't need a lecture from you on what a good bidder is. Over 2,000 people think I'm great, and the most comment common comment is"immediate payment".

:eyes:

PS - If you'd like to PM me your eBay user name, I can make sure to never bother you.

[miles 2 go]

8. Often, sending them a notice from ebay for non payment

gets them to quickly answer your email and send payment. It's the first step for non payers. If he still doesn't pay, you will take the next step and that is filing to get your money back. It takes 3 non payer strikes in a month to get someone knocked off ebay for a month (I think)

You will have a few non payers. Just count on it as part of the process. You might want to add a note on your auctions to contact you if unable to pay in your time requirements. Depending on how much it is, things do happen that prevent people from being able to pay. He also could have gotten kicked offline and is having trouble contacting you.

If he mailed his payment, he may be assuming that the problem will resolve itself.

Just send a ebay non payment reminder. It doesn't cost them a strike but if he is going to pay, it will get his attention. If it doesn't then he is not going to pay. Continue the process and get your final price fees refunded.

As for your feedback, get used to the idea that you will get a negative or two. You can't please everyone and some people leave feedback before trying to resolve the situation with you. They can't take it back once they leave it. At least after they leave neg feedback, you can add a note of your own that explains your side to people that read your feedback.

I usually will refund peoples money if they have a legit complaint. Like a movie that doesn't play or something like that. But if they leave neg feedback before telling me there was a problem, they won't be seeing a refund. If I feel the item was described adequately, defects and all, then they are just stuck with the item. I can't refund for buyers remorse.

Hope that helps

[romantico]

11. Thanks!

Some good points. I accept PAYPAL only so he is not sending me the payment.I think the payment reminder will be my next step. As for those who simply won't bid if a 3 day time period is requested I say, good! This person saw the auction and my description. If they had a problem with that then simply do not bid. Again, I am pretty easy going and if a bidder emails me asking if they can pay within a week or so I won;t have a problem, especially if they have good feedback. In my short time as a seller I have had some real jerks. One guy who won an item tried negotiating on the price AFTER the auction was over. Another wanted me to do better on the shipping, again this was after he 'bought it now'. I think the thing that irritates me the most is the ignoring my messages. Communication is the key to a pleasant transaction. Ignoring a buyer/seller is rude. Thanks again for the tips!

[2Design]

12. send a note saying you are going on vacation and will not ship until payment is received

There are a lot more scams on ebay then 4 o=r 5 years ago - I no longer buy on ebay after a book seller stiffed me and ebay argued with me about getting my money back - there is very little recourse for fraud - even if they go after the person and finally block him or get anything - you are stuck with people who are just plain smucks - think of a site like DU and the difference here and we are supposively on the same side - weill some of these ebayers are just out to tweak people - some click and never plan on buying and then you pay fees for the posting and are stuck with a cost.

[bedazzled]

13. i've had a few non-payers over the years -- i file a non-paying complaint

after i send them a reminder email. they'll either
pay or i'll get my fee back and try again.

i did not leave them negative feedback (when that was
possible) because i didn't want to deal with retaliation.
now of course you have no option to give an honest
opinion of a buyer.

they're working to improve the site all the time
(snicker...)

anybody like their new beta improvements -- worse
than ever...

[ima_sinnic]

14. just follow the nonpaying bidder procedure and move on

At the beginning of the process, eBay sends them a reminder, and this will quite often shake them into action. But I have had nonpaying bidders, and I gave them negative feedback and relisted the item. In most cases it actually worked out better, because in the next round of bidding, the final bids were higher than the in the first round. A nonpaying bidder has no case for "retaliatory feedback"--they didn't pay, so what complaint can they have about the seller?

After selling off and on for several years on eBay, I've learned to never make plans around money I assume I'm going to get. 99% of the time, buyers pay quickly, but the other 1% wait several days and then mail a check or MO, which really drags out the process (but of course apparently eBay is disallowing checks and MOs), or they don't pay at all.

[chris_c]

15. non paying bidders

Hello,

I usually give my buyers 7 days to pay.
However, if you use the Ebay Turbo Lister software, you can set rules that will disallow users to bid on your items if they have a certain number of non-paying-bidders strikes within the last 12 months.
That may be handy for you.