"Awaiting payment - The buyer hasn't paid for this order yet."

[eklipse_systems]

I sent an offer to watchers and one accepted, and i just barely noticed when I was about to ship it that the buyer hasn't actually paid yet, and this is not the same as "processing" after Buy it Now.  So now...

1. Do I just wait out this time period for payment to come through? 

2. Is there any repercussions to the buyer if they don't pay?

[1786davycrockett]

@eklipse_systems 

Yup -- don't ship until eBay has confirmed that the payment has been received.

The buyer may get a strike against their account for nonpayment; but I'm not sure if that even is any more than a slap on the wrist with a feather.

[janet9988]

Yes WAIT!!!!!

You can cancel after 4 full days have passed as "buyer did not pay"

[a_c_green]

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@janet9988 wrote:

Yes WAIT!!!!!

You can cancel after 4 full days have passed as "buyer did not pay"

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Right. Wait until the "Buyer did not pay" reason for cancellation appears, which is after 96 hours from sale (or acceptance of your offer or whatever). That specific reason is what will net the buyer an Unpaid slap on their account. Two or more of those within 12 months and the deadbeat will find himself blocked from sellers with the tightest buyer requirements.

[mam98031]

Just for clarity.  A seller can file a Cancellation for Non Payment 96 hours after the buyer purchased the item.

If the seller sends the buyer an invoice, that will restart the 96 hour clock, so don't send out invoices.

[itemresa]

In addition to the good & accurate advice given by the other responders I'll add this:

Do not send an invoice to the buyer. eBay already sends payment reminders to buyers who haven't paid and sending an invoice will reset the buyer's 96 hour payment window. If you feel the need to contact the buyer about the payment do it through eBay messages.

[duffy4444]

   In addition to what the others here have told you, the one thing you should NEVER do is ship an item that does not show up in your Seller Hub under Orders > Awaiting shipment. This process should always be done before you even think of shipping the order.

Cheers, Duffy

[dbfolks166mt]

     In addition to the advice already provided by others there are a couple of account settings you can tweak to help with this type of situation. First for offers you can turn on the following setting in your account settings under Selling Preferences, Edit the following

At the bottom turn the following on.

     To automatically cancel items where the buyer has not paid after 4 days again under Selling preferences edit the following

At the bottom turn the following on and set the days at 4. You can also elect to have eBay automatically relist the canceled item if you wish. 

[soh.maryl]

It depends upon what you consider a "slap on the wrist with a feather".

The buyer  WILL get an unpaid  item strike.  Smart sellers have set their buyer requirements so that they never have to deal with a potential buyer who has two of those strikes in twelve months.  

[soh.maryl]

If you were unaware of certain rules and requirements for sellers, maybe it's time to re-read the information eBay offers sellers.