eBay

abbylilyd · ‎03-16-2022

Greetings all!

I'm in a bit of a pickle. I could use some advice as to how to proceed.

I told a Trifari lot on Sunday via auction. The high bidder and subsequent winner reached out to me late last night after I had sent an invoice.. and asked if they could make payment on April 1. 2 weeks from now. I don’t really know what to say.. has anyone else extended such a courtesy to a buyer with a handful of transactions under their belt?

christinesclassicjewelry · ‎03-16-2022

Honestly, this is up to you. I had a buyer that was a repeat customer that consistently asked for extended payment times, up to 2 weeks or more. Usually the items were lower value, so it didn't really bother me. It ended up being a pain in the @$$! The buyer would sit on them for weeks trying to win other auctions at low prices and then try to haggle with the combined shipping. I already am charging the lowest I possibly can for shipping. I finally stopped dealing with them after they went a month without payment. After 30 days, they can't pay, I can't open an unpaid item case, and I just cancelled the sale and blocked.

Then I have had others who ask for more time, pay exactly when they say they will, and it all works out great! Or people who say they can't pay till a certain date, and then just never hear from them again, never pay.

Is it worth it to you to wait the two weeks to find out? If you do and they pay, you have your money in 2.5 weeks? If you wait and they don't pay, do you then give them an extra couple days? If they end up not paying, then relist and sell it in 3.5 weeks, get paid possibly 4 weeks from now? Or just say no, relist now and have a sale in about a week, with payment coming to you in about 10 days if they pay right away. So, it's really just how patient do you want to be. Have you checked the buyers feedback left for others? If it has a bunch of negatives left for others, I would definitely just cancel the sale, block, and relist. If it's all good, it would depend on what bills are due, lol.

You could also try reaching out to the second highest bidder and see if they still want it. It might be a quick sale for just a little less than what it went for in this auction.

albertabrightalberta · ‎03-16-2022

@abbylilyd

The time to have asked questions would have (and should have) been before they won the auction.

That bidder's bid was 9 hours before the end of the listing so she had plenty of time to ask you about your flexibility in receiving payment.

If this were my buyer, I think I'd just tell her that ebay will allow 4 days for payment or the item will automatically close for non-receipt of payment.

And I'd block the buyer. 2 weeks is ridiculous to have to wait, especially when the amount of the item is $200-ish. If they're using a c.c., they have the float during which to have to come up with the money so it's not necessary to keep you waiting.

I've had buyers request to pay at the end of the week when they get paid certainly wouldn't give 2 weeks.

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

flipping_treasures · ‎03-16-2022

"The time to have asked questions would have (and should have) been before they won the auction." I totally agree.

If you had a second bid on the lot, I would offer them a second chance.

As stated, this is totally up to you. If it were me, I would say no. April 1st payment on a winning bid made on the 13th is too long in my play book. JMHO

Though the beauty may be in the butterfly, the struggle and growth occur in the cocoon.

donsdetour · ‎03-16-2022

Damages your metrics:

Ask them if they would like to cancel the transaction and you relist it on or after the date they can pay.

Correct procedure buy the way.

abbylilyd · ‎03-16-2022

Thank you all for your advice! You've given me something to think about. I will ask her if she would like to cancel the transaction. I hope that doesn’t come back to bite me.. as much as I want to be fair.. this IS.. a business.

much love!

1940fc · ‎03-16-2022

I agree with the others. Buyer should have contacted you prior to bidding..the longer it goes..the less apt they are to complete the transaction..

But not to be a negative Nellie..always be prepared when someone doesn`t 'get their way' . Ya could possibly be hearing Not as Descibed =refund. Hopefully that won`t happen..but just a thought, unfortunately

Keep us posted how it goes!

~~~Sarah~~~There's only ONE bad day when you love an animal

abbylilyd · ‎03-16-2022

Well…

I reached out after getting wonderful advice/opinions here.. I explained that this is business, not personal at all.. and that while I am sympathetic to the need to extend payment.. 2 weeks is not an acceptable period of time, and that I wished she would have asked prior to bidding. And that she can cancel the purchase.

12 hours later:

zero response.

I canceled it, blocked her and relisted it.. I don’t like doing this but the whole situation is completely unacceptable.

thank you all so much!

1940fc · ‎03-18-2022

Thanks for letting us know!

~~~Sarah~~~There's only ONE bad day when you love an animal

donotcallmetommy · ‎10-14-2022

I just dealt with a month-and-a-half selling multiple items to one customer who consistently did the same thing to me. On the initial sale, I sent an invoice (not going to do that again, I will message the customer before sending another invoice), and responded that he was glad I would do combined shipping. He paid for the first order. He bid on more items, and this time Ebay reminded him to pay, so he messaged me requesting I extend him for more bid items, and had to audacity to suggest I create an extension that could go on for weeks. He even gave a name of someone who I should contact who could guide me in the process. I didn't respond to that. I asked him to pay for what he'd already won, and he did. This was his pattern. So, in the last week or so, he again bid and won multiple items. I figured he would request an invoice since my next run would end four days after he should have paid. This morning, Ebay sent a message that the earliest item in his winnings was automatically cancelled. Some hours later I got an unhappy message from him accusing me of personally doing it to him, and he requested to cancel the rest of the items then block him from bidding anymore on my site. The guy did me a favor. Too bad, he was a paying customer, but only on his terms.

donsdetour · ‎10-14-2022

@donotcallmetommy wrote:
I just dealt with a month-and-a-half selling multiple items to one customer who consistently did the same thing to me. On the initial sale, I sent an invoice (not going to do that again, I will message the customer before sending another invoice), and responded that he was glad I would do combined shipping. He paid for the first order. He bid on more items, and this time Ebay reminded him to pay, so he messaged me requesting I extend him for more bid items, and had to audacity to suggest I create an extension that could go on for weeks. He even gave a name of someone who I should contact who could guide me in the process. I didn't respond to that. I asked him to pay for what he'd already won, and he did. This was his pattern. So, in the last week or so, he again bid and won multiple items. I figured he would request an invoice since my next run would end four days after he should have paid. This morning, Ebay sent a message that the earliest item in his winnings was automatically cancelled. Some hours later I got an unhappy message from him accusing me of personally doing it to him, and he requested to cancel the rest of the items then block him from bidding anymore on my site. The guy did me a favor. Too bad, he was a paying customer, but only on his terms.

"He even gave a name of someone who I should contact who could guide me in the process. "

Getting better at trying to get sellers to communicate off of ebay. Tells me this is a scammer.

Most situation like this are. best to wait the 4 days and then cancel sale for non payment.

lotzofuniquegoodies · ‎10-15-2022

@donsdetour wrote:
@donotcallmetommy wrote:
I just dealt with a month-and-a-half selling multiple items to one customer who consistently did the same thing to me. On the initial sale, I sent an invoice (not going to do that again, I will message the customer before sending another invoice), and responded that he was glad I would do combined shipping. He paid for the first order. He bid on more items, and this time Ebay reminded him to pay, so he messaged me requesting I extend him for more bid items, and had to audacity to suggest I create an extension that could go on for weeks. He even gave a name of someone who I should contact who could guide me in the process. I didn't respond to that. I asked him to pay for what he'd already won, and he did. This was his pattern. So, in the last week or so, he again bid and won multiple items. I figured he would request an invoice since my next run would end four days after he should have paid. This morning, Ebay sent a message that the earliest item in his winnings was automatically cancelled. Some hours later I got an unhappy message from him accusing me of personally doing it to him, and he requested to cancel the rest of the items then block him from bidding anymore on my site. The guy did me a favor. Too bad, he was a paying customer, but only on his terms.
"He even gave a name of someone who I should contact who could guide me in the process. "
Getting better at trying to get sellers to communicate off of ebay. Tells me this is a scammer.
Most situation like this are. best to wait the 4 days and then cancel sale for non payment.

@donsdetour

Is there anything in place or a way to turn off automatic cancel by ebay (at 4 days) in a case where a seller agreed to a short extension? Have had buyers want to add other items as I listed but there seems to be no way to do this.

-Lotz