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Buyer Never Paid
I listed an item for auction. The auction ended almost 2 weeks ago, but the buyer hasn't paid, and they haven't responded to any of my messages. I would like to find out how to force the buyer to pay. As a technical matter, the buyer has entered into a binding contract under which they are legally required to pay the purchase price (at least, that's what they taught me in law school). However, based on the information I have been able to find on eBay's site, my only recourse through eBay is to cancel the order. At the very least, I would like to leave negative feedback regarding the buyer, but I can't even find a link on eBay to do that. Are there any tips out there from more experienced users?
woodland_gnome
·2 years agoeBay is not going to send goons out to forcibly seize the money from the buyer, nor to bill one of his/her payment sources without his/her express consent (like the pre-authorization for payment of a Best Offer that the seller opts in or out of on his/her Buyer Requirements page--eBay experimented with requiring the same for auction bids but that appears to have wound down without being made permanent like for Best Offer).
Theoretically you can sue the buyer for the difference between the auction price and what you eventually end up selling it for, but that is almost never practical. (Have you ever actually PRACTICED law in the real world to know that having a cause of action is not the same as eventually collecting damages on it?)
Sellers can't leave negative (or neutral) feedback for buyers because too many sellers were using the threat of negative retaliation to discourage less than positive feedback from buyers no matter how warranted it was. And then if the threat wasn't enough, they would leave a scathing negative feedback for the buyer and seek a "mutual withdrawal." Since accurate and honest feedback for the seller is so much more important than for the buyer (all buyers have the ability to examine the seller's feedback profile before anything happens, while the seller is seldom able to do so and there are issues with taking action after the fact) eBay did away with negative and neutral feedback for buyers in 2008 and banned getting around that by leaving a negative comment on a positive rating.
On the other hand the Buyer Requirement that blocks those with 2 or more strikes in the past 12 months (or the more lenient settings available) acts automatically to block bids, offer, and BINs from serial deadbeats (IF their sellers used the proper unpaid item process) and so is far more effective than expecting to be able to react to feedback.
You should also add the deadbeat to your Block Bidder/Buyer List.
pblum3584
OP2 years agoThanks. And, no, I am not under the illusion that, in the real world, I could track down the deadbeat buyer, serve process and successfully sue for $321.15. I was merely implying that it would not be unreasonable to expect eBay to have some mechanism for withdrawing the payment from the buyer's account or otherwise penalizing the buyer (though it sounds like eBay does not follow such a practice for practical reasons).
house*of*paws
Mentor2 years agoHi @pblum3584
In ‘reality’ … which may or may not conform to classroom learning … eBay has no legal way to force a buyer to pay nor a seller to ship (a purchased item).
You can cancel the item choosing ‘Buyer hasn’t paid’ as the reason … which will put a nonpayment strike on the buyer’s account. [Two strikes within a 12-month period will prevent the buyer from using most of eBay for a year.]
Sellers cannot leave negative or neutral feedback for buyers. Nor can they leave a negative comment with a positive feedback.
So cancel the transaction and relist the item … hoping for better luck/buyer next time! 😊
rfmtm
Mentor2 years agoCancel the transaction for non-payment, this puts a strike on the buyer's account. A couple of those and buyer will be blocked by most sellers for a year.