Ebay system won’t allow auction payment
I won an auction this morning. Ordinarily, eBay automatically notifies buyers to pay, either through a “pay now†link or directly through the cart, where the item is waiting for payment.
However, twice within a month or so, including this morning, there was no “pay now†link, no eBay notifications or emails, and no items in my cart. I won the auctions for sure, and I was not logged into a different eBay account. Yet there was no way to pay for them.
The first time this happened, within about two hours, the item finally showed up in the cart, and I paid without a problem. But this morning, I won the auction at about 9:45 Pacific Time. It’s now 4:44 p.m., and there’s still no way to pay for the item.
The item is no longer on my Watchlist, and it doesn’t come up using a keyword search in either current or ended auctions. Oddly, the only place it does show up is in my notifications feed with the red “Ending Soon†icon.
When I tap on it, the original product listing does come up, and it shows that I won the auction and how much my bid was. But there is no “pay now†link or any way to pay for it.
I spoke with an eBay customer service rep earlier today. After 49 minutes, she determined there is, indeed, an issue with auction payments and said she reported it to eBay’s technical team. She also said I should wait 24 to 48 hours to see if I’m able to pay for the item and that she would notify the seller, with whom I had already been in contact.
I wanted to let the eBay community know about this issue in case anyone else experienced the same thing.
reallynicestamps
·9 months agoLet the seller know your problem.
They can't do much about it, but it will be a comfort that you are not going to be a Unpaid Item.
...
Actually, I think the seller can send you an invoice, even if eBay already had.
Contact the seller.
roccotacodad54
·9 months agoI've never used the My Cart feature, I never even look at My Cart. Won auctions always show up in my Purchase History and if not Auto Pay it says Pending Payment or something of that sort.
That probably doesn't help but I've bid on an auction that's set to end in about an hour. I've entered my max bid and will come back here if there's a problem........................
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoUpdate: Ebay told me more than once this is a bug. They never followed up, so I called them yet again, telling them the seller and I would arrange payment though a new Buy It Now re-listing of the same item. That’s what happened, and it was the only possible timely resolution. I still haven’t heard back from Ebay, but the last thing they told me is that they’re going to fix the bug.
gone.c-33
·1 year agoYou should try and sign in to eBay.ca and see if you are at least able to pay from there so you don’t get an unpaid strike and lose your item.
mudshark61369
·1 year ago@intervalmagic,
You replied to @pikabo-icu last night writing:
"Hi. Thanks for the follow-up. No, I still can’t pay, and the seller is in New York. Thanks again".
You may not know it but a large number of China based sellers sell from warehouses in the NY. NJ. area. It might help us if you posted the auction's item number so we can look to see if your seller is one of them. There might be some tariff issues that have caused a China based seller to block certain payments or methods. Did you look at the seller's feedback profile page?
I use a computer for all of my ebay activities. I won an auction last night and was able to pay for it without a problem. That seller is one I have bought from before and I know they are U.S. based.
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoHi. Thanks. Yes, I'm aware of sellers outside of the U.S. using warehouses here. However, there is no evidence, including feedback, to suggest this seller is outside the U.S. Ebay told me to call back after 24 to 48 hours, which is today. I'll follow up with their solution, if they have one. My guess would be that eBay's system would be advanced enough to avoid tariff-based issues. Then again. 😉
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoP.S. This exact problem happened a couple of months ago. The only difference: the payment prompt kicked in within a couple of hours, and I was clear to check out. The seller for that item was in the U.S. for sure. Again, I think this is simply a bug. Guess I'll find out soon enough.
mudshark61369
·1 year ago@intervalmagic,
Another thought just occurred to me if you use the App have you updated it? An update was issued in late February.
If you use an older device that doesn't meet the upgrade requirements you can use your device's browser to shop on ebay.
https://community.ebay.com/t5/Mobile-Apps/How-to-update-your-eBay-app/td-p/34920437
You can also do a Google search for "eBay App Update 2025" which has more info in the AI article
If you use your device a lot, have you tried clearing its temporary internet files and cookie cache recently? If not try doing that and restarting it, then login to your account.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoClearing up some misconception about the app:
The big app change in Feb was a change in compatibility for users in the UK, not the US. If someone was affected by the Feb update they wouldn't be able to use the app at all, so that's not the issue here.
There are app updates released every single week (usually on Monday).
And about CS:
Outsourced CS can file a tech report. That report won't go anywhere unless multiple people are reporting the same problem. Users can also file tech reports without contacting CS by clicking the ? icon on the bottom right of most any eBay page on the classic website, or by shaking their device while the app is open.
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoGood ideas. It’s always good to be diligent about installing updates, etc. However, this particular problem is consistent across devices. I still very much appreciate your thoughts. I wish eBay paid you and others to do participate here. Thanks again.
pikabo-icu
·1 year ago@intervalmagic
One last thing.. Were you able to pay yet?
If not, Is this auction from a US seller?
You might return to the auction and check the country it's listed in & their shipping regions. Many places have blocked shipping to the US, some just in the last couple days because of tariffs & postal strikes.
Usually, it would stop you from bidding but sometimes a buyer is able to bid even though the seller doesn't ship to them.
It's just a thought on another place to look.
I sure am sorry you've had such a rotten go of it.
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoHi. Thanks for the follow-up. No, I still can’t pay, and the seller is in New York. Thanks again.
mudshark61369
·1 year agohttps://www.ebay.com/help/buying/paying-items/shopping-cart?id=4360
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoHello, @mudshark61369. Thanks for the troubleshooting.
>If you add an auction listing to the Cart, before the auction ends...
I didn't add the listing to the cart before the auction ended. In fact, I did nothing different from what I usually do when bidding on an auction. I simply placed a bid, and that was that.
>Have you gone to your My eBay summary page and looked for the Bids & Offers section?
Yes, several times.
>select Ended and your item should be there and you can open the listing and pay for it.
The item is there, just as it is under my feed (listed as "Ending Soonâ€). However, after opening it, there is no way to pay for it. This is clearly a bug.
>How did you reach the rep? If you had to wait for a call back, you spoke to a person who works for a contracted 3rd party call center.
This is how I always reach a rep, through the site or app after all the Help options are exhausted. Generally speaking, they're usually very helpful.
>Those reps cannot open tickets or contact ebay directly.
That doesn't seem logical to me. If Ebay contracts a third-party service, there would almost certainly be a way for at least someone at that company (managers?) to reach eBay when bug reports come in. This is clearly a bug. I've also reported this as a technical issue through eBay's app.
In any case, I appreciate your responses.
wastingtime101
·1 year agoI can try to dig a little if you want to send me a message with the item number @intervalmagic .
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoThanks so much. I actually spoke with an eBay rep who said she already reported it. There are no outward clues as to what the problem is. I think it’s somewhere in their backend.
ittybitnot
·1 year agoI won an auction this morning. Ordinarily, eBay automatically notifies buyers to pay, either through a “pay now†link or directly through the cart, where the item is waiting for payment.
@intervalmagic
If you were required to provide a payment source in order to proceed to bid, it is likely you have already been charged, and the item paid for. If that was the case, have you checked your "orders"? It would show there.
pikabo-icu
·1 year ago@intervalmagic
How frustrating.. Sorry about that.
So it's not showing up here? https://www.ebay.com/mye/myebay/purchase?page=1&moduleId=122163&mp=purchase-module-v2&type=v2&pg=purchase
And you weren't asked to enter a payment method before bidding?
One thing; if seller happens to be "away" you might not be able to pay until the return. I saw another person that had an offer accepted but they couldn't pay until the seller returned.
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoThanks. All good guesses, but no on all fronts: no purchase history, no payment method, and no away seller.
pikabo-icu
·1 year agoWow sorry..
Let me page somebody that might be able to figure it out or at least help create a ticket to get it fixed.
@wastingtime101 Can you take a look at this one? Please..
Thank you..
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoOh, thank you!
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoThanks again. Are you affiliated with eBay or more of a tech/troubleshooting hobbyist? Really appreciate your thoughts.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoNone of us here are eBay employees. All of us are fellow eBayers, buyers and sellers who volunteer our time here to help others when we can.
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoThank you for doing that.
pikabo-icu
·1 year ago@intervalmagic You're welcome, I'm just sorry we couldn't solve or at least identify your issue. YET.
The bulk of us are just sellers & buyers that offer our time & experience here to help others.
That said; there are some that have a LOT of experience and some tech knowledge as well as the ability to troubleshoot & report directly to eBay employees.
You will know when an eBay employee posts, their post will be highlighted in blue and they're clearly identified as such.
Wastingtime is an excellent troubleshooter and a tech guru as is Mudshark so you have a couple of the best on this thread.
Lastly, just for the future, the eBay phone reps will often tell you what you want to hear to get you off the phone. Many times the members here can diagnose and/or report your problem better & faster than the phone assistants. Also for the future; at the top of this page is a list of boards, they're drop menus; under "buying & selling" you'll find a technical board at the bottom. That's a good place to look for known issues & fixes when trouble irises.
Hopefully somebody will get this sorted out.. It surely can't be good for buyer or sellers.
Good Luck..
intervalmagic
OP1 year agoThanks. Appreciate all of your thoughts! I’ve used eBay for many years and am generally pretty knowledge about things. But I think in this case, it’s a bug beyond the control of anyone except eBay‘s developers.
I would like to think that a third-party service rep has the autonomy to report bugs to the $2 billion corporation that hired them. And for such a big and wealthy entity, the company should have developers, or at least highly skilled reps, present on its own community boards instead of relying on uncompensated volunteers to do their work for them.
Granted, volunteers like you and others are super knowledgeable and dedicated to helping the community. But to not have formal eBay representatives here on a regular basis is absurd.
ebenezemen-0
·9 months agoHi, I have same issue and have tried all possible solutions but to no avail. Currently i cannot place a bid on any item because i can not choose the payment method. Kindly help