Unpaid for Winning Auction Bids
I'm finding that more and more buyers are bidding and not paying. This holds up product re-lists for 5 days and causes constant chasing of the buyer, who most times, never answer. Why doesn't eBay require a winning bid to be paid for at once, like Buy it Nows? If you go to an outside auction you must provide a credit card up front if you want to bid, and are charged immediately if you win and a buyers premium. My most frustrating complaint about the eBay system.
20 comments
toomuchstuffagain35
·2 years agoPlease feel free to add the buyer's must give payment info before bidding checkmark to your buying requirements.
fashunu4eeuh
·2 years ago“…Why doesn't eBay require a winning bid to be paid for at once, like Buy it Nows?..â€
Have heard discussions about this among eBay “blues†(eBay employees who interface with sellers). While several reasons exist, the one i hear most is that not everyone is glued to their device 24/7. eBay gives buyers more flexibility in auctions since the buyer may not be online at the auction’s conclusion..
susanb1872
·2 years agoI agree with @fashunu4eeuh . I recently purchased an item and won the auction. However, it ended on Saturday night and I was at a wedding and I paid the next day. So I agree that there should be extra time but I think 2 days would be better than 4 days.
frankenhobbit
·2 years agoI'm about choices and letting the market decide.
1) If you WANT to, as a Seller, you should be able to require payment details up front for offers/bids. If a buyer doesn't like it, they move on. eBay has this for offers already and is working on auctions if not done already.
2) If you WANT to, as a Seller, you should be able to require the auction winner to settle sooner than 96 hours.
The more flexible sellers may then get more business. If their business model leans towards buyers making multiple purchases, they can set it accordingly. But some sellers do not sell that kind of item and should be able to set payment terms accordingly. Besides, it's easy enough to refund excess shipping.
Frankly, from a buying perspective, I would like to be able to provide the payment details up front proactively, so that when I make an offer, the seller knows I'm serious and they will get paid immediately so therefore may be more inclined to accept.
luckythewinner
·2 years agoI'm about choices and letting the market decide.
It's easy to be about choices when you are not the one paying to design, develop, implement and maintain those multiple choices. Or the one who has to explain those multiple choices to buyers and sellers, and provide support to the buyers and sellers when confusion arises.
adkhighker
·2 years agoI couldn't agree more, and according to some recent buzz, eBay is supposedly working on the long overdo change that will give sellers the choice of selecting the option of immediate payment for auctions, which will prevent any buyer from bidding a certain amount if they don't already have that amount sitting in eBay's lap. When the buyer wins, eBay deducts the money from the buyer's account and uses it to pay the seller. Hopefully this will take place soon.
jerseyboymusic
·2 years agoThe interesting thing is that Ebay is now rolling out (HAS rolled out?) where if you submit a best offer, you are required to pay for it if the offer is accepted.
BUT folks seem to have an issue with that. Not sure why because a lot of sellers complain about what you are bringing up.
I welcome that change and hope it extends to auction winners (I don't bid on auctions that often, so not sure if that applies as well)
What @ckimodog says it tried and true, as well!
luckythewinner
·2 years agoThe sellers who complain about nonpayment are generally the ones who have an issue with non-payment. The ones who do not have an issue with nonpayment really have no reason to seek this board out and rant. So IMHO what you read on this board will not always be an accurate representation of the 20 million sellers on eBay.
My concern with collecting payment details upfront for auctions is that first-time buyers who come to eBay and want to bid $2 on a baseball card or $5 on a record album are going to be asked to give out their credit card number or PayPal account for something they may not even win.
If that turns buyers away and sends them off to shop elsewhere, that may affect the site overall and thus affect me - even though I have no issue with nonpayment and I only run fixed price listings.
jerseyboymusic
·2 years agoGotcha... very logical explanation! Thanks so much, very appreciated!
soh.maryl
·2 years agoWhy are you constantly chasing the buyer? He knows he has to pay. eBay sends a reminder. If he has not paid in 3 days, you can cancel, citing "buyer did not pay" as the reason on day #4.
As an experienced seller here, are you not doing that? Or you can set your buyer requirements to automatically do it for you.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@pamelculli0
Hi there
Sorry for your frustration. This is the solution:
Fixed buy it now price
Immediate payment required
NO best offers
There are just entirely too many sport and non paying bidders who have nothing better to do than take up a hard working sellers time. You can also set your buyer preferences that a bidder must have a payment method on file to pay. Many other e commerce venues require this as well.
I personally stopped using auction style listings years ago due to what you're experiencing. Now when I have a sale, I always get paid. Your items really don't warrant an auction style listing. Try my advice and PS Start accepting returns. No returns does not necessarily mean no refunds. Just a suggestion.
Happy Selling
adkhighker
·2 years agoWrong. Fixed price immediate pay required is by no means a solution for auction sellers, especially if you're selling something that might end up selling for a much higher price than you were anticipating, which is often the case when doing auctions. The fixed price you might put on a rare item, for example, would often end up being significantly less than what you might get by selling it through an auction.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@adkhighker
Thanks for your input, however as I stated the OP's items do not warrant an auction. If it was a rare coin or a rare vintage item, ok. They're selling random items that can be sold at a garage sale for pennies. Most here agree that auctions are passee and only 20% of sellers even exercise them, mostly new sellers who are in experienced and don't know what to do when a bidder doesn't pay. You are entitled to your opinion and I respect it.
Have a great day
adkhighker
·2 years agoHi. No problem. I didn't check out the OP's listings, and your solution sounded more general to me than specifically meant for the OP's kind of items. If they're selling the kind of items you mentioned, and where the value is already pretty much a pre-determined one, give or take, because of so many similar ones out there already, then yes, I agree fixed price IPR could be the way to go.
pamelculli0
OP2 years agoI fail to understand your attitude and critique of what we sell. We've been selling on eBay for a lot of years successfully selling collectibles, antiques and vintage items. There is a market for our items, beside your comment of "garage sale for pennies" items. If you researched our sold items, you'd see a vast array of unique and rare products having sold at "auction" for very strong prices. Having extensive experience in a career in the jewelry business, I could make the same claim about your line, but why go that road. I have respect for all eBay businesses and wouldn't think of trashing someone else's products. I wasn't looking for critique or criticism of what we sell. Only put out a question regarding "auctions" hoping for some constructive input by those who do run an auction business, of which it appears, we do share the same frustrations. FYI, we auction and Buy it Now our items based on timing of insertion, rare quality of the item, and amount of "watchers" interested in the item. Not all business run the same here on eBay. I wish you luck in yours.
ckimodog
·2 years ago@pamelculli0
I didn't critique or trash your items. I only expressed that I didn't think they warranted an auction.
You came on this forum & asked what to do when people don't pay?...myself & others gave a solution to help you get more solid sales and serious customers who will actually pay you. You shop is very nice & if I sounded insensitive, I apologize. My focus is to be helpful here on this forum, never hateful. People here are going to be honest from time to time. You are dealing with other business people here and their replies are business oriented, not personal. I'm sorry you chose to take it personally. That certainly wasn't my intent.
I also wish you well with your site and sales.
Happy New Year
luckythewinner
·2 years agoWhy doesn't eBay require a winning bid to be paid for at once, like Buy it Nows?
Why don't they do it at all? I suspect there are a number of historical, legal, and regulatory reasons. First, because eBay is not a traditional auction house and some of its clientele may be much less sophisticated. Asking a buyer to give up financial information before bidding on a two-dollar baseball card might be a turn off.
Why don't they do it like Buy It Now? Because Buy It Now requires the buyer to be present and confirm the amount and the payment source, but charging an unknown amount in the future requires a different type of authorization that is different between PayPal and a credit card company.
My most frustrating complaint about the eBay system
One that many sellers avoid by using Buy It Now.
causes constant chasing of the buyer, who most times, never answer
There is no need to waste your time and energy "constantly chasing the buyer" because eBay already repeatedly reminds buyers of unpaid items. This is work that you have chose to create for yourself.
theteamsetguy
·2 years ago@pamelculli0 ,
Since the vast majority of your auction items get only ONE bid why continue to do auctions. Just list them BUY it Now with immediate payment required?
However, if you have a lot of buyers that buy multiple items and want a combined shipping discount you will **bleep** off those customers. Since most of buyers buy more than one item I don't require immediate payment. It is very rare that I get a non paying buyer and i don't remember when the last one was. I get on average one or two buyers who want to cancel monthly which is less than one tenth of one percent of my sales. I just cancel if requested and move on.
pamelculli0
OP2 years agoThanks for the input...Our items are all usually One of a Kind, we deal in antique, collectibles, vintage, so the first listing is usually put up for auction, not knowing what the item will yield. Unlike your business, we don't always have items that have been sold before so pricing is always a question. We do switch to Buy it Now usually after the first auction or if there are multiple "watchers" on an item. Different businesses.
Thanks, again.
theteamsetguy
·2 years ago@pamelculli0 ,
Your welcome. My point was it looks like most of your auction items go for one bid at your minimum bid. For example out your last 15 auction items 14 of them sold for your minimum bid amount and the one that has 2 bids went for only $5.00 more than your minimum.
Based on this information you seem to already have a pretty good idea what an item will go for since your minimum bids usually draw only one bidder.