Mandated default payment for the make an offer option

[clarence6344]

Why is eBay requiring us to set a default payment before we can make an offer on items that have this option.?  EBay says that this is for the customers convenience so the item will be automatically paid by your default payment if the seller accepts.  This actually is an inconvenience for me because I would rather choose which payment method I want to use after the seller accepts and pay for it at my convenience.  EBay should at least give you the option to use the latter method instead of mandating that you use the default method.

[mn467462]

Because of deadbeat buyers who submit offers and never pay.

That's the reason why I took off best offers on all my listings. But now I'm thinking about adding them back since I know I will be paid. 

[buyselljack2016]

@mn467462 

That is a hit n miss possibility.

Not all buyers are in the "test program".

[buyselljack2016]

@clarence6344 

pay for it at one's convenience

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is all well, and good, but too many just find it inconvenient to pay, or were just sending out "offers" to multiple sellers, and then picking one (or none) from those accepted offers.

[lady_madonna]

@clarence6344 

You can choose whichever payment source you want to use before you make the offer.

[lady_madonna]

@clarence6344 

Since it is too late to edit my previous post, I am attaching a screenshot showing that you can easily change your payment method before you submit your Best Offer.

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[ebooksdiva]

Due to so many seller’s complaints about buyers making offers and not paying after the offers are accepted by the seller.

eBay has given sellers the option to use a buyer requirement that requires buyers making offers to provide a method of payment prior to making an offer.
Sellers can choose to use it or not.

This requirement impacts a select group of buyers. 

You can message the seller and ask if you could be placed on their exemption list, but they are not required to do so.  

[stainlessenginecovers]

HOW do you NOT know what payment method you will be using when your 'offer' is accepted?

WHY can't you DECIDE what payment method you will be using when your 'offer' is accepted?

[powell-memorabilia]

Buyers are not in the program - it is sellers.  I can set my requirements to require a payment source to make an offer.  

[transamcc]

I QUIT making offers completely when it came up over a year ago.  Now i do not have to put up with the delays ebay had in releasing "holds" placed on my $$ source when a seller declined. That has historically taken several days for ebay to clear the hold, tying up buyers funds the entire time. Since I have not offered in over a year I dont know if it still  happens or not. That part worked just like any merchant hold  on stuff like  card  pay at the pump gas etc.  Sellers were distraught over no pays or their items being in limbo for days, so the burden was shifted to the buyers instead. I quit offering at that time.

[mtgraves7984]

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@powell-memorabilia wrote:

Buyers are not in the program - it is sellers.  I can set my requirements to require a payment source to make an offer.  

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Actually, buyers are  in the beta program... which might be a site-wide (?) requirement for making offers by now.

As a seller, I ticked the option you referenced when it became available weeks ago... thinking, hey, better for sellers, no? (Only about 15% of my listings had OBO.) After reading how unhappy buyers are with the new requirement (to the point of arrowing-back on sellers), I simply removed the OBO from my listings altogether.

[ittybitnot]

Buyers are not in the program - it is sellers.  I can set my requirements to require a payment source to make an offer.  

@powell-memorabilia 

eBay placed the requirement on all seller accounts with a default to YES. 

Yes, you can set/keep your requirement as "yes", but it is useless for you until the BUYER ID is forced into the program. 

Personally, I always looked to see what else the seller had for sale so I could combine shipping.  Now I don't make offers because that option is removed for me since my buyer ID was awarded this new feature.  Been saving a lot of money.  

I see the "screen" telling me I have to pick a default payment source, I simply back up and move on. The item is on my watch list and often I will get an offer from the seller for less than my offer was going to be had they not had the preference set to "yes".  

Perhaps it would have been better to auto enroll non-payers instead of 20 year old accounts with impeccable ratings for ALWAYS paying for what they buy. 

Besides limiting your buyer pool, eBay gets to make more money though, especially on multiple accepted offers from the same seller.  If I made ten offers that are accepted, the seller pays fees on all the shipping/taxes (that can no longer be combined for a lower price) and gets to pay the .30 cents each for ten transactions instead of one. They get to buy ten shipping labels instead of one as well, since these are all individual transactions now requiring unique tracking numbers.  

[ms.rodriguez*]

That is the problem.  Why should a seller wait for your convenience to pay.  Imagine going into Macys, grabbing an item and walking out and you will pay for it at your convenience?   When you make an offer, you should be ready to pay.    You should decide which credit card you want to use and have it set up in PAYPAL.  The only problem with this new feature is if the buyer wants to buy multiple items and wants to make offers on other items inorder to save on shipping.  There should be a button that would allow a buyer to send in more than 1 offer and ask for combined shipping if possible.

Too many buyers were waiting for a convenient time to pay. Sometimes, they are waiting for their next paycheck and that long wait is not fair to the seller.  As it is, 4 days is too long to wait for payment.  I would change that to 3 days if I were ebay  I would have said 2 but I know some people use the weekend only for family time.

[lilredbird]

First I would like to say I can only imagine how frustrating it must be for sellers who have to deal with buyers who do not pay for their items in a timely manner.  But why is it that the bad people get to ruin it for everyone else ??  I like to think that I am a responsible buyer and according to my reviews just about every seller calls out the fact that I am a prompt payer.  Yet Ebay's solution to this problem is to force me into automatic payments for "make offer" items, and this feels like a punishment that I have not earned.  Not only is it a punishment for me , it is a punishment to sellers as well because this decision has & will block possible sales.  I tried to make over 5 offers recently & because of this new policy those sellers lost the opportunity to make a sale.  I have read through Ebay's payment policy and I am confused by the fact that auction items & regular sales are given a full 4 days to make payments.  There are also tools to hold buyers accountable, who do not pay on time.  So what gives... why only "make offer" items or is this something that Ebay is moving towards altogether ?  I hope not, because I quit my membership to Poshmark for this very reason, I was worried if my account got hacked it could turn into a real free-for-all that would be an absolute mess.  I feel much safer controlling what & when charges are made on my Paypal account, I do not think any platform should force  good buyers to submit to this kind of regulation as well as put us into what I think could be a disastrous situation.  Maybe Ebay could look into shortening the amount a time a buyer has to make a "make offer" payment.  For example;  When an offer is made a seller usually has either 24-48hrs to reply, why can't that mirror the time a buyer has to pay.  I have made well over 100 transactions on Ebay in the past year & while that may not be a lot, it does count for something & I can't be the only buyer that feels this way about this new policy.  I am reaching out in hopes that there are others out there like me who feel the same way & want to help Ebay come up with better solutions for everyone.

[ms.rodriguez*]

First, if you make an offer, you should be willing to pay for it at that moment. When I go shopping at Macys, I have the funds to immediately pay for an item.  I don't need 24 hours to decide between Amex or Macys' credit card.  I also do not go to Macys if I do not have money to pay.

  As a buyer, if I see that a seller has multiple items that I want and they have the feature that requires immediate payment, I emailed them directly.  I tell them that I would like to buy items X, Y and Z and my offers are _____.  You fill in the blanks. You also ask them what would the shipping be to  your zipcode.  Finally, you ask them if they can take off the immediate payment feature off temporarily so that you can make those offers.    Obviously, you will need to email back and forth a bit to make sure that you both agree on the offer prices and the shipping. Please note that NOT all items can be combined too.  

I doubt if ebay will remove this feature. What they need to do is add a button or a link where the buyer can make more than 1 offer.  

Be aware that the number of non-payers here is in the millions.   Ebay is also losing money , not just the seller so I doubt that ebay will stop this feature.