Nonpayment Dispute: How serious is it against a buyer?

[muddyknees!]

Ive looked high and low, and while theres lots of yada-yada, Nothing is clear, I really need specifics please -- 

(1) Is there a set rule as to how many days or how many invoices before a Seller can open a Nonpayment Dispute? 

After eBay's first invoice on the actual day of sale, Ive seen where many sellers send 2 more invoices, day #2 and day #3 - maximum 3 days total before opening a Dispute. 

(A) Is this customary or just random, an arbitrary number set by the Seller?

(B) is it a specific eBay rule?

(2)  Is 4 days a firm rule by eBay for Buyers to pay after Dispute? 

I've read that a buyer has 4 days to pay once a Nonpayment is opened

(A.) Is this arbitrary set by the seller? Or a Firm eBay rule? 

(B.) 4 days exact from Dispute opening?

(C.) or 4 Business Days (M-F only, not incluiding SatSun)

And of course, if they dont pay, then the seller can grouse and grumble and relist.  But the buyer gets a deserved strike.  

(3)  Finally, Buyer 's ability to end the Dispute?   

So if the buyer gets the Nonpayment notice and pays Before the 4 days are up:

A.) Is there still a penalty or strike against the buyer because a Dispute was opened?

B.) OR Does eBay treat this 4-day period like a Grace Period - allowing  for human error, emergencies, health issues without penalizing.  Once the buyer pays before the 4-days, then the whole dispute thing goes away??.

THANKS!  Any help and specific definitive answers Reallyy appreciated.

Good Karma to you and yours!

Jean A

[mudshark61369]

@muddyknees!,

ebay allows sellers to open an Unpaid Item Dispute (UID) as soon as 48 hours after an auction ends or Buy It Now is used, and many use the automatic unpaid Item Assistant to open disputes. Each seller decides how long they will wait before they open disputes. 

If a buyer does not pay within 96 hours of a dispute being opened the seller can ask eBay to step in or the assistant does that automatically, and an unpaid item strike is entered against their account.  It doesn't depend on what day the the 4 day period ends.

If a buyer pays before the dispute is closed, nothing happens.  If the buyer doesn't pay they receive an unpaid item strike. Strikes are not made public, but many if not most sellers use an automatic Buyer Requirement that blocks buyers who have received as few as 2 strikes in a 12 month period.  That means you would not be able to buy from many sellers for 12 months after receiving your first strike once you get a second one.  Strikes time out after 12 months.

No one knows exactly how many strikes a buyer has to receive before ebay takes action, like limiting purchases or suspending them. 

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/payment-policies/unpaid-item-policy?id=4271

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/resolving-unpaid-items?id=4137

To avoid strikes you can ask a seller for extra time to pay, but that should be done before bidding or buying, and a seller does not have to agree to a payment extention. eBay deducts a seller's fees as soon as an auction is won or buy it now is used, so it is important to communicate with a seller or you could end up having a dispute opened and / or getting s strike.  Sellers have o file disputes to get the fees returned.

[nobody*s_perfect]

1. eBay allows sellers to open an unpaid item claim if the buyer doesn't pay within 48 hours.  The claim can be filed up to day 32 after the transaction.  Seller's choice.  Not related to how many messages or invoices the seller has sent.

2.  If the buyer doesn't pay within 4 full calendar days (96 hours) after the claim is filed, the seller  gets the option to close the claim and give the buyer a strike.  This option is available through day 36 after the transaction.

3. No penalty or permanent mark on the buyer's account if they pay before the claim is closed.

If the seller has set up the automatic Unpaid Item Assistant, it will automatically close the claim exactly 96 hours after it was filed, though the seller can turn it off if he wants to (e.g., if the buyer gives a good reason for the delay).  The UIA can be set up to open the claim at the seller's choice of  various intervals starting at 2 days after the transaction.

[jklfindings]

Mudshark is exactly correct.  The only thing I would add is that every seller is different.  Some may give you a week before opening a non paying case, some may give you the 2 days.  The key here is communication.  If my buyer hasn't paid in 48 hours, I open a case.  After 4 days I close it, and relist.  That item is unlisted for 6 days because someone is playing around, and that has consiquences on me feeding my family.  Now if a buyer contacts me and asks for an extra day or two, sure, no worries.  No communication equals a buyer who is just playing around in my eyes.  As a side note, if you get 2 of those non payment cases closed on you, you will have a hard time buying on ebay for a year.  A good number of sellers have blocks in place against buyers with non payment strikes.  

[missjen831]

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@mudshark61369 wrote:

@muddyknees!,

ebay allows sellers to open an Unpaid Item Dispute (UID) as soon as 48 hours after an auction ends or Buy It Now is used, and many use the automatic unpaid Item Assistant to open disputes. Each seller decides how long they will wait before they open disputes. 

If a buyer does not pay within 96 hours of a dispute being opened the seller can ask eBay to step in or the assistant does that automatically, and an unpaid item strike is entered against their account.  It doesn't depend on what day the the 4 day period ends.

On an unpaid item dispute, the seller cannot ask eBay to step in. The seller can only close the dispute either as paid or unpaid. No involvement from eBay. The unpaid item assistant opens and closes the case IF the seller uses it. Otherwise it’s a completely manual process and the seller has to both open and close the dispute. 

[turquoisetulips]

No communication equals a buyer who is just playing around in my eyes- jklfinding - --------------- unquote 

I accepted a best offer from a buyer last Thursday   and in spite of the two invoices I had to send still  no payment and no communication from the buyer or non buyer I should say. E bay opened a dispute this morning . I was a bit leery of this  person  from the start because she had only 1 feedback  as a buyer and that one happened months ago. Naturally things happen in life that cause people not to be able to follow through with a purchase ,, but at least send a   short message  letting the seller know so they can go ahead and relist  would be the thoughtful thing to do . Tulips 

[castlemagicmemories]

To avoid all this, you could consider listing as fixed price, immediate payment required.  

Also you can block those with 2 or more unpaid item strikes in a year.  This is what makes the unpaid item strikes so serious.  Once they get two, they are blocked from buying from thousands of sellers who use this, the most popular block.  You can also, for added protection, add their id to your BBL.

Good luck, OP.  

[mudshark61369]

@muddyknees!,

What castlemagicmemories wrote is good info.  If you set up the unpaid item assistant, or open disputes manually, you might also want to add to your terms of sale how many days you give before the assistant, or you will open a dispute.

Many people do not read that far into listings, but giving that info won't hurt you, and may lead to being asked about delayed payment, before someone bids or buys.  

[kimberlykolbe]

I've never had this happen up until this week, and now it has happened three different times. All three buyers have 0 or 1 transaction in their history, they make an offer, I accept, they do not pay and do not respond to emails. So frustrating that I lose 6 days of visibility for these items because of the policies.

[hafoster]

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@kimberlykolbe wrote:
All three buyers have 0 or 1 transaction in their history

So frustrating that I lose 6 days of visibility

---

Mission accomplished. (Those "buyers" are your competitors.)

[7606dennis]

Sellers can open a UID 48 hours after the auction ends and close it 96 hours later.  While the seller may not open one that quickly or close one that soon after opening one, it is within their rights to do so.

The four days is a minimum that the seller has to wait to close it giving the buyer a strike.  In that it is a firm rule.  Actually, the four days is 96 hours to the minute.

Once a UID is opened the buyer has only two options, to pay or not to pay.  There is no penalty to the buyer for having a UID opened against them provided they pay what they owe before the seller closes the dispute.  The minimum amount of time the seller has before closing it is 96 hours.

If the seller closes the dispute and the buyer hasn't paid the buyer gets an unpaid item strike.  Two strikes and the buyer will be blocked from bidding or buying from any seller that has their buyer requirements set to block buyers with two or more such strikes.  Of course, if the buyer pays before the dispute closes there is no ill effect to the buyer.

I would suggest that a buyer contact the seller before the 4 hours is up if there is an emergency that will keep them from paying on time.  While the seller does not have to allow more time, many will hold off filing the UID if they consider the reason to be reasonable.  However, it should be remembered that sellers have probably heard a lot of excuses and may take some convincing.

[muddyknees!]

Sorry for delay in reply, helping with an elder uncle in nursing home so I am back and forth.... THANK YOU, this is the clearest explanation ever.  MUCH APPRECIATED!!  I am glad to know that buyers DO get reprimand action if they are bad buyers.  It does feel that eBay favors buyers over sellers...  but buyers cant buy without sellers... a conundrum...

[muddyknees!]

Thanks, this too helps. It is tiresome that so many negligent buyers get the advantage of a full week or more to decide if they are going to pay or not... Holds up our listing. My favorite is "I bid by mistake" -- "Sleep-bidding" --- Like Sleepwalking... Ridiculous

[muddyknees!]

Yes, I block the bad buyers. But I totally agree with you, that the non-payment is not only unethical and dishonorable, but totally holds consequences for me paying my $400+ monthly medical copay (out of my pittance SS monthly check) --- Hence, I HAVE to eBay --- Good luck to you and yours....

[muddyknees!]

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