How long to wait for payment from winning buyer?

[dakota1010]

Sold item on May 15, 2024 - sent initial invoice to buyer same date - no response - sent second invoice to buyer May 22, 2024 - no response - I am being ignored - when do I relist  - how long do I wait for the buyer to pay/respond?

[steady2304]

@dakota1010 

You should not have sent any invoices to the buyer because Bay does that for you. Every time you send an invoice it resets the clock that a buyer has to pay by. A buyer has 4 days to pay after they purchase your item, if they don't you open a Non-Paying Buyer claim with eBay on day 5. Since your latest invoice was on the 22nd you will have to wait until the 26th, 4 full days, before you can file with eBay. You can't relist until the claim has been approved. Once approved you can then relist, and the buyer will receive a non-payment strike against their account.

[soh.maryl]

Quit sending invoices.  It lengthens the amount of time your buyer has to pay.

You could have cancelled the transaction 96 hours after the sale, citing "buyer did not pay" as the reason.

Now you have to wait til 96 hours after that last invoice you sent.

Do some reading on eBay about the way to handle nonpaying bidders.  

[soh.maryl]

Except for one thing, your reply is correct.  If/when a buyer has not paid in 96 hours, the seller can cancel the transaction, citing "buyer did not pay" as his reason.  

[woodrowmo-30]

You've already sent the initial invoice on the same date of sale.
You followed up with a second invoice a week later.

Given that there has been no response so far, here are the steps to follow next:

Most platforms recommend waiting a reasonable period for the buyer to respond and complete the payment. This is typically around 7-10 days after the second invoice. Since you sent the second invoice on May 22, 2024, this wait period would end around May 29, 2024, to June 1, 2024.

Before relisting the item, it’s a good practice to send a final notice to the buyer. Inform them that if payment is not received within a specific timeframe (e.g., 48 hours), you will have to cancel the transaction and relist the item.

If there is still no response or payment after the final notice period (by June 3, 2024, assuming you gave a 48-hour final notice), you can proceed to cancel the transaction and relist the item.

If the platform you are using has a formal process for canceling transactions due to non-payment, make sure to follow those guidelines to avoid any penalties or negative feedback.