Eliminate New Auto-Pay Requirement when Submitting Best Offers.

[lifeofbryan73]

Auto Pay linked to Best Offers is a terrible idea, and the fact that eBay didn't communicate the change is worse for Buyers and Sellers.

It makes combined shipping more complicated for the seller.  If a BUYER wants to buy more than one item of mine, their knowing that combined shipping will be a matter they'll have to bring up with the seller because of the new Auto Pay, they might not bother with buying more from my store. Lost revenue. I recently had to go back-and-forth with a seller on figuring out how to deal with this. They didn't have much experience on issuing refunds, which is fine. We worked it out, but it took time. Some Buyers might not be as patient. And some sellers might not issue refunds on the extra shipping.

This Auto-Pay feature is complicating how Buyers submit an offer. It's a terrible idea. I've been on eBay 17 years, and the previous method of submitting offers worked smoothly: the offer is 1. Rejected; 2. Considered then countered; 3. Accepted, then the Seller and Buyer work out payment and payment scheduling.

Auto-Pay Best Offer submissions also FORCE a buyer to IMMEDIATELY pay for an item, even if a seller doesn't require it. I give my buyers five days to pay. Some sellers give 2-3 days. I've found this PAYMENT WINDOW gives a Buyer less of a sense of urgency, so maybe they'll shop more. Auto-Pay overrides that, so a customer who needs that extra time to pay doesn't have it. Auto-Pay Best Offers are violating are own store payment terms.

We could be losing sales. Losing customers. Ebay is intent on complicating their platform. I don't know why, either. If you and I are losing sales, eBay is losing money.

[eburtonlab]

Sellers have the option of disabling the requirement that buyers provide a payment method when making an offer -- at least for those buyers that are part of eBay's current experiment.

Check your Buyer Requirements, and change the settings if necessary for your own listings.

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

[lifeofbryan73]

Thanks for the suggestion!

It was exactly as you said, so I "unchecked" the box on that linked page. PROBLEM SOLVED.

I don't recall that Buyer Payment Requirements option being there before. I'm often on that page too.

I clicked on the "i" information icon to the right of the requirement and the following appeared: "Removing this requirement may lead to more unpaid items. Setting will apply to future offers. Currently, this impacts only a select group of buyers."

The use of the words "currently" and "select" gives me pause. Like eBay's experimenting with something but using my account as a testing ground for something that might not work out. Now that I've changed the setting, I wonder if I'll get more offers again. I also don't like eBay worrying about unpaid items, since that hasn't been a problem with any of my customers (so far).

I wish eBay would dedicate more resources to Customer Service instead complicating Sellers' accounts.

Thanks again for the SOLUTION!

[eburtonlab]

Thanks for the suggestion!

You are very welcome.

The use of the words "currently" and "select" gives me pause. Like eBay's experimenting with something but using my account as a testing ground for something that might not work out.

Your account is not really the subject of the test, except to the extent that eBay added that option and chose the default setting for you. Those buyers that are required to provide a payment method in order to make an offer are the actual test subjects.

Now that I've changed the setting, I wonder if I'll get more offers again.

Changing that setting should not appreciably change the number of offers you receive from buyers, except for those buyers that might have been discouraged by the requirement to provide a payment method. It is not clear what percentage of total buyers are included in that new requirement group, how many of them are or were discouraged from making offers, or how many of those are legitimate buyers that would have actually completed the transaction and paid absent the requirement.

I also don't like eBay worrying about unpaid items, since that hasn't been a problem with any of my customers (so far).

It is possible that as an experienced seller with lots of feedback, your items are not being targeted by the typical scammers making offers and hoping to entice a new seller into engaging in an off-eBay transaction.

[2stepper920]

What I am reading here is this pertains to sellers. I personally do more buying than selling on Ebay. How can I disable auto-pay as a buyer. I made my first purchase I guess since this went into effect. As a rule NOW DAYS I ONLY keep the amount of $ in the bank that I need. When I found out Ebay auto-paid my best offer when accepted, I had to rush to the bank to deposit $ to avoid being overdrawn. This auto-pay sucks.

Just another form of control taken away from buyers. As a result I have made my LAST  "best offer" purchase on Ebay until I figure out how to shut off the auto-pay feature.

EBAY I HOPE YOU READ THIS!!!!!!!!!!

fyi I have went to my Ebay seller portion and disabled the requirement for funds prior to a bid. 

[eburtonlab]

How can I disable auto-pay as a buyer.

You can not.

As a rule NOW DAYS I ONLY keep the amount of $ in the bank that I need.

You may want to reconsider that if you intend to make offers to sellers that require immediate payment, or else use a credit card to fund those offers and payments.

[2stepper920]

OK With that said I will no longer make "BEST OFFERS" and if I find out they auto pay anything else..... it will also be the last...... the final step is for me to close my account. Thanks for the reply.

[houseandgarden4u]

I agree this is bull**bleep** from ebay!

[buyselljack2016]

@houseandgarden4u 

The pre authorize payment when making an "offer" is a wonderful thing.

Puts an end to the buyer making an offer, having it accepted, and then going silent which requires the seller to sit for 4 days waiting to cancel for "buyer did not pay", and then having to relist the item.

[houseandgarden4u]

Perhaps; but, eliminates my prerogative to switch payments or the timing thereof. This is wrong!

[chemistryclass]

Yeah. This is terrible. I’ve had random payment cards charged thru paypal after making these offers, no matter the selected card.

[crimeariver1]

I'm glad that sellers (for the most part here) dislike this feature as much as I do as a buyer.

My preferred method of paying is using PayPal's interest-free Pay-in-4 plan, which I no

longer have the option of doing when submitting a best offer (which is something I appreciate

that a lot of sellers provide).

This new policy is definitely skewed to favor sellers, which is not cool if it hurts buyers.  I understand that some buyers may flake, but I'm sure the majority honor the transaction.

Just did a live chat with eBay and the only workaround is to message the seller before submitting a best offer to ask them to disable the auto-pay feature, or submit a preliminary offer via message and ask them to invoice you for a buy-it-now price.  And that's just a big hassle for everyone, but I'm definitely going to try it next time and see if the seller is friendly enough to accommodate me so I can avoid running up my credit card (with interest!) for the full price of something.

BAD IDEA, EBAY!!

[slippinjimmy]

You might think it's a bad idea but hundreds of thousands of seller have been demanding this for YEARS. They are thrilled that this system may move from beta testing to site wide.

It's great that you always follow through but it's clear from the number of posts by sellers who have buyers disappear after a seller accepted offer that it's a big problem.

[s_midd6]

I totally agree with you on the buyer having no control on the "Auto-Pay" requirement on Best Offers.  I am a long-time ebay patron.  I have had no problems with paying immediately on my offers to the seller in a timely manner.  I have not used ebay since this new "Auto-Pay" requirement went into effect.  I would imagine sellers are seeing a decrease in sales.  

[transamcc]

My solution was to just QUIT making offers when it first came up months ago. I was never prompted to provide pre-payment funding source and will not participate in any such arrangement.