Technical Glitch With Accepted Offer

[taxes101]

I send an offer and accepted a counter offer on a Buy it Now listing. 
Normally, Ebay marks the item SOLD and it goes into "Awaiting Payment"

This time, that did not happen.  I received the "you accepted "XXX's" offer" BUT the item remained for sale as if I had more than one. I don't.  

Also, in the Seller Hub, nothing is listed as sold, nothing is listed as waiting payment. 

Looking at the item itself under "offer history" one is called "Pending"...it says, "You accepted the buyers offer. Awaiting Payment." 

I talked to an Ebay agent online in the "chat." It was quite clear they did not understand me, so, maybe I am not explaining it very well. 
I ended up reaching out to the buyer to let them know the situation. ( I am unable to send an invoice since nothing shows up as "sold".) 
Has anyone else experienced this situation? I am not sure what to do.  I have not heard back from the buyer. 

[wastingtime101 · Accepted solution]

It's not a tech error; it's how eBay designed it. The process of accepted offers moving to pending status on the listing's offers management page is something eBay has been rolling out the past several months.

While offers are in pending status the item is available for anybody else to purchase until the buyer pays. eBay is trying to eliminate the inconvenience to sellers when buyers lose interest after an item ends so the seller does not have to start from scratch and lose interested buyers when they relist. They're also trying to eliminate the inconvenience of having your item off the market during the 4+ day waiting period for payment.

If the buyer does not pay within a certain amount of time, the offer will expire and be removed from the pending section. If the buyer pays then it will become an official transaction on your orders page. In the meantime, any buyer can purchase at full price or make an offer.

Unfortunately, a lot of buyers and sellers are saying buyers aren't receiving notice their counter-offers were accepted and that's because eBay is sending those buyers messages saying the seller sent an offer, rather than the seller accepted the buyer's offer. It's caused confusion. Some sellers have started sending messages letting buyers know they accepted their counter-offers.

[taxes101]

Ohhh! Well, ok, now that makes sense. I had absolutely no idea that they were rolling this out this way, I have never experienced accepting an offer from a buyer and it NOT going directly to "Sold" and "Awaiting Payment." Thanks so much for this explanation. Now I understand! 

[saturdaystoys]

Yes... we're experiencing the same problem.  This is a bizarre change... especially on "Black Friday."  I received two "offers" within 1 hour... and I accepted both offers... but the item didn't move into the "Sold" category... causing confusion for all involved.

Now I've got one of the buyers asking me to send him an invoice... which I cannot do without ending the listing... and simply starting over with a brand new listing... at my lower "counter-offer" price.

EXTREMELY FRUSTRATING!! (and entirely unnecessary).  Confusion for both buyer and seller.  Not an improvement.

[saturdaystoys]

Yes... same thing happened to me this evening... Had two different offers on two separate listings within one hour.  Neither transaction worked they way they always have before. Though I accepted the buyer's offer... it only led to confusion for both buyer and seller.   One buyer figured it out... and they made their payment.  The other buyer still doesn't understand that they need to go through check-out in order to purchase the item.  Frustrating!!

[loftissm]

I’m in this same situation, as seller. Buyer says he can’t figure out what to fi. eBay says it’s a glitch. I accepted an offer over the weekend, item shows payment pending, but no “sold” email or automatic payment. So my item sits in limbo with other watchers who I am not sure can purchase it. There is only one of the item.

what do I tell the buyer( who I messaged and still wants to buy it)  to do to complete the sale?

[ittybitnot]

I send an offer and accepted a counter offer on a Buy it Now listing. 
@taxes101 
All offers you SEND (and or COUNTER OFFERS you accept) are treated as "Immediate Payment Required" sales.  Buyers no longer have an "accept" feature that would enable combined shipping of multiple items from the same seller.  They have to pay separately at full shipping price for each, but have the option not to pay at all.  That is why they remain for sale until somebody pays for them. 

Even though you "accepted" a counter offer,  they have to be paid one at a time, no invoicing is allowed, and non-payment strikes are apparently not allowed for these either if the buyer chooses not to pay. 

This has nothing to do with the "buyer rules" that require a payment source upfront that has been  the main combined shipping killer which also limits the payment sources a buyer can use.