Buyer doesn't want to pay

[plastic_crack]

Hey all.

I had a buyer that won an auction but didn't pay after 2 days and didn't reply to me sending an invoice. I opened up an Unpaid Item request, and 3 days later, they sent me a message saying they don't want the item anymore since they bought it elsewhere. What am I supposed to do about this? I don't want to cancel the transaction as I want the strike to go on their account since there's no other way of warning future sellers of this behavior.  The buyer has never responded to me beforehand or gotten in contact with me before today.

Thanks for any help, this is really frustrating and being led on by a bad buyer is annoying.

[ainpie-10 · Accepted solution]

I would keep the unpaid item open and make sure they get a strike! They can’t leave a neg if they don’t pay and your fellow sellers will appreciate it!

[muskingum_relics]

keep the strike against them but sadly not much more you can do because ebay is not for the seller ! Sadly they forgot what keeps them going because without the seller they would be nothing !! They have made too many changes that do not benefit the seller at all ! Good luck !

[plastic_crack]

Right?! I can't even contact any customer support to report this **bleep**. Any other place you'd get laughed out for being so fickle.

[hurryagain]

@plastic_crack 

It's okay...that "buyer" is going to find out really fast how UPI's will greatly affect his ability to purchase anything from many sellers.  Many of us have our buyer's preferences set at 2 or more UPI's in a 1 year's time frame and they are blocked from purchasing anything from us.

Believe me...it works!  I looked at the blocked activity and I had 4 "buyer's who were blocked from purchasing items from me within a week's time frame...one tried and tried on different items that I had for sale and each time, they were blocked.  When I saw those blocks, it just put a smile on my face as I thought...well, there ya go...betcha learned a lesson not to take bidding/buying here so lightly again.

I even responded to a post where a buyer ignored her responsibility in going through with more than a few purchases and she came here wondering when those UPI's will fall off of her record because she is unable to buy from some sellers -said she keeps getting messages that she is unable to purchase from that seller(s) b/c she has too many unpaid item strikes...😊

BTW:  Since you are so annoyed with that buyer, you may want to put them on your blocked buyer's list so that they can never bother you again.

I hope your week ends well.

[plastic_crack]

When you've got someone refusing to pay, do you send them a warning about it? I'm stuck between shooting them a message stating that bidding is a contract and they have to pay or suffer a UPI, or just waiting it out a few days until I can close the case as an unpaid item. They made me wait almost a week without any messages, so I really don't feel like offering much courtesy.

[frodobagginskennedy]

Just let the upi play out.  You don't want them to pay them open an snad case to return it

[hurryagain]

@plastic_crack 

Here is a copy of an email that I sent to a recent non-paying bidder:

Hello XXXXXXXXX,

I was wondering if you were still interested in this item or perhaps you had changed your mind? If you have changed your mind, may I ask that you please request to cancel this order so that I can get my fees refunded to me. Ebay has already charged my account a selling fee for this item and the only way that I can get refunded is that either the buyer requests to cancel the transaction or I as the seller would have to open an unpaid item case to get my refund.

Please let me know ~ if you do not want the item, it is perfectly okay with me to cancel the transaction.

Thank you for your time!

Now mind you, most people will not respond to this request.  I did a follow up email a few days later when I finally opened the UPI case against her:

Hello again XXXXXXXXX,

I emailed you on March 31 about possibly cancelling this transaction because it appears that you no longer want the item but you never responded so I have no choice but to open an unpaid item case ~ only to get my eBay fees credited to me...that is all I care about. I hate to have to pay a selling fee on an item that I did not sell and the only way I can get credited is by either you (the buyer) requesting cancellation of the transaction or by me opening (and closing) an unpaid item case against the buyer.

Please take a look at the screenshot that I have attached to this message. It clearly states for me to "come back between Apr 06, 2020 and Apr 29, 2020 to close it and receive a final value fee credit."

receive a final value fee credit...that is all I want.

If you still request to cancel this transaction, I will be more than happy to do so. I do not want to sell something to someone who does not want the item.

Thank you for your consideration.

...Of course she never replied.  I escalated the case on April 6 and of course got my credit back but MORE IMPORTANTLY, she got a UPI strike on her account - and I put her on my BBL.  She had made another purchase about a week later so I am pretty sure that she saw my emails but simply CHOSE not to respond... If a person cannot be courteous enough to respond to such nice warnings...who need them as a customer...not me...Goodbye!

All I know is that I can walk away with a clear conscience and smelling like a rose in regards to the situation.

[dirk12955]

   Do you want to force them to buy and then have them send it back?

The UPI if done correctly soon puts sport bidders out of business when they start running up against sellers 

who have set their accounts to block people that don't pay.

Forcing the issue almost always ends badly,   for the seller.

If every seller would file the NPB on these people we would see them go away after awhile.   

[tdumonde2014]

You can't cancel a transaction once an Unpaid Item case has been opened.

[johnrj1226]

In order to get a strike on the buyers account, you have to close the unpaid case after 4  days (96 hours) from the date/time you opened the UPI case.  Just keeping it open will do nothing.  By all means do not cancel the transaction.

[johnrj1226]

One more thing - you may want to consider  using a fix price listing and use the immediate payment required option.  See link below.  It works well for me.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/immediate-payment-works?id=415...

[ed8108]

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@hurryagain wrote:

@plastic_crack 

Please let me know ~ if you do not want the item, it is perfectly okay with me to cancel the transaction.

---

I don't like wording that may create an impression that a buyer cancellation is really no inconvenience.

You don't want to create a belief that cancellations are perfectly OK, & a common buyer practice on eBay.

[luckythewinner]

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@plastic_crack wrote:

 What am I supposed to do about this? 

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1) You say you have already filed an unpaid item dispute. 

2) You say you don't want to cancel the transaction. 

3) You say you want the unpaid item dispute to close and give them a strike. 

I'm going to go out on a limb and say don't cancel the transaction and let unpaid item dispute close and give them a strike. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

As noted in one of the posts above: After an unpaid item case has been opened, the seller no longer has the option to cancel the transaction.  

The OP has no options at all, since he has opened the unpaid item claim.  If the buyer had contacted the seller before the claim was opened, then there would be room for discussion.