How Long does a Buyer Have to Pay?

[doug_ren]

One of my auctions, a high-priced one, ended at 1:40 yesterday, both eBAY and I sent out  invoices to the buyer.

It’s now almost 24 hours later and still no payment. How long does eBay wait to send out a Second  Chance offer  to the second highest bidder?

I don’t think there is anything I can do other than re-send the invoice.

[coffeebean832]

Don't send an invoice unless you have to for some reason- like combining shipping. Sending an invoice locks in the shipping charge so you can find yourself at a loss if the buyer enters a new address at the time of payment.

eBay alerts the buyer when they win an auction. eBay sends a payment reminder 2 days later. Sending an invoice on your own is redundant.

You can open an unpaid item case after 48 hours. If the buyer doesn't paywithin 96 hours of that you can close the UPI and get a fee credit. At that point you are permitted to either send a second chance offer or relist.

[chapeau-noir]

The payment window is 2-4 days before one can file for an unpaid item.  Since not everyone is on eBay daily I would wait.  I would not keep sending invoices - eBay already sends a reminder.

Also, eBay doesn't send out the second chance offer, that's something the seller does.  

[a_c_green]

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@doug_ren wrote:

One of my auctions, a high-priced one, ended at 1:40 yesterday, both eBAY and I sent out  invoices to the buyer.

It’s now almost 24 hours later and still no payment. How long does eBay wait to send out a Second  Chance offer  to the second highest bidder?

I don’t think there is anything I can do other than re-send the invoice.

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First of all, stop sending invoices. eBay gives the winner plenty of notification that they've won, and more importantly, sending an invoice locks in the Shipping charge. If you are using Calculated Shipping, that will fix the Shipping charge as being to the buyer's eBay address, but if they provide a different Ship To location when paying, you may end up having to eat additional Shipping costs to a further location.

The buyer has a minimum of 48 hours within which to pay before you can open an Unpaid Item dispute. eBay will send a reminder to the buyer after 48 hours. If or when you decide to open a UPI dispute, the buyer will then have 96 hours (a full four days) from that moment within which to pay before you can close out the dispute and give the buyer a Nonpayment strike on their record.

Finally, eBay does not send out Second Chance Offers; you do. Once you are out from under your obligation to sell to the winner if they pay, which in other words means that either you accept a cancel request from them or the UPI dispute closes out without payment, you can then select an underbidder of your choice to receive the SCO. (Presumably you would go for the second-place bidder, unless they have chosen to not accept SCOs.) Links to do so can be found in the Bid History page for your sold item.

[jayjaspersgarage]

I occasionally sell higher priced items and use the "require immediate payment" option for fixed price listings.  I don't know what happens if someone tries to buy that can't pay immediately but I would hope ebay's software handles it with a message to the potential buyer to get their act together so they can pay on the spot.

For most other items I check the local weather where the buyer lives and wait four days before doing anything.  The east coast has so much going against it the last thing they need is sellers hounding them for payment when hurricanes, Noreasters, ice storms, flooding, power outages and assorted other "distractions from D.C. keep them on their toes.  Crocodiles, alligators, large snakes and bugs, mother-in-laws....... 

[nobody*s_perfect]

If a listing has "Immediate payment required" then when the buyer clicks on buy it now they are taken to the payment page.  The listing remains active and available for others to purchase until their payment goes through.  IIRC if they don't pay within a specified amount of time, the payment page expires.  But even when it hasn't expired, they do not have 'dibs" on the item.

[nobody*s_perfect]

To summarize what others have said: The buyer has 6 days to pay. Re-sending the invoice won't help you at all, it might just annoy the buyer.  If you send out  Second Chance offer before you close out the original transaction, you run the risk of having two paying buyers for one item.

Here is the Help page about what to do if a buyer doesn't pay:

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/unpaid-items.html

When you file an unpaid item claim, eBay immediately sends the buyer a message that strongly encourages them to pay for their item within 4 days. But that's all eBay does.

If the buyer doesn't pay, then after 4 days you'll get the option to close the case, giving the buyer a strike and getting a credit for your final value fee. Do not expect to hear anything about your case directly from eBay. Either the buyer pays or they don't. If you don't close the case within 36 days after the transaction it will expire, which means no strike for the buyer and no credit for you.

[bimm_corp]

In the future, you might want to consider using the eBay Unpaid Item Assistant.

1> Go to Account settings>Account preferences>Site preferences>Unpaid Item Assistant.

2> Click on the "Edit" link at the right and click on the "Yes – I want Unpaid Item Assistant to open and close cases on my behalf." button.

3> Select "2 days" from the "Open a case if payment hasn't been received after" drop-down list.

4> Select "Real-time" for the next 2 drop-downs.

5> I have "No" selected for the next 2 drop-downs, but you can select whatever suits you.

6> Hit the blue "Save" button at the bottom.

All done.

Now when a bidder/buyer doesn't pay after 2 days, eBay will automatically open a case for you and send you and the buyer an email noting this. After the two days are up, eBay will send the buyer a notice that they have 4 days to pay up. After that the UPI case will automatically close. The buyer will receive an Unpaid Item strike on their account. Once the case is closed the buyer will not be able to leave you negative feedback. It will take 1-2 weeks, maybe more, for eBay to refund your FVF. Don't forget to add the buyer to your BBL.

[luckythewinner]

How Long does a Buyer Have to Pay?

The buyer has anywhere from six days to forever to pay, depending upon how long the seller chooses to give him.

For instance, I give my buyers four weeks to pay. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

After 36 days, there is no longer a  "Pay now" button on the listing.

[kds99]

You have good advice above - I would only point out that millions of buyers do not live on eBay 24/7 like some of us sellers do. They don 't check email or eBay every half-hour like we do! They might even have real jobs!

[fashunu4eeuh]

Not all buyers baby-sit their auctions. You need to decide how long you want to wait for payment. I give my buyers a week, then send an invoice giving them an additional 24 hours to pay. Then I open the unpaid item dispute to get my Final Value fees credited back to my account. (Ebay charges them at the moment the auction closes whether or not the buyer has remitted.) 

Ebay gives all buyers 48 hours to pay in the US eBay.com site. After that the UID can be started. But up to 36 days, you can give a buyer as long as you want to pay you within that window.

[luckythewinner]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

After 36 days, there is no longer a  "Pay now" button on the listing.

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But there's nothing stopping you from relisting it an having him re-buy. 

[reallynicestamps]

It doesn't apply to the OP , but if the seller is not in the USA, she has to wait 96 hours (four days) to open an Unpaid Item Dispute. The 96hours(four days) to close it remains the same.

[chapeau-noir]

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@kds99 wrote:

You have good advice above - I would only point out that millions of buyers do not live on eBay 24/7 like some of us sellers do. They don 't check email or eBay every half-hour like we do! They might even have real jobs!

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This is a real  job (unless you were joking).