How to handle buyer requests for an invoice

[jeffrebarne_2]

Recently a few buyers have requested an invoice before they pay. Does eBay provide this? I directed them to the Purchase history / Order details page.

The way I see it, buyers are purchasing from eBay, not me (at least not directly from me).

Only buyers purchasing my "loss leaders" are requesting these invoices. I would like to minimize the amount of time it takes to fulfill these items. Is this "wrong think"?

[dhbookds]

are they buying several and  asking for combined shipping?

[heckofagame]

In fact, they ARE buying from you. Ebay only provides the platform, but you are the seller.

Many time, buyers will request an invoice hoping for lower shipping costs. 

[1tuna]

I send invoices every time I have a batch of auctions end

I alwasy have to use the combined feature since I have so many repeat  buyers that get more than 1 item

I think its wrong to not send and invoice to a customer who requests one

you can send them right from the message you get in ebays messages which I get in my email inbox

[m60driver]

If they have not yet paid then it is easy to send an invoice as that is one of the main options on the sold page.  But if they have paid, due to most BIN listings requiring a buyer to pay immediately, there really is no good option to generate an invoice, only a packing slip.  I recently had one overly retentive buyer actually give me a neutral feedback because I did not include an invoice.  They did ask for one but I wasn't able to find a way to generate an invoice after receiving payment and, never having seen such a request in over 20 years of selling, just ignored the request not thinking much of it.  I had a rather tart reply before I decided that a non-response would be the best option to the neutral feedback.

[48hrs-clothing]

I note that you are selling your own original work.

I would advise these buyers that you would happily send or enclose an item to purchaser of your work which will be done after purchase is completed and payment made.

Buyers are buying the item from you on eBay's platform, eBay is not the seller and asking a seller for an Invoice is asking for a receipt which confirms what was purchased, from whom and how much was paid and is perfectly acceptable especially as your buyers are purchasing one of a kind artwork and if I was an artist and in same position as you then buyers would not need to ask as I would be sending a signed invoice to all buyers of my work and this will be stated on the listing.

IMHO it is wrong to refuse to send invoice to buyers and I would not send any invoice before completion of sale as Invoice relates to goods that have been purchased and not to what may or may not be purchased.

Good luck 

[Anonymous]

I was asked by a potential buyer to send her an invoice BEFORE she paid. I said I didn’t know how to do that and asked her to simply click on Buy, order the number she wanted, and I said if postage was more than reality I would refund her. I couldn’t have been nicer, more helpful, or faster in my replies to her, but her eighth or so message to me was a total rant calling me all the names under the sun. It was extremely unpleasant and I am upset and totally puzzled by her communication. Just weird.

[justafemster]

And that 'buyer' would go on my special list. 

[Anonymous]

Very interesting. I had someone ask for an invoice before buying from me as she wanted to buy four items. Like you, in all my years on EBay I have never been asked for this.  I told her I didn’t know how to do it and she didn’t instruct me. I said if the postage worked out as more than reality, I would refund her after payment. So more questions followed throughout the day asking what the brand was, which was clearly visible in the heading, the listing and in the photographs. On the eighth message she asked me how she should pay, so I explained about clicking on the buy button, selecting four items in the number box, and being concerned she hadn’t bought from EBay before, I asked are you new to EBay? Well. I got a vitriolic, upsetting message back saying I shouldn’t be sarcastic (I wasn’t!) and I was the last person she would buy from, and how useless I was with such low feedback, and didn’t I know she had over 1000 feedback etc. So I replied with dignity that I wasn’t being sarcastic and I was delighted to NOT be selling to her 😂, but I get very disturbed by things like this thinking where on Earth did I go wrong with how I expressed myself? Quite weird, but you never know what is going on in others lives I guess.

[hachumi]

Sending an invoice is easy and it's been a feature forever.  When you have somebody that hasn't paid in a few days your first step is to send them an invoice to remind them to pay.  If somebody asks for one before they pay it is a simple click of a button.  You're ranting about somebody asking for a common thing no wonder they got mad.  You're the one making yourself look silly by not knowing what to do.

[albertabrightalberta]

Prior to payment being made, it's certainly possible for an invoice to be sent directly through the order however many sellers don't do so just because ebay (itself) inundates buyers with multiple messages, among them, an automated invoice. 

I wonder whether this buyer was attempting a scam and planned on sending a fake payment receipt, hoping you'd ship without a real payment.