Seller cancellation request and unpaid item strike

[danious1981]

I recently sold a sofa on here, for the grand total of 99p. That was fine as it wasn't about the money but rather about getting rid of it in time for the replacement.

The buyer however, despite winning a barely used sofa for 99p, has completely ignored all of my polite messages to arrange collection, until today when I've just received a cancellation request due to 'an accidental purchase', no reply to my messages, no apology offered, no explanation. I obviously already knew that I needed to resell but my question is, if I now accept the cancellation, do I still get a chance to report a non-payment to eBay? The 4 days are up tomorrow and I'm not sure if this is a way to get around an unpaid item strike, I don't really understand how it works. Thanks

[mam98031]

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@danious1981 wrote:

Yeah, that's what I suspected. Frustrating, definitely seems like a loophole for buyers. Thanks for the info. 

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Not necessarily.  But sellers need to stay on top of the timing to be sure.  Keep in mind that a seller can file a cancellation for non payment 96 hours after the purchase.  Buyers sometimes aren't quite that on top of the time.  

You can also set your site preferences to require buyers to supply a payment source before they are allowed to bid.  That is in your Buyer Requirements in the site preferences.

[iamalwaysright]

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@lucifel7 wrote:

Thanks for the insight, I just realized that even if you let the cancelation expire it will simply count as if the cancelation was declined by the seller.

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Correct. You simply can’t fight it if a buyer files a cancellation “request” (honestly it’s not really a request) for an item they didn’t pay for yet.

[iamalwaysright]

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@mam98031 wrote:

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@danious1981 wrote:

Yeah, that's what I suspected. Frustrating, definitely seems like a loophole for buyers. Thanks for the info. 

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Not necessarily.  But sellers need to stay on top of the timing to be sure.  Keep in mind that a seller can file a cancellation for non payment 96 hours after the purchase.  Buyers sometimes aren't quite that on top of the time.  

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I have my automatic setting for eBay to issue out a payment strike cancellation for any item that has been unpaid for 4 days. I assume they are on the ball when it hits exactly 96 hours. That way I don’t have to monitor it myself. I’m pretty sure all sellers have access to that function.

I’m not sure how well that system works because honestly every listing I have is IPR and I rarely run auctions right now unless I’m clearing some one-offs out.

[brightlightbookseller]

My observations have been that it cancels within an hour of the 96 hours ending, so maybe not immediate, but pretty close.  We also rarely have non-payers I think, but honestly I rarely notice because I don't even check.  I just get messages once a month or less that a transaction has been cancelled due to non-payment.

[az93]

I would put it on the curb with a FREE sign. And I think you should post on the UK board.

[littlestoreofwonders]

Wish that helped avoid non payers on auctions. They still pull the wait 4 days and then request a cancel move. 

For every seller experiencing this, make sure you call Ebay to report them for violating policy of bidding but not paying and affecting your sales. If they get enough in, Ebay suspends them. It is worth the call to protect everyone. If they do a second time to you, it counts too. 

[dryophelia]

@littlestoreofwonders 

There is no reason to call eBay to report the buyer for nonpayment. 
After 4 days, the seller should NOT BE CONTACTING THE NON-PAYING BIDDER. 

The unpaid item process can be completed 96 hours and one second after the auction ends. It can even be set to automatic. Once a seller’s preset amount of days passes without payment, a strike is recorded on the buyers account. This can also include automatic relisting of the item. 

Do you have your buyer requirements set to block bidders with more than one strike in the past year?

Buyers, even the bad ones, hold the cards here. It takes a lot to have a buyer removed. 
Since eBay isn’t going to take action, it is up to sellers to use the only mechanism for sellers to proactively screen buyers. 

[mam98031]

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@littlestoreofwonders wrote:

Wish that helped avoid non payers on auctions. They still pull the wait 4 days and then request a cancel move. 

For every seller experiencing this, make sure you call Ebay to report them for violating policy of bidding but not paying and affecting your sales. If they get enough in, Ebay suspends them. It is worth the call to protect everyone. If they do a second time to you, it counts too. 

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When a seller cancels a transaction with the reason the buyer hasn't paid, that puts an unpaid strike on that buyer's account.  Too many of those and Ebay will pay attention.

Check your site preferences and make sure you pay attention to the two new items towards the bottom.