Sending an invoice

[rayandrose]

I noticed that when I send an invoice it adds time to cancel a sale for non payment. For example if I send an invoice the day of sale the buyer gets 5 days to pay or I get the option to cancel for non payment. The next day I send another invoice it adds another day to the time the buyer gets to pay and I can cancel for non payment. This happens everytime you send an invoice, the system adds another day to the buyers time to pay and you are able to cancel and relist your item. Makes no sense for the seller to get punished just because people seem to like to BIN with no intention of paying. Seems to be the new trend on E-Bay and nothing is being done about it......

[soh.maryl]

Why are you sending invoices when eBay does it for you?

You have even pointed out here a good reason to NOT send an invoice.

The only reason to send an invoice, as far as I know, would be if your buyer has made two purchases, and you're combining shipping, or if you are upgrading the shipping in response to your buyer's request.  

[fab_finds4u]

Yes, sending another invoice resets their payment time.

Why do you think you need to send an invoice? eBay sends the invoice. You shouldn't be sending it unless you combined or amended the shipping. The buyer doesn't need to be bombarded with reminders or multiple invoices. They know when their payment is due. LOL, don't extend their payment time.

[fern*wood]

Stop sending invoices.

[evry1nositswindy]

I have never sent an invoice.

[bbravo65]

...mark your listings with "immediate payment" and let eBay takes care of how and when buyers have to pay...

...exercise your eBay's fees...

[mtgraves7984]

This happens everytime you send an invoice, the system adds another day to the buyers time to pay and you are able to cancel and relist your item. 

@rayandrose 

Lesson learned, no? Look at is as a bonus... you no longer need waste the time sending invoices. Good luck to you.

[sdimportsandexports]

why?

[buyselljack2016]

Makes perfect sense.

eBay is coded to give X # of days for a buyer to pay from the time the initial invoice is sent.

How would they code it to make an exception?

Sending an invoice (often not needed as eBay did it immediately) if needed to change something agreed upon by the buyer, and seller on day 4 would then require immediate payment if there were no adjustment to the time.

[buyselljack2016]

Why?

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@sdimportsandexports 

as explained, eBay sends one automatically.

No need to send one unless there are changes

[a_c_green]

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@soh.maryl wrote:

The only reason to send an invoice, as far as I know, would be if your buyer has made two purchases, and you're combining shipping, or if you are upgrading the shipping in response to your buyer's request.  

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This also touches on another reason for not sending invoices: doing so will lock in your Shipping charge to be that for shipping to the buyer's eBay address. If using calculated shipping, the buyer would normally pay for what's required to send the package to his Ship To address (i.e. the one he provides with his payment), wherever that may be.

If you invoiced him before he paid, you locked in the Amount Due to be that for shipping to his home address. If he wants it sent to someplace across the country instead, you will have to eat any additional charges incurred to send it there.

[pjcdn2005]

 I agree that there it is rarely necessary to send an invoice.  But I disagree that it makes perfect sense that an invoice resets the time for allowing a cancellation due to an unpaid item.  The old unpaid system was not set up like that and I don't see the reasoning why an invoice is a factor now.

[a_c_green]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

 I agree that there it is rarely necessary to send an invoice.  But I disagree that it makes perfect sense that an invoice resets the time for allowing a cancellation due to an unpaid item.  The old unpaid system was not set up like that and I don't see the reasoning why an invoice is a factor now.

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I think that the reality splits the difference here. eBay invoices the buyer after two days of inactivity following a purchase. That does not reset the 4-day timer; presumably it's more of a reminder to pay than anything else.

If the seller invoices the buyer, that apparently does reset the timer. I assume the logic behind that is that the buyer is sending an invoice with new numbers on it for some reason (e.g. combined shipping, or request for a different shipping method), and thus the buyer gets a fresh 4-day payment window to deal with the new amount due.

[robxznyc]

Ok. I got what you are saying: if seller charges calculated shipping, invoicing before payment will generate shipping charge based on the buyer's eBay address, which may be different from the actual shipping address provided at checkout. 

If material overcharge incurred, it's completely reasonable for seller to request it to be covered by the buyer. Post transaction members can exchange contact info. Seller can ask the buyer to send $ to their preferred account. 

[robxznyc]

If you just want to remind a buyer to pay or find out why they haven't paid and are they going to pay, why don't you just send a message to remind or ask them? They don't need an invoice to make payment. Sending them an invoice is just passive aggressive.