Trend of buyers not paying

[hulio_496]

I mostly buy on ebay but in the past I've sold a handful of items with no problems. I've recently started selling a number of items again and it seems like about a third of the items sold go into an ambiguous catagory where the buyer tells me their life story and ends up not paying. Is this par for the course?

Here are a few examples of what I'm talking about.

Buyer 1: New to ebay. Terrible English. Goes on and on about how he installs pools for a living and will pay me as soon as he gets a credit card linked to PayPal, but in the mean time is demanding I accept a credit card payment instead of paypal. My auctions are to accept PayPal only.

Buyer 2: Won multiple auctions. Conversations go back and forth about combined shipping costs, options, careful packaging. Then I never hear from the person again. No payment.

Buyer 3: Wins an auction on Monday. Terrible English. Immediately messages me about how he's in the US Army currently over in the UK but coming home and will pay me Saturday. I say no problem, pay me by Sunday night. Messages me Sunday night and says in English I can barely understand that he'll pay sometime in the next few weeks.

I've turned all cases over to the resolution center so I can get my fee credit and I have to relist. It's getting tiring. Having been out of the sellers loop for a while, I was wondering if this is par for the course. I don't understand what the scheme is or what people are getting out of it. I'm also annoyed because at least one of the items I relisted sold for significantly less the 2nd time around. That one sold on Friday and I'm waiting patiently for that person's payment (no communication yet).

[dhbookds]

If you used Immediate payment with fixed price.....you can avoid that.  Unless they pay, item isn't "sold"..................

Auctions and b/o are really aggravating to some sellers exactly because of what you describe....setting your blocked list to block anyone with more than 2 UPI's can help a bit.

[d-k_treasures]

Buyer #1 can just select to pay by CC in checkout. PP handles the transaction.

[hulio_496]

@d-k_treasures wrote:

Buyer #1 can just select to pay by CC in checkout. PP handles the transaction.

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He's too busy installing pools morning till night. I got to hear that story over and over and over...

[hulio_496]

All auctions have been traditional auctions thus far. No BIN, no best offers.

I've still got more things to list so I'm going to look into payment within 24 hours verbiage in my listings. That might help but isn't a guarantee to eliminate the foolishness. Opening a case with Ebay still allows the buyer something like 4-6 more days before I can request a fee refund and re-list the item.

[odditiesandantiquities1]

It is so very frustrating, especially auctions where they wait until the last minute to bid and then poof they're gone. I understand a little if someone has bid quite some time ago, but not when you are right there at the final moment.

I just don't know what goes through their heads.

[d-k_treasures]

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@odditiesandantiquities1 wrote:

It is so very frustrating, especially auctions where they wait until the last minute to bid and then poof they're gone. I understand a little if someone has bid quite some time ago, but not when you are right there at the final moment.

I just don't know what goes through their heads.

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They don't have to be there 'right at the final moment' if they are using a sniping service.

Or bidding by using a smart phone. I would NEVER pay using a phone.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

They may be using a sniping tool and not actually "there" at the end.

[odditiesandantiquities1]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

They may be using a sniping tool and not actually "there" at the end.

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I have never heard of that term before "sniping tool" then again I am a bit behind the times. What is it?

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

There are many tools and online sniping sites. I use Esnipe and have for about 15 years. There are supposed to be tools that are extensions of popular browsers but I've never used those.

You just enter your max bid and tell it how many seconds out to bid for you and let it go. I don't have time to keep track of all the auctions I bid on in a week.

[odditiesandantiquities1]

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@the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth wrote:

There are many tools and online sniping sites. I use Esnipe and have for about 15 years. There are supposed to be tools that are extensions of popular browsers but I've never used those.

You just enter your max bid and tell it how many seconds out to bid for you and let it go. I don't have time to keep track of all the auctions I bid on in a week.

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Thank you...that's really interesting.