Unpaid item from April 30

[divwido]

shouldn't that let me close the unpaid item today?  it was sold at 12:17.   But for some idiot reason, eBay claims (in my eBay) that it sold May 3rd even though the listing says April 30.     Shouldn't I be allowed to close that today?

[heckofagame]

You didn't, by chance, send an invoice on May 3?

[divwido]

Maybe I have to wait until tomorrow.

[lamber9347]

I believe it is four calendar days, so by tomorrow you should be able to cancel. I have mine set up automatically, so the system cancels any unpaid items I have and refunds my fees without my doing anything. I find it much easier that way. Sorry this happened. Best of luck to you....

[divwido]

Yes, I did.  I had hoped to close the sale today and gave them one last chance.  But maybe I miscounted. 

[divwido]

I tried to do that, but eBay's auto cancel date is way longer than four days.  I don't do this for giggles, I want the money.

[kensgiftshop · Accepted solution]

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@divwido wrote:

I tried to do that, but eBay's auto cancel date is way longer than four days.  I don't do this for giggles, I want the money.

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You can set the number of days you want it to automatically cancel.

https://www.ebay.com/Cancel/Preference/UnpaidPurchase

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@divwido wrote:

I tried to do that, but eBay's auto cancel date is way longer than four days. ...

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The policy page on unpaid items says that the manual or automatic cancellation based on "Buyer didn't pay" can be done any time after 4 full calendar days (i.e., 96 hours).

 https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/getting-paid/resolving-unpaid-items-buyers?id=4137 

Your options to auto cancel would be either 4 days, or after the number of days that you have set up to allow buyers to combine purchases, whichever is longer. And of course any option that you choose can be adjusted by the eBay gremlins when you're not looking.  

[pburn]

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@divwido wrote:

I tried to do that, but eBay's auto cancel date is way longer than four days.  I don't do this for giggles, I want the money.

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@divwido 

Have you sent the auction winner additional invoices since the auction ended? Sending an invoice resets the 96-hour/four day clock, so every time a seller sends an invoice, the auction winner is given more time to pay.

Please see this thread, as well:

Sold Date in Sellers Hub does not correspond to date auction won 

[pburn]

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@divwido wrote:

Yes, I did.  I had hoped to close the sale today and gave them one last chance.  But maybe I miscounted. 

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@divwido 

Ah, yes. I see you did send this customer an invoice. That's why you're unable to cancel the transaction for nonpayment and seeing a later sold date. 

[pjcdn2005]

Even if they haven't sent an invoice, today is only the 3rd day since it sold.

I know there have been discussions about this before but I don't understand why ebay would

set it up so that sending an invoice starts the countdown again.

[pburn]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

Even if they haven't sent an invoice, today is only the 3rd day since it sold.

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Perhaps someone was counting April 31?   😉

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I know there have been discussions about this before but I don't understand why ebay would

set it up so that sending an invoice starts the countdown again.

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Agree 100%. I also don't understand why that wouldn't be made perfectly clear to sellers in eBay's explanation of the process.

[coolections]

You have to wait 4 days. Don't be impatient thinking at the "exact" time of closing you will get the refund. April 30th to May 3rd is not quite 4 days.

[wastingtime101]

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@pjcdn2005 wrote:

I know there have been discussions about this before but I don't understand why ebay would

set it up so that sending an invoice starts the countdown again.

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My best guess is because a buyer could be waiting for a combined shipping rate promised by the seller, so sending the invoice triggers the first day the buyer had the option of paying the adjusted amount.

The problem is that too many sellers send invoices when there is zero need for it combined with the lack of published text from eBay that lets sellers know an invoice will reset the cancellation clock when you're not using the automated process.

[pburn]

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@wastingtime101 wrote:. . . combined with the lack of published text from eBay that lets sellers know an invoice will reset the cancellation clock when you're not using the automated process.

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Correcting my Message #12. 

The eBay help page regarding "Resolving unpaid items with buyers" indeed has been updated to include "published text from eBay that lets sellers know an invoice will reset the cancellation clock when you're not using the automated process."

Here's that published text that has been added to address the invoice issue . . .