eBay

vintageshaz · ‎05-01-2023

Hi all..I'm an old Ebayer (buyer) but just recently opened my store and love it. However currently I have this issue with a buyer (no address or buys under their account) and was disappointed to learn I have to wait 4-5 days to cancel or receive payment. My concern here as sellers is that many of us are listing on multiple platforms..if we were nice enough to accept a lower offer than what we are selling an item at, common courtesy would be to complete the order..Why accept the offer if you're not ready to pay? I can't walk into ANY store and expect to not pay immediately so I found this to be odd. If I remove this same item from other platforms and the person ends up not paying, I am still impacted by relisting fees etc. 4-5 days is a LONG time. I understand customer satisfaction but I would say 2 days max. I love ebay and would love to see some updates on this policy.

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

My way around this is that eBay states they ask the seller to not cancel orders but they understand that situations arise to where the seller has to. Well I send the buyer that hasn’t paid right away a notice that I’m waiting on payment before I can ship. If a payment can’t be made right away then I expect contact within 24 hours of none payment if none payment is made and no contact then I assume the buyer made a mistake and opted out of the offer then I cancel that order. I believe you can also keep it posted if you have more than 1 item. If it sells then I cancel the none paying buyers order under “Out of stock”. As far as I know there’s no repercussions for cancellations it’s just something eBay asks of the seller which I’m assuming benefits them in some sort of way but absolutely does nothing for the seller but create more headaches. Why should a sellers care about customer satisfaction when it comes to a customer who can’t pay right away or at least respond to notices inquiring about payment? I wouldn’t want those customers as repeat buyers if that’s the case. I’m willing to make offers and give a customer a break on price and in doing so we expect it’s appropriated and paid for.

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

I know this post is a few months old but I believe they changed a few things around since I was a seller about a year ago. When I was a buyer I never asked for offers but even when I excepted offers I was required to pay immediately upon excepting the offer price. Now that I’m selling it seems they have a totally different expectation of sellers when it comes to payments. I don’t believe it’s policy though and please correct me if I’m wrong on that. eBay does state in there cancellation section that they advise not making cancellations but understand situations arise to where the seller has to. Well a situation of non-payment would seem to fit the bill. I send out a notice after I except someone’s offer and I don’t get payment that I’m waiting on payment and if they do before 4:30pm I’ll ship out right away and if they can’t pay right away then to contact me. I believe if someone’s serious about paying and not wasting my time then they’ll do so with an explanation on when to expect payment. Even though I don’t like the idea of pulling an item and holding it. I will for a serious customer who can respectful enough to at least contact me and let me know what’s up especially since I’ve given them a price break on what they want. If I don’t get a response I let them know they are telling me they made a mistake and want to opt out of their purchase. After 24 hours of that notice and I don’t hear a word I cancel it as “Buyer cancelled” as my notice told them I’d do so under that understanding. Option 2 would be repost the item after you send a notice out to them that if you don’t receive payment soon you can’t guarantee them you’ll have that item in the future and you’ll have to cancel their order as “Out of stock” if someone else makes an offer and pays right away or pays full price either way this you shouldn’t have no problem because it is technically true and you did warn the non paying buyer. I’ve had to cancel 1 order so far from a customer that didn’t respond to any of my messages as “Buyer cancelled”.

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

Thanks for the help on that last part. That’s a good idea. That gets around from this 4 day eBay asks you to wait. Although I don’t believe it’s against policy to cancel because they don’t stop you by taking other avenues and they specifically say they realize there’s situations to where a seller has to make a cancellation. So none payment and or none response to seller’s inquiries could be construed as a situation to the seller, right?

nobody*s_perfect · ‎10-26-2023

@pennywiser wrote: ... repost the item after you send a notice out to them that if you don’t receive payment soon you can’t guarantee them you’ll have that item in the future and you’ll have to cancel their order as “Out of stock” if someone else makes an offer and pays right away ...

Oh dear, there ARE serious repercussions for canceling a transaction due to "Out of stock"! Just a few of those defect points will put you in "Below standard" status, costing an extra 6% in final value fees and possibly limiting your selling options. You can see the details in the seller performance criteria here, particularly the section on "transaction defect rate":

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/selling-policies/seller-performance-policy?id=4347#section2

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

I understand and that should be done for auction items because sometimes auctions are set for a week or more and no one knows if they’ll have that $100 in 7 days if they win and won on another auction then giving the winning bidder time to pay would be understandable. Items sold to a potential buyers on a price break should be paid if you except their offer. 1 being you’re asking a certain amount which the buyer can’t pay so they want the price knocked down. You except but the buyer can’t pay that excepted amount for 4 days is just absurd. The buyer come up with that $10 or $20 dollars you’ve knocked off in 4 days and just paid full price. I never herd of anyone bargaining someone down on price just to tell them they can’t pay them for 4 days. If I wanted to wait 4 days then I would auction items off because I’m already setting the auction time so needing that money isn’t a concern. Buy it now even with an offer by either party should be paid right away or a fee for each day of none payment should be required like layaway plan. Personally I don’t care for repeat customers if they’re going ask for something and not actually buy it for 4 days. It’s a waste of time and in some cases money. It’s a potential missed out sell for full price or a better offer with someone who can pay in a decent amount of time. At the very least I send them notice for payment or contact me or I cancel their order per their request if I don’t hear back within 24 hours.

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

I don’t believe it’s a rule or policy but eBays suggestion. They don’t stop you from canceling a non paying customers order they just ask that you wait 4 days for payment. They even state they understand where situation arise to where a seller has to make a cancellation. To me Buy it now means just that and offers excepted should be handled the same.

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

Nor will eBay do anything. I’ve noticed each time I call on one particular matter I get a different customer service rep telling something different. I’m also assuming when the party you are making a complaint against has another rep promising them an outcome in their favor. They don’t connect you both with one rep that can settle the issue. Each party is being told they are right and the other should be faulted. They tell you that they can’t tell you what actions have been taken against the buyer or seller once you make that complaint and my guess is because none has been taken. Why are they going to punish someone that’s probably making more money for them then you are regardless of what they’ve done to you as a buyer or seller as long as it didn’t effect their profits is the way I look at it.

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

eBay has immediate payment in beta for offers received, but why not offers sent?? Did this change? I’m a seller who excepted someone’s offer and they didn’t immediately have to pay. My way around this is to send them a message and tell them if I don’t receive immediate payment or a response on when one will be made they voluntarily forfeited their offer and I cancel as “Buyer asked to cancel” as far as I’m aware this isn’t a rule to wait for days it’s just something they ask you to do because they don’t stop a cancellation and they state on the cancellation page that although they ask you not to cancel they understand where a situation arises that they have to cancel. Well a non payment is quite the situation wouldn’t you think?

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

This is understandable for auctioned items because those are set for days on end anyway and it’s obvious the seller is in no rush to collect. If you have to pay right away on a “Buy it now” why does an offer change anything? I’m taking the lowest price on a item sold not waiting for someone to offer more money which means I’ll take what you got if reasonable not wait for days that you could of come up with another $10-$20 or whatever amount was knocked off in 4 days. I’m waiting on you 4 days or possibly not at all for something that could have been sold full price. It’s just disrespectful towards the seller giving you a break and eBay as long as they’re making a profit either way can care less about how it effects the seller’s that have a life outside of online selling.

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

I don’t believe it’s policy just something they ask you to do. I’ve canceled non payment after I sent them a message to contact me about payment within 24 hours. They didn’t which the ones who attend not to won’t adhere to the message. So I cancel it as “Buyer asked to cancel” eBay states that they ask you to wait 4 days to cancel but they understand there times where situations arise the seller has to. Non payment and non communication is a serious situation to me.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎10-26-2023

@pennywiser wrote:
I don’t believe it’s a rule or policy but eBays suggestion. They don’t stop you from canceling a non paying customers order they just ask that you wait 4 days for payment. ...

The option to cancel based on "Buyer hasn't paid" is not available during the first 4 days after the transaction. That's the whole point of this thread -- having to wait 4 days before you can use that specific cancellation option. During those first 4 days after the auction ends, the only options for cancellation are "Buyer requested," "Out of stock," and "Problem with buyer's address."

pennywiser · ‎10-26-2023

I don’t believe it’s policy you have to wait for payment. They just ask that you do. You still have the option to cancel an order under seller asked to cancel or item out of stock especially if you have a waiting buyer that will pay right away this cancellation would be true. The “Buyer asked to cancel” would be true also if you send them a notice telling them you’ll cancel under their discretion for non payment or contact for when a payment will be made.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎10-26-2023

@pennywiser wrote:
I don’t believe it’s policy you have to wait for payment. They just ask that you do. You still have the option to cancel an order under seller asked to cancel or item out of stock ...

As noted above, if you cancel based on "Out of stock," you will get a defect point on your account and too many of those can lead to extra fees or even constraining your sales.

@pennywiser wrote: ... . The “Buyer asked to cancel” would be true also if you send them a notice telling them you’ll cancel under their discretion for non payment or contact for when a payment will be made.

You can't make up your own rules. Demanding contact from the buyer doesn't mean that lack of response is equivalent to a requset for cancellation. It just doesn't work that way.

k5kwh · ‎02-16-2024

I agree. The policy is absolutely ridiculous. I wish non-paying buyer losers would fall off the face of the earth along with the ones who outbid last minute and then demand lower shipping or start asking a million questions (questions they should have asked 'before' the sell) and go into the loser dominion where they belong.