Why does eBay allow such a long time to elapse to allow buyers to stall paying for an item?

[salticid]

It's enormously disruptive to accept a buyer's offer, end an auction early, then have them try to negotiate the price after the fact. And then you have to wait days until starting an UID, then that takes days or even weeks to resolve, I don't know the exact times but whatever it is it's way too long. I can't think of a scenario where sellers should be held hostage to buyers ponying up like this for days and days. It should be like 12 or 24 hours and then the buyer's card is automatically charged or an UID dispute resolved in the seller's favor, allowing them to relist without paying cancellation fees. If it's a weekend- well, figure it out, you charge the card and it goes through on Monday, or the UID is resolved and the sale is cancelled.

And of course, buyers can't get negative feedback, strikes don't show up to sellers so 'buyers' can scam and disrupt multiple sellers before getting booted, and can easily make new accounts if they do get strikes. 

Yet another way in which eBay is a bad platform for sellers yet people keep listing with them because they have a monopoly on selling big-ticket items to a national audience, and by virtue of being the first mover in the peer-to-peer selling space, they have incumbent advantage that no one (yet) has bothered to challenge.

Maybe when Facebook decides to turn FB Marketplace into a real eBay competitor we'll start seeing some of these ridiculous policies change.

[salticid]

Now I know, although it's not clear why eBay allows such abuse on all selling formats except for fixed price, immediate payment. 

[soh.maryl]

What "long time" would that be? A seller can cancel on day #5 if buyer has not yet paid.

And "incumbent advantage"? 

[soh.maryl]

When you come here and voice your opinion, you need to be willing to listen to the opinions of others.

If you are going to list auctions, then it's a good idea to read about your available options if a buyer does not pay in 4 days.  

[soh.maryl]

No reason to wait 7 days.  A sale can be cancelled on day #5.

Just because you did not know that apparently, that doesn't mean it's eBay's fault you did not know.

[femmefan1946]

You can also set your Sell Your Item form to automatically Cancel the sale after 96 hours.

The deadbeat gets a Strike on his account which restricts his ability to buy on eBay. He cannot leave feedback, which is often more important.

You can set your Seller Preferences/Buyer Requirments to automatically Block deadbeats with Strikes.

You can also look at a bidder's Feedback Left for Others to judge his character and to see if there are any recorded Bid Retractions.

[katzrul15]

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@salticid wrote:

It's enormously disruptive to accept a buyer's offer, end an auction early, then have them try to negotiate the price after the fact. And then you have to wait days until starting an UID, then that takes days or even weeks to resolve, I don't know the exact times but whatever it is it's way too long. I can't think of a scenario where sellers should be held hostage to buyers ponying up like this for days and days. It should be like 12 or 24 hours and then the buyer's card is automatically charged or an UID dispute resolved in the seller's favor, allowing them to relist without paying cancellation fees. If it's a weekend- well, figure it out, you charge the card and it goes through on Monday, or the UID is resolved and the sale is cancelled.

And of course, buyers can't get negative feedback, strikes don't show up to sellers so 'buyers' can scam and disrupt multiple sellers before getting booted, and can easily make new accounts if they do get strikes. 

Yet another way in which eBay is a bad platform for sellers yet people keep listing with them because they have a monopoly on selling big-ticket items to a national audience, and by virtue of being the first mover in the peer-to-peer selling space, they have incumbent advantage that no one (yet) has bothered to challenge.

Maybe when Facebook decides to turn FB Marketplace into a real eBay competitor we'll start seeing some of these ridiculous policies change.

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Why?  Because they can, they do and e-Bay is Buyer-centric.  The "buyer" might be bidding on multiple items, want combined shipping, etc.

Auctions can be annoying, but can also be a great tool to draw traffic to you/your items.  Only you can decide if it makes sense - otherwise fixed price/immediate pay.  Good luck!

[motortown_inc]

I do the same, and that is a good call.  

[luckythewinner]

Why does eBay allow such a long time to elapse to allow buyers to stall paying for an item?

Only eBay can tell you for sure, but I have three possibilities: 

First, because they always have done this dating back to the days of money orders. (Up until recently, they allowed even longer than they do now).  

Second, because eBay understands that buyers are not always online and want buyers to be happy with their experience, and not be disappointed by impatient sellers. 

Third, because eBay already offers an alterative to auctions/offers for sellers who want to be paid immediately. 

[technoshoptotalwireless]

In my case, I send them a message asking  how long will they take to complete payment after offer was accepted If they haven't paid within the first 24 hours , If there is no response, I then procced to cancel the transaction within 48 hours and re-list it.

Learn that is part of the job and don't get so hung up on it.. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@technoshoptotalwireless wrote: ... I send them a message asking  how long will they take to complete payment after offer was accepted If they haven't paid within the first 24 hours , If there is no response, I then procced to cancel the transaction within 48 hours and re-list it.... 

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That sounds like a total of less than 4 days.  What reason do you choose for the cancellation?

[a_c_green]

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@salticid wrote:

It's enormously disruptive to accept a buyer's offer, end an auction early, then have them try to negotiate the price after the fact.

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Right, so stop doing that. It's irritating to other bidders who have placed their bids fair and square, and are just waiting for the auction to end.

By ending it prematurely to sell to someone else, you are doing yourself a disservice as well, as you are selling to someone who is clearly worried that if he does not persuade you to end your auction early to sell to him, the price will eventually go higher than what he wants to pay.

The buyer in your case has also gained additional leverage to try to haggle a lower price, because now that you have ended the auction, he is your best prospect for selling it at all, and he knows that. (If you ended the auction without cancelling bids and with him in the lead, you might still be able to send a Second Chance Offer to whoever was in second place when the auction ended, but you have already handicapped your potential profit by ending the auction prematurely, so at this point, relisting with a full-term auction may be the best way to salvage the most.)

Not every item is a good fit for an auction anyway, such as current items with a generally accepted retail price, but rare, vintage or One Of A Kind items will do well when sold at auction with competitive bidding. Let the auction run all the way to the end and you will not be disappointed, as the final minutes, and the final seconds in particular, can get pretty exciting.

[joseh1445]

If you want to get the same results, continue doing what you are doing.  If you want changes, you need to change how you sell your items.  People have give you good advice, but you are not paying attention.  I wish you luck on your selling journey, you are going to need it.  

[soh.maryl]

Unless your listing has immediate payment required, your buyer has at least 4 days (96 hours) to pay.  Hard to understand why an experienced seller like yourself believes it's within the rules to cancel after 48 hours.  And what do you use as the reason for the cancellation?