Yet another Dead Beat BUYER! This time for $1,400!!! So tired of people getting away with it.

[dcmerc2012]

I am getting so tired of this... I put a camera up for sale for $1800. Within an hour I get an offer of $1400.  I noticed that the buyers account was started all of two months ago and he has no feedback at all. I message him and thank him for the offer and tell him that I am considering it, but I am concerned about his lack of experience and feedback.

He informs me that he has several buying accounts and this is just the newest one and that he has been buying on ebay for a number of years. I give it some more thought and then decide to accept the offer and send him an invoice. Hours later and no payment. I send him a message and inform him that I accepted his offer and would appreciate it if he would please pay for the item. Nothing...

I wait a few more hours and message again and tell him that I am concerned that I have no received payment and that I will need him to either pay or contact me by the end of business today or I will have to relist the item. He finally writes, tells me that he bought a different item and will "have to pass" on what he purchased from me. 

I called T&S and reported him and they said they would take steps to find his other accounts and take action. This is absolutely infuriating. Ebay is quick to take money out of my account for just about anything, it seems unfair that buyers get a free pass on pretty much anything they want to do. If this were a fair system then they would require buyers to place a credit card and bank account on file before they are allowed to purchase and if they make an offer on something and it is accepted then the funds are automatically taken from their account, simple as that.  It would completely eliminate dead beat buyers or at least give them pause. 

[davidsharp68]

Ebay doesn't give a flaming bag of cow dung about sellers.

They do everything they can to coddle buyers.

Ebay needs new management that knows what they are doing.

Having the notion that buyers are always right and sellers are always wrong is not a fair way to do business. 

[dcmerc2012]

Occasional seller? Hardly. Last year I did nearly $150K through ebay. Not sure where you are getting "occasional seller" from. 

Also, a buyer has 96 hours to pay, but that doesn't mean anything when they inform me that they have no intention to pay. That is the issue here and some of you people are not understanding it. It doesn't make any difference how long a buyer has to pay when they make it clear that they have no intention of honoring their best offer to begin with. He is not going to pay and it doesn't make a difference how long he has. 

[wrong66]

It is THE solution to prevent the same thing happening again.

[maxine*j]

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@dcmerc2012 wrote:

Occasional seller? Hardly. Last year I did nearly $150K through ebay. Not sure where you are getting "occasional seller" from. 

Also, a buyer has 96 hours to pay, but that doesn't mean anything when they inform me that they have no intention to pay. That is the issue here and some of you people are not understanding it. It doesn't make any difference how long a buyer has to pay when they make it clear that they have no intention of honoring their best offer to begin with. He is not going to pay and it doesn't make a difference how long he has. 

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This is just something to consider:  Because the buyer had four days to pay,  there was no reason to send him repeated messages within just a few hours of the transaction.  All you had to do was wait the usual time that you would have waited had then this not been an "offer" situation and then file the NPB if he didn't pay. 

Maybe he felt hassled and put-upon and decided to look elsewhere for what he wanted.  I'm not excusing him for not fulfilling his side of the deal, mind you, but I know that I would not like repeated messages to pay up before payment was even due.

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[wrong66]

If I was invoiced and badgered with emails telling me to pay hours after the offer, I would maybe "pass" too. 

[dcmerc2012]

Actually, payment is technically due the moment I accept the offer, regardless of how much time ebay gives a buyer, the moment an offer is accepted the payment is due. The fact that he already knew I had concerns regarding the fact that his account had only been active for a couple of months and he had NO feedback at all should automatically excuse any urgency or concern I had regarding getting paid. It also makes NO DIFFERENCE whether or not he feels "hassled", the ebay agreement he signs when signing up with ebay states clearly that all sales are binding contracts between the buyer and seller. It would be like you refusing to pay your electric bill because you felt "hassled".... how long do you think you would have electricity? 

[wrong66]

He might have very well intended to pay before he got bombarded by you because you were paranoid of him having low feedback and lack of experience (which you admitted you mentioned to him) and were frustrated because he didn't pay in a few HOURS.

[wrong66]

My electric bill's due date is a couple weeks after I get the bill. In the meantime, I have electricity. Your analogy makes no sense. Sadly, I don't think you get it.

[soh.maryl]

Regardless of whether or not the buyer says they aren't going to pay, can't you just wait the usual 96 hours and then cancel on day #5, using "buyer didn't pay" as the reason? 

[maxine*j]

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@dcmerc2012 wrote:

Actually, payment is technically due the moment I accept the offer, regardless of how much time ebay gives a buyer, the moment an offer is accepted the payment is due.

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You may feel that way, but that's not how it works at the moment.

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[soh.maryl]

The OP and the buyer agreed on a price.  The OP began asking about payment shortly after that.  In fact, unless it was listed with IPR, the buyer has 4 days to pay.

This has nothing to do with coddling buyers.  

And, again, for the OP:  Unless it was listed with IPR, the buyer has 96 hours to pay.  

[powell-memorabilia]

Be careful what you wish for.  

Personally, I won’t make offers when asked to front the money.  Thank always pay, but I’m not going through the hassle of the ending charges or the extra time needed to make such offers.  

Making offers and buying is supposed to be enjoyable - the payment guarantee process sucks the fun out of it.

[wrong66]

Correct. It might not be the OP's personal policy, but it is nonetheless eBay's policy. 

[fashunu4eeuh]

Ebay policy allows a buyer 4 days to pay. You cannot demand a buyer’s remittance prior to that deadline. See policy below.

You incorrectly threatened the buyer with cancellation If he did not pay by your deadline. It doesn't matter that he had little feedback. Buyers do not have to prove their merit on this platform.

You likely lost this sale by hounding the buyer. Perhaps he would have paid, but decided to go with a seller who wanted his business, and did not express concern about his trustworthiness.

Since sellers have a right to do business with whom they choose here, you should have declined his offer if you were that fearful to sell to a new account.

“Timelines for paying

When you buy an item on eBay, whether you won an auction or used Buy It Now, you'll need to pay the seller within 4 days...”

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/paying-items/paying-items?id=4009

[blch-2093]

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@dcmerc2012 wrote:

You are missing the point... Do you seriously think I give a &%$^ whether or not I am on this morons blocked seller list??? Seriously??

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but isn't the point here that you kind of hounded the buyer? i would hope you wouldn't care about being put on his blocked buyer list. there is no such thing. but by your own description you did hound the buyer with a series of messages demanding payment and he opted out. he should have followed the right process and requested to cancel but i get the feeling going that route would have been denied. then youre right back where this all started, with you hounding the buyer and him deciding not to pay. seems like you should own a bit part of this one. seriously.