people who won't pay

[warren689]

What is up with all these people lately who won't pay? Best offer and bidders won't pay. Maybe it's time to can both options and up the prices so I don't have to deal with this. anyone else noticing a lot of this lately?

[emerald40]

Use immediate payment required.

[divwido]

What you may not know.

Now, someone can win, not pay and waste several days of your time.

Immediate payment required is much different.  Someone can win, but if they don't pay right away-they are no longer the winner.  Your item is still for sale and you don't have to do anything.

[magicjohnsonsvariety]

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@emerald40 wrote:

Use immediate payment required.

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Not an option for Auctions or best offers.

[betsyvintagejewelryseller]

I have been caught twice in the last month where people negotiate, get invoiced and then have left feedback saying they need to cancel. eBay true to form does nothing to protect the sellers at all. Two items at $500 & $800 and no pay for immediate payment required. It stinks. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

On the discussion boards, I have noticed that some buyers don't realize that an accepted offer is an actual sale.  They think they get a chance to decide whether to purchase, after you accept their offer.

[femmefan1946]

I've been around since 1998, and this has always been a problem.

It was worse in the 20th century, when buyers had to send payments by mail. They just didn't. And since mail is slow, it could be over a week before you found out you were not being paid.

Have you noticed this happens more with Auctions than with Fixed Price?

Don't use Auctions.

Have you noticed that this happens more with Best Offers than with Buy It Now?

Don't accept Best Offers or look for signals that the customer may be a time waster, like a lot of haggling. One offer One counter offer? Fine. If it goes to the full five, nope.

up the prices so I don't have to deal with this

Your items, especially the purses, are aspirational goods.

There is less price resistance on that kind of item.

Why not try raising prices on new items or on items that have Watchers?

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

... Have you noticed this happens more with Auctions than with Fixed Price? Don't use Auctions.

Have you noticed that this happens more with Best Offers than with Buy It Now?

Don't accept Best Offers ...

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Well, that was his original question: "Best offer and bidders won't pay. Maybe it's time to can both options"

[adkhighker]

It's only going to get worse because all you have to do to see why the non-paying issue is so bad is to look at the type of buyers ebay is trying to attract these days.

eBay lets buyers get away with taking their sweet time to pay for something or not paying at all with barely a slap on the wrist, if even that. You agreed to buy something, did you, and now you decide you're not gonna pay for it? Hey, that's fine. Just don't do it too much, or if you have to do it, just make sure to create another buying account so you can continue to run around buying things and not paying for them. Great. You got carried away with auction fever and paid a little too much you think?  That's alright. Just don't bother paying for it. Who cares if the seller only gets half the price for it when they have to re-list it again? Not eBay, that's for sure.

Instead of encouraging buyers to keep their items, eBay encourages them to return them for any reason under the sun. Oh, you found someone else selling the same thing for a couple of bucks cheaper? No problem, just return it for a full refund and buy it from the other guy.  Who cares that the seller has eat the shipping cost to get the item back? Not eBay.

I still think most eBay buyers are fine, but more and more, eBay is catering to all the buyers who nobody else wants.

[slippinjimmy]

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@betsyvintagejewelryseller wrote:

I have been caught twice in the last month where people negotiate, get invoiced and then have left feedback saying they need to cancel. eBay true to form does nothing to protect the sellers at all. Two items at $500 & $800 and no pay for immediate payment required. It stinks. 

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Protect from what exactly? eBay will refund your fvf so at most what you have lost is a listing fee.

eBay does provide sellers the ability to block buyers with 2 or more non-payment strikes, I don't know what else they can do.

Do you want eBay to go over to the non-payers house and beat them up for you?

[femmefan1946]

@nobody*s_perfect

Well, we only get 'bidders' in Auctions. Fixed Price listings get 'buyers'.

And I suggested a strategy for spotting Best Offer deadbeats.

[magicjohnsonsvariety]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

I've been around since 1998, and this has always been a problem.

It was worse in the 20th century, when buyers had to send payments by mail. They just didn't. And since mail is slow, it could be over a week before you found out you were not being paid.

Have you noticed this happens more with Auctions than with Fixed Price?

Don't use Auctions.

Have you noticed that this happens more with Best Offers than with Buy It Now?

Don't accept Best Offers or look for signals that the customer may be a time waster, like a lot of haggling. One offer One counter offer? Fine. If it goes to the full five, nope.

up the prices so I don't have to deal with this

Your items, especially the purses, are aspirational goods.

There is less price resistance on that kind of item.

Why not try raising prices on new items or on items that have Watchers?

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Those who complain now clearly don't remember the horse and buggy days when, as you correctly say....was worse. 

I started selling on my wifes account back in 1999 before I got my own and waiting 1 week for payment was pretty normal.....some payments took 2 or 3 weeks to arrive. The check is in the mail could mean anything....and relisting your item was weeks, not days later.

Kids these days don't realize how easy things are now.......

And for those who think ebay does nothing to those who don't pay, My sister was banned from ebay for winning auctions and then not paying.

[adkhighker]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

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@betsyvintagejewelryseller wrote:

I have been caught twice in the last month where people negotiate, get invoiced and then have left feedback saying they need to cancel. eBay true to form does nothing to protect the sellers at all. Two items at $500 & $800 and no pay for immediate payment required. It stinks. 

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Protect from what exactly? eBay will refund your fvf so at most what you have lost is a listing fee.

eBay does provide sellers the ability to block buyers with 2 or more non-payment strikes, I don't know what else they can do.

Do you want eBay to go over to the non-payers house and beat them up for you?

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Depending on what you sell, there's a lot more to what a seller can lose besides a measley listing fee. Sometimes if you sell something for $500 and $800, or for any decent price you can think of, you might not ever get those prices again, especially if you sold them through an auction. There's also the chance that you might not get those prices again even if you were selling fixed price. Besides that, it's a complete time waster for sellers when they have to wait around forever to see if someone pays, and then when they don't pay, they have to try to sell the same things over again. That might be easier for people who sell brand new items or a large number of the same exact item, but it's not so easy for sellers who are selling OOAK items or anything half way unique in the antiques, collectibles, or preowned categories. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

And in the olden days there was no carrier pickup and we had to walk to the Post office. In the snow. Uphill, both ways.

[slippinjimmy]

You haven't made a sale until you get paid. The price that was promised to you but not paid is not a sale, you never actually got that price and when you relist it and it actually sells THAT is the market price not some fantasy amount a non-payer offered but never followed through on.

What is the difference between an Auction that ends with no bids and an Auction that ends with a high amount that is never paid?