eBay

peahix · ‎06-04-2021

My standard policy is that if a buyer hasn't paid me or contacted me within 4 days of the end of the sale, I initiate an "I haven't received my payment yet" in Resolution Center. I used to be able to do this directly from the item's page, but that option has now disappeared. I went directly to Resolution Center, and found the option, but when I fill it out, it acts as if I'm asking to *cancel* the transaction. I don't want to cancel, I just want to put the buyer on notice of having not paid, and fast-track my refund from ebay if the buyer ends up flaking out. Does anyone know how to do this now?

wastingtime101 · ‎06-04-2021

eBay changed the Unpaid Item process. The new process is that you wait 5 days at which point you can cancel the sale, or change your preferences to automate the process. By selecting the cancellation reason 'buyer didn't pay', the buyer will still get a non-payment strike.

You can read more about it in the Spring Seller Update or the help pages.

Interesting ... I remember the Spring Update saying 5 days, but re-reading it now, it says 5 calendar days. The help page says 4 calendar days. The account settings page says 4 days, not 4 calendar days.

With 4 calendar days, when a weekend is involved the timeframe is the same as the old UPI process - not an improvement at all.

Is eBay messing around with these timelines, tyler@ebay - every place it's discussed has conflicting information. Is it 4 days, 4 calendar days, or 5 calendar days? Some of these pages will need updating.

GLORIOUS!

peahix · ‎06-04-2021

But the problem is, I don't want to cancel yet. In my experience, simply filing the UPI usually spurs the buyer to pay, more so than simply contacting them and asking them to pay, because of the threat of a strike on their account if they don't. Ultimately, I just want the sale to go through, no cancel and have to deal with a 2nd-chance offer (which rarely works) or relist.

buyselljack2016 · ‎06-04-2021

@peahix wrote:
But the problem is, I don't want to cancel yet. In my experience, simply filing the UPI usually spurs the buyer to pay, more so than simply contacting them and asking them to pay, because of the threat of a strike on their account if they don't. Ultimately, I just want the sale to go through, no cancel and have to deal with a 2nd-chance offer (which rarely works) or relist.

Supposedly eBay now sends a notice to pay. This is in addition to the normal "win" notification to pay.

If they were going to pay that should prompt them to do so.

pjcdn2005 · ‎06-04-2021

The way that I understand it is that you can cancel on the 5th day.

4 calendar days = 4 days

I think that you are confusing calendar days with business days

reallyhardtofind · ‎06-04-2021

I find if a buyer doesn't pay immediately/48hrs they most likely won't. Unless they contact me explaining their intentions. I like the new process its far more speedy from the sellers end.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎06-04-2021

@reallyhardtofind wrote:
I find if a buyer doesn't pay immediately/48hrs they most likely won't. Unless they contact me explaining their intentions. I like the new process its far more speedy from the sellers end.

My experience is a bit different. I don’t run auctions often, but when i do, i give my buyers 7 days to remit. I send an invoice on day 7, if no payment has been received, and it is not unusual for them to pay then.

wastingtime101 · ‎06-04-2021

@pjcdn2005 wrote:
The way that I understand it is that you can cancel on the 5th day.

4 calendar days = 4 days
I think that you are confusing calendar days with business days

LOL I absolutely did. I saw the word calendar and read it as business. Strike that from my above post - the long week is clearly wearing on me.

However the question still remains about 4 days vs 5 days. I re-read the seller update and the help page and it's not clear.

Update Page: "If a buyer hasn’t paid after 5 calendar days, you can cancel the transaction."

Help Page: "When you enable Preferences for items awaiting payment, you can customize your settings so that orders that aren't paid for will be canceled automatically after 4 calendar days."

GLORIOUS!

tyler@ebay · ‎06-07-2021

Hi @wastingtime101 - thanks for the tag on this!

So for what it's worth, all my internal resources state 4 calendar days.

I'm wondering if it's a distinction between 4 calendar days to pay, and you can initiate the cancellation on the 5th day.

I'm requesting clarification on this one though, and will update you as I hear back.

Tyler,

wastingtime101 · ‎06-07-2021

Thanks tyler@ebay. Under the automation preferences, with the old UPI process when we selected to have them automatically opened in 2 days and closed in 4, that's exactly what happened. With the new process, if cancellations won't be automated until day 5, then the preferences and help pages should say that. Everything says 4 days except the Spring Update.

GLORIOUS!

tyler@ebay · ‎06-08-2021

Hi @wastingtime101 - I heard back on this!

A non-payment cancellation can be sent after 4 full calendar days have passed from the commitment to buy. So at the start of the 5th day.

I've requested that the Help Pages and my internal resources be updated to reflect that. I'm trying to find the team in charge of the preferences page to let them know.

Tyler,

wastingtime101 · ‎06-08-2021

So if we use the automation preferences, tyler@ebay, and set them to 4 days, does that mean after 96 hours the cancellation will go through? Or does it mean on day 5 the cancellation will go through?

Buyer purchases June 8th at 10:00 AM but doesn't pay.

Does the cancellation initiate on June 12th at 10:01 AM (or shortly after - there was about an hour lag on the old UPI automated process), the technical start of the 5th day?
Does the cancellation initiate at some time on June 13th going by date for the 5th day?

GLORIOUS!

tyler@ebay · ‎06-09-2021

@wastingtime101 wrote:

So if we use the automation preferences, tyler@ebay, and set them to 4 days, does that mean after 96 hours the cancellation will go through? Or does it mean on day 5 the cancellation will go through?

Buyer purchases June 8th at 10:00 AM but doesn't pay.

Does the cancellation initiate on June 12th at 10:01 AM (or shortly after - there was about an hour lag on the old UPI automated process), the technical start of the 5th day?

Does the cancellation initiate at some time on June 13th going by date for the 5th day?

Hi @wastingtime101 - I'm waiting to hear back on these, but my gut instinct based on the wording is that it is 'on the start of the 5th calendar day' versus the UPI process which was 96 hours + 1 second. I'll keep you posted!

Tyler,

tyler@ebay · ‎06-09-2021

@wastingtime101 wrote:

So if we use the automation preferences, tyler@ebay, and set them to 4 days, does that mean after 96 hours the cancellation will go through? Or does it mean on day 5 the cancellation will go through?

Buyer purchases June 8th at 10:00 AM but doesn't pay.

Does the cancellation initiate on June 12th at 10:01 AM (or shortly after - there was about an hour lag on the old UPI automated process), the technical start of the 5th day?

Does the cancellation initiate at some time on June 13th going by date for the 5th day?

Hi @wastingtime101 - I don't know what lucky star you were born under but I heard back on this one really quickly!

The new non-payment cancellation operates on a calendar-day schedule, not the hours-schedule we were all used to with UPIs. We give buyers 96 hours + padding to end of day to pay. Reason for this is since we don’t display timeframes by the hour, it is natural for buyers to assume they have till end of the day to pay.

Specifically with your example: a buyer would have until 11:59 pm on June 12 to pay. A cancellation would be sent in line with your preferences on June 13th at 12:00 am.

-----

Edit to add: this response applies specifically to manual-open situations. Automation preferences should continue to operate as they were set (so if it was 4 days, it should be opening at the 4 day mark).

Tyler,

wastingtime101 · ‎06-09-2021

Thanks a lot for getting a confirmed answer, tyler@ebay. I knew from my first post that was the likely case, mostly because I've seen how it appears on a buyer's purchase history page saying pay by this date, and with other policies buyers and sellers are given until the end of that day to take action. But since this is different from the old UPI process that closed out after 96 hours, not 4 calendar days, it will be confusing to a lot of people that the preferences and help pages all say 4 days, when really the cancellation doesn't happen until the 5th day.

GLORIOUS!