Non-paying Bidder

[mindybellalucy]

Hi Everyone.

Greetings to all.

I just need some advice on buyers who bid or purchase but do not pay even after I had emailed them many times.

What shall I do. I had  it  set up where it automatically opens a non-paying item case with ebay.

From your experience....Shall I do that or just bite the bullet and not report . Instead just request to cancel transaction and relist the item and try not to think about it.

I am a new seller and my feedback really matters right now. My concern is a negative feedback as a retaliation even though I did not do anything wrong.

Thank you all.

Anne

[mcclougm2012]

Hi I've only been selling for about 4 months and I have had a few who bid and don't pay.  I put the assistant to issue a unpaid notice after 4 days automatically.  Usually they will pay when this happens.  Some haven't and what happens is I ask them to cancel the transaction and if they agree Ebay will credit you for the fees involved in the transaction that didn't take place.  I've had people ask for extended time and sometimes they pay but if not when they don't respond after a period of time Ebay notes their account that they have a case where they bid but didn't pay.  I don't leave a feedback when they don't pay there a place where you can report the buyer and this info is confidential only you and Ebay know about it.  It doesn't appear on the purchasers side so you don't have to worry about feedback.  Relax about the feedback because some people take their time about it and I think Ebay must send them a reminder or something because I'll get feedback from a sale long past that I had forgotten about and I believe it is prompted by an Ebay request.  I used to ask them to leave feedback but I hear it's not appropriate of good Ebay ettiquette do do so so I stopped.  After a while you will begin to get the feedback but it takes time.  Hope this helps!

[mindybellalucy]

Yes. Thank you for your reply. I am facing a second non paying bidder. It is like a waiting game.

Very frustrating. I don't want to offend any buyer either but yet I would like to get paid or at least relist asap. So disappointed.

Thank you for your help.

[missramona]

I always send a friendly reminder on the 2nd day then I open an unpaid item case if the buyer hasn't paid by the 3rd day. This doesn't hurt their feelings, it's business! Frequently, this is all it takes to get them to pay. If they still haven't paid, eBay will allow you to close the case after 48 hours. It's important for you to take the time to close the case..you do this in the Resolution Center. This gives the buyer one strike against them. Since we, as sellers, are not allowed to give negative feedback, it's our only way to communicate a buyer's performance with each other. We owe it to each other as a selling community.

Good luck with your selling!

[chiro_jeff8]

I have just decided to start selling some items. I have been doing a lot of reading, and here is one thing I have wondered: If the seller opens an Unpaid Item Case, can't that tick the buyer off and allow the buyer to leave a negative feedback?

[missramona]

It's important to open unpaid item cases, when appropriate. If the buyer doesn't pay, they will get a strike against them, warning other sellers. You don't have to be concerned about negative feedback because eBay will remove that, along with DSR, in the event that you win an unpaid item case. You don't even have to ask them to do it. Help your fellow sellers!!

[gothicsteam]

We get quite a bit of people bidding on our items and they do not pay.  My husband and I turned on the automated thing and just let e bay open up a case.  I WILL SAY THIS:  I do wish that SELLERS could leave feedback for deadbeat buyers because these folks TIE UP INVENTORY and that kind of is a pain because we are a small in home business.  We do not do a lot of volume selling. 

[gothicsteam]

In the last year or so, my husband and I have noticed...... Buyers have slowly, but progressively, gotten more of some strange, but very pronounced, sense of entitlement.

[femmefan1946]

Excellent question!

A bidder who loses and Unpaid Item Case cannot leave feedback.

However, just in case, I Block bidders who have not paid me, and also have set up an automatic Block against bidders with Unpaid Item Strikes.

This protects you and also your fellow sellers.

[femmefan1946]

kitty

I disagree, but I understand the feeling.

Feedback may feel good to you, but it is pretty useless if your bad buyer bids with me. Most of my listings are Fixed Price, so I don't know anything about my buyers until they have bid. The Unpaid Item Strikes and other restrictionsI have in place  have saved me from several problems, I am sure.

The other problem with leaving negative feedback is that future customers will read it. If there is a lot of negative FB left by a seller, a sensible customer will move on.

I do that  and also move on when the seller has more information about his shipping process than about the item. Especially when most of the Terms of Sale are about sales that go wrong.

My own ToS are 'Refunds accepted within 14 days. No refunds without return." And that's it. If the customer is concerned, she can use Contact Seller.

I think for sellers, leaving negative feedback comes under the Corollary to Murphy's Law that states "Email and merlot do not mix."  The instant gratification leads to unintended consequences.

[gothicsteam]

You said, "I do that  and also move on when the seller has more information about his shipping process than about the item. Especially when most of the Terms of Sale are about sales that go wrong."  I say you have raised a good poisalnt and now I believe I know why I get little sales.  My husband put long terms and conditions on each listing "to avoid Jerry Springer Trash" but it seems it might be a little insulting or something.

[femmefan1946]

Love the phrase "Jerry Springer Trash"! 

Have you ever seen a website called "Not Always Right" and its sister site "Not Always Working"?  Your husband may enjoy them. And count his blessings.

[mettlle]

I agree, actually it happens several time, a buyer comes and make a bid and article got sold. Right now i am facing this situation, i have one customer who bids on my lots of article and hadn't pay, Now i have to pay the final value fees because i am not able to open a unpaid item case. It is showing the unpaid item cannot be opened. I don't know how to deal with it. It is really disappointing.

[femmefan1946]

Have four days passed? We Canadians can't open an Unpaid Item Dispute for 96 hours. I believe that US sellers can start one after 48 hours. Then if 45 DAYS have passed, the opportunity ends again.

The other reason for not allowing a UID is that the seller opened a Mutual Cancellation and the buyer refused it.

Basically you can have one or the other. MC or UID.

You can set up an automatic UID if this is becoming a real problem. I find that faced with a UID half my customers pay up, apologize and leave positive feedback. The rest disappear forever, taking a Strike with them. Those cannot leave feedback.

Of course, most of my sales are to bookreaders and philatelists. Very polite bunch who can, and do, read.  Not JST. (Still loving that.)

Put those bidders on your Blocked Bidder List. It's on the Site Map as Manage Bidders. 

Some sales are not worth having.