eBay unpaid item question

jchcollins · #1 01-30-2019, 08:16 AM

I know the policy if a buyer does not pay within 48 hours is to open an unpaid item claim. But as a seller, do I have to do that? Or could I simply keep and relist the item in question and refuse to accept the seller's payment if they try to make it later?

Weighing thoughts on what to do in a situation like this right now, and just curious as to what my options as a seller are. I don't see where this is clear anywhere on the eBay policy pages, I think they assume everyone would want to open an unpaid item case.

Thanks.

buymycards · #2 01-30-2019, 08:20 AM

I would give the buyer 4 or 5 days. Don't open a case right away. You can also cancel the transaction and relist. Make sure you block the buyer.

jchcollins · #3 01-30-2019, 08:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by buymycards

I would give the buyer 4 or 5 days. Don't open a case right away. You can also cancel the transaction and relist. Make sure you block the buyer.

Thanks. What I guess I'm asking is it considered a bad on me as a seller still if I cancel the transaction even after 48 hours - can they leave negative feedback if I block them even though they did not pay within policy timeframe?

jchcollins · #4 01-30-2019, 08:45 AM

Nevermind, think I found my answer. You have to go through the unpaid items process to get credited back your fees after the sale. Ok well, that works.

Yastrzemski Sports · #5 01-30-2019, 10:27 AM

Yes. The winner has a right to the item until the unpaid item case is closed. If you file a npb case and resell the item, then they pay for it, they have the right to the item. If you have already sold it they can leave bad fb and eBay will penalize your seller account. Meanwhile they can wait the 5-6 days then decide not to pay and live to screw another seller. I hate that they took away the right for sellers to leave a negative.

jchcollins · #6 01-30-2019, 10:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

I hate that they took away the right for sellers to leave a negative.

We'll see. I think I have until 9 pm tonight before the 48 hours is up anyway. The buyer in question (who does have a lot of good buyer feedback) appears to deal in bulk volume, tons of items every month - so they may just naturally wait to pay everybody at once, who knows.

Agree with you I hate they took away the right for sellers to leave a negative. I didn't even know this until about a year ago, and was flabbergasted when I found out. When I first started selling on eBay there was no such thing as PayPal - some buyers were horribly slow and took nearly a month to send you a questionable looking personal check in the mail...and then you had to wait another 2 weeks for it to clear. To me that kind of thing occasionally merited a negative if your cards were tied up just waiting that long, and you could have perhaps moved them elsewhere. But it was also a different time and thankfully situations like that don't really exist anymore. 99% of my buyers pay immediately online. I guess I just didn't have that set as a requirement with PayPal this go-round.

steve B · #7 01-30-2019, 10:48 AM

When I was selling, I didn't have a lot of non- payers, but a couple. I usually wait a while before filing. I found that a polite reminder usually worked well, most of the time it was just someone forgetting. Most of my stuff was inexpensive, which made it easy.

Yastrzemski Sports · #8 01-30-2019, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchcollins

We'll see. I think I have until 9 pm tonight before the 48 hours is up anyway. The buyer in question (who does have a lot of good buyer feedback) appears to deal in bulk volume, tons of items every month - so they may just naturally wait to pay everybody at once, who knows.

99% of my buyers pay immediately online. I guess I just didn't have that set as a requirement with PayPal this go-round.

I am guilty of that - I may wait a couple of days until I get a few items together and pay all at once. And I also remember getting the checks in the mail and addressing each package by hand and a bubble mailer cost 49 cents to mail. Some thanks change for the better, some for the worse.

Immediate payment depends on the sales format. Auctions don’t have the option for immediate payment. Would have to be a buy it now which will not belong to the seller until they pay. If they buy and don’t pay the item is still posted and available to others.

jchcollins · #9 01-30-2019, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steve B

Most of my stuff was inexpensive, which made it easy.

This is on a $200 card. Inexpensive to some, but not necessarily to me.

jchcollins · #10 01-30-2019, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yastrzemski Sports

Immediate payment depends on the sales format. Auctions don’t have the option for immediate payment. Would have to be a buy it now which will not belong to the seller until they pay. If they buy and don’t pay the item is still posted and available to others.

Ah, that explains why my option for immediate payment was not available then. I normally do BIN's, but did this one as an auction because I thought it would get more attention that way. Got it, thanks.

bnorth · #11 01-30-2019, 11:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchcollins

We'll see. I think I have until 9 pm tonight before the 48 hours is up anyway. The buyer in question (who does have a lot of good buyer feedback) appears to deal in bulk volume, tons of items every month - so they may just naturally wait to pay everybody at once, who knows.

Agree with you I hate they took away the right for sellers to leave a negative. I didn't even know this until about a year ago, and was flabbergasted when I found out. When I first started selling on eBay there was no such thing as PayPal - some buyers were horribly slow and took nearly a month to send you a questionable looking personal check in the mail...and then you had to wait another 2 weeks for it to clear. To me that kind of thing occasionally merited a negative if your cards were tied up just waiting that long, and you could have perhaps moved them elsewhere. But it was also a different time and thankfully situations like that don't really exist anymore. 99% of my buyers pay immediately online. I guess I just didn't have that set as a requirement with PayPal this go-round.

It hasn't even been 2 days relax.

If you need paid right away make sure to put that in your item description. Have you even tried to ask the buyer when they expected to pay for your item?

I am like Adam and sometimes wait 3 or 4 days to pay if there are other items ending within a few days so I can just pay for them all at once.

I also understand that $200 can be a lot of $ that is needed ASAP. I have been there. I am kind of a jerk, so if someone opens a non paying bidder case on me without first emailing me. I always wait till the last minute to pay. Did I mention I am sometimes a jerk.

nat · #12 01-30-2019, 11:34 AM

As a buyer, if the seller has several things I want, I will often wait until all of the auctions end before paying. He might be buying more stuff from you.

savedfrommyspokes · #13 01-30-2019, 11:45 AM

Some buyers who buy to resell, wait and pay for items won late in a month until the first of the next month. Maybe this buyer wants this expense on a different month's expense sheet....could have exceeded his payment budget for January. Many other buyers get paid on the 1st and 15h of each month, so their payment for their late in the month win may not get made until their funds are in their account on the 1st.

Either way, I would patiently wait. I have my NPB alert set to go out at 16 days and close 4 days later.....this month I had 15 items from 2 different buyers not get paid for, but I patiently waited for 20 days and closed the cases out as soon as I was able to.

jchcollins · #14 01-30-2019, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bnorth

...so if someone opens a non paying bidder case on me without first emailing me. I always wait till the last minute to pay. Did I mention I am sometimes a jerk.

By the way the system works, if they open a non-paying bidder case on you, you are already past the last minute.

I'm not in a hurry and more than willing to give the buyer some leeway, just had a few questions which I got answered here. Thanks.

steve B · #15 01-31-2019, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jchcollins

This is on a $200 card. Inexpensive to some, but not necessarily to me.

Not to me either. My "inexpensive stuff" was $5-10 lots of junk era commons, at least until they stopped selling. And a few individual cards in the same range.

I did have a few nice items, but almost none of them were cards.