Change to fixed price listings ONLY with immediate payment required?

[chezzy]

A recent item of mine was bid on and won by a zero-feedback buyer. I left the bid because "everyone has to start somewhere blah blah" and the person had said they would pay the next day if they won. Apparently then they couldn't pay by paypal because they had a minus balance in paypal...and asked for my bank account details. Which I sent them AGAIN (had also included my bank account details in the invoice I had sent them).

The auction ended Tuesday night so come tonight it will be 5 days since listing ended. In the item description I have it saying
"Payment - paypal or bank deposit - to be received within 5 days of listing end". What is disappointing/surprising is that the buyer has not sent any updates as to their intentions or to inform me that payment has been made. Though I guess technically they have until around 8.30pm tonight.

Most buyers pay very quickly - same day or next. So it strikes me as odd that a new ebayer/account is not really 'trying harder' to make a good impression (either with quick payment or good communication) in an attempt to build up positive feedback.

At this point I don't know how this transaction will end. But I am seriously thinking about changing any new listings to fixed price only - with immediate (paypal) payment required. Curious to hear what other sellers do to reduce potential problems. Do you give a strict time frame for paying, require immediate payment or what? Thankyou.

[lane-ends]

Requesting bank transfer+ long weekend?? maybe their only "crime" is they haven't told you whats happening. being new they may even think they need to go into the bank.

Conditions on listings mean nothing, Ebays conditions overrule them.

Auctions do have high non paying incidences as BINs are usually completed and paid for in one go before second thoughts creep in. Unfortunately non paying auction sales are more inconvenient

[beach_and_home]

No, when you open a "cancel" you have to sit around and wait for them to agree. And if they don't do anything I think it takes about 8 days before you can close it.

Neither option will officially "release" the item until the case is closed. That's why it's best to avoid non-payers in the first place.

[chezzy]

---

@beach_and_home wrote:

No, when you open a "cancel" you have to sit around and wait for them to agree. And if they don't do anything I think it takes about 8 days before you can close it.

Neither option will officially "release" the item until the case is closed. That's why it's best to avoid non-payers in the first place.

---

OK well it is 'good' to know that neither is great or better than the other, I just wasn't aware how it really worked.

On the listings that require immediate payment, does it actually say that on the page so potential buyers are aware? Or would I need to include something in my description? I know for myself as a buyer I have had to pay for a couple items immediately to win them but I don't recall what the wording was.

Does anyone mention 'non paying bidder process' in their listing descriptions?  I guess this is something I won't even have to worry about if I changed to fixed price/immediate payment listings.

[jessicadazzler97]

I have automatically set my preferences so eBay opens a case within 4 days of the item ending/being won if the buyer hasn't paid. I've only had one person not pay up within the 3 days I specify, and even then they did pay when eBay got onto them. I say just set your preferences so that eBay gets on their backs...

[chezzy]

---

@jessicadazzler wrote:

I have automatically set my preferences so eBay opens a case within 4 days of the item ending/being won if the buyer hasn't paid. I've only had one person not pay up within the 3 days I specify, and even then they did pay when eBay got onto them. I say just set your preferences so that eBay gets on their backs...

---

OK, that's good. Think I will do that also, and maybe set my 'terms' in the description to 3 days rather than the 5 days I had.

Can anyone show me a sample of the letter ebay sends to slow payers?

[beach_and_home]

You don't need to change your listings. What will happen is that they click on BUY NOW and then it comes up and tells them that they need to pay to secure the item. And the item is not sold or taken out of stock until they have paid. So at that point if they weren't planning on paying then they will back out.

I think it does actually show on the listing somewhere, next to the payment method, that "This item requires instant payment" or something like that.

[chezzy]

---

@beach_and_home wrote:

You don't need to change your listings. What will happen is that they click on BUY NOW and then it comes up and tells them that they need to pay to secure the item. And the item is not sold or taken out of stock until they have paid. So at that point if they weren't planning on paying then they will back out.

I think it does actually show on the listing somewhere, next to the payment method, that "This item requires instant payment" or something like that.

---

Thankyou. Am going to spend some of my Sunday arvo revamping my listings. Have already just set my preferences so that ebay's unpaid item assistant kicks in at/after 4 days of listing end. And see how things go with fixed price/immediate payment. I highly doubt buyers will combine listings but if this becomes an issue I would just manually refund the postage difference.

[chameleon54]

---

@pancaket52 wrote:

The best thing I did was change from Auctions to BIN with immediate payment. This means that payment has to be sent on checkout otherwise it continues listing. 

The only problem I have with this method is it is impossible to send a combined Invoice if someone has bought more than 1 item.

I usually refund their extra postage payment through Paypal Pay a Friend rather than through the payment link as I'm not sure what gives defects anymore when it comes to refunds.

And yes - I swallow the ebay fees on the second postage.

But - no non paying bidders and an 8 day wait to relist.

---

I note in my listings that I combine post and regularly get buyers buying and paying for multiple items without waiting for combined post invoice. I just refund the extra postage through the paypal transaction refund process with a note to buyer of "combined postage refund" . I have never recieved a defect for this, so it seems to work OK.

On the subject of BINS with instant payment required, I find many buyers need to transfer money from their bank accounts to paypal to make payment. ( especially for expensive items ). This can take a couple of days, so you may reduce your pool of buyers.

For non payers, I just wait around 6-7 days and if the buyer has not paid,  hit the non payment dispute button, no questions asked, no messages. This works fine with around half paying quickly. The others just get a strike. I have never recieved a negative feedback for this, but who knows, they may ding my stars. I just find, you can waste a lot of time sending messages and chasing people up.

[chezzy]

While 'revamping' my listings I am looking to reduce the amount of words in the description. Have been viewing some random listings noting that some people don't even mention 'terms', time frames etc. Wonder if there is any real point - and perhaps just let ebay send out an automatic message if payment not received in 4 days (for those non-immediate payment items).

Not going to go into things like combined post either - I figure if it is important a potential buyer would send a question through.

Re setting up for immediate payments - am willing to risk reducing my pool of buyers if it means I have a smoother selling experience and can avoid dealing with slow/non payers or time wasters.

[Anonymous]

up until about a month ago i was offering PayPal and Bank Deposit as methods of payment.

Offering Bank Deposit took away my option for "immediate payment" so i had to put up with the usual late payers, non payers and the usual excuses.

Upon reflection i counted about 17 bank deposit customers over my last 1500 sales.. so barely over 1% of sales

The best thing i have done is do away with Bank Deposit as an option and now i have back my immediate payment requirement again!

No non payers.. no late payers... no UID cases.. no excuses... = happy me