Do Buyers Really Believe Sellers Have A Crystal Ball?

[designers*n*more]

Sold an item on 19th April. 1. Automatic eBay invoice sent when auction finished. 2, I sent an Invoice on 21st just in case the first wasn't received. After day 4 and NO contact from buyer I open an UID (too many non-payers lately)

Today I get this message:

"I am paying for this today. I have been in hopsital after having a baby via caesaran section. Thank you for making inital contact with me to maybe to discuss a delay for the payment. Maybe you need to work on your commuication skills"

Is this woman kidding?? I am suppose to know that she was in hospital......how??  Maybe she needs to learn how to read Sale Requirements in listings before placing bids, particularly if she cannot pay on time.

I need a good (non-smartarse response as much as I would like to send one)!

[the_great_she_elephant]

Maybe you could reply "My apoologies, it seems I  missed you message explaining your situation and asking for delayed payment. "

[springyzone]

Ebay wasn't around when I had my kids but I do know this much:- Having kids doesn't change your basic personality and this is one woman with a problem in that she has a great sense of entitlement. It's all about her.

I couldn't care less if she was rushed into hospital unexpectedly or what, fact remains she is the one who should have been apologising to you and explaining the delay. Decent buyers would act that way, baby or not.

Don't take it lying down, use one of the professional messages some of the others have suggested.

[englishrosegardens]

If a seller states a specific time frame for payment in their listings and then sends me a second invoice before that time is up I get annoyed because I assume they're trying to hurry me up.  The reason I'm annoyed?  Why state that they allow me X days to pay and then start hassling me if I don't pay sooner than that?  Even if I don't get a copy of the first invoice the proper total will still show in my purchases section so I don't really need a second one, and I only ever send a second one if it's requested (or they say they never got one).

This is probably what your buyer considers to be poor communication skills, and she probably would have paid sooner if she hadn't had her baby unexpectedly.  I'd say she only mentioned the baby so that you knew things were beyond her control, and she probably got angry and defensive not because she got the UPI notice but because of the second invoice.  I once got three invoices from a seller within 24 hours but a friend has dealt with the seller many times and I'd been warned that she probably has alzheimers, but it still annoyed me somewhat.

As to your reply, I'd tell her your second invoice isn't  meant as a "hurry up and pay" reminder, but is simply because some people have said they never receive the first one.  If it IS meant to hurry them up, then you shouldn't say you expect payment within four days, only that you open a dispute if you haven't received payment then.  Saying payment is expected within four days infers that payment any time within the four days is acceptable, or that's how I and a lot of others would see it.

[audio-spot]

I wait at least a week (usually closer to 2) and if they haven't paid I send them an email asking them 'Hi! Are you still interested in the item, or would you prefer me to relist it?'. Short and sweet. Most then pay within 1 or 2 days, I think I've only had a couple of people that have not responded and after a few days I lodge an unpaid item.

[digital*ghost]

The eBay automated invoice isn't strictly an invoice, though, it's just a "you bought [item], pay now". I have quite a few buyers who wait for a manual invoice (even for just one item) before they pay, so those types of buyers would be annoyed at not getting a seller invoice and view that as lacking in communication skills, so this is just another one of those situations where the seller just has to broadly implement whichever practice works for them best and accept that no matter what, some people are going to be annoyed.

I know there's a few sellers who send out invoices for all outstanding payments at the end of each day, typically those who still run a decent percentage of auctions. It's not done to bother anyone for payment, it's just an admin task that makes things easier for everyone all-round (rather than spend x amount of time going through all new sales, trying to cross-reference if they're from buyers who have already purchased item etc etc, they send an invoice and let ebay's system detect it automatically so they can combine where needed). 

[englishrosegardens]

I assumed that by automated invoice they meant a proper invoice, not just a notification that someone had won or bought an item. I thought perhaps you can set that sort of thing up automatically in certain situations, but that I can't because I just use the basic selling program.

I agree that a lot of it is about perceptions, and how we see things on ebay is often influenced by how we've been treated by sellers/buyers in the past.

As an aside, I'd never send out invoices every day because I've had too many buyers pay on BOTH invoices when they've bought more and I've had to send a revised one. A lot of that was in the days when I only accepted bank deposit (on another site) and it was a pain to refund one payment, but it could just as easily happen when they use pp. It just shows people often don't read invoices or look at the totals!

[digital*ghost]

Neither would I (send invoices every day 🙂 ), I actually don't send any unless the buyer has purchased multiple items (my postage discounts generally apply automatically, except for those using apps, but even many PC users doen't realise that), or I know it's a customer who'll wait for one.

I'm also embarassingly lax when it comes to non-payment - I state 5 days but routinely don't open UPIs until a couple of weeks after the sale, a couple of times I've left it until the last chance I have to do so (about 30 days later).  (Partly because I have the luxury to be less vigilant, since I have multiples of most items so I don't miss out on sales while orders remain unpaid etc, and some people will just pay a couple of weeks later, no contact or anything. If I had the option to just close-off a sale due to non-payment, still blocking feedback etc, rather than  have to wait 4 days afterwards, I'd do that much sooner, but I really dislike the 4-day window after one is opened so I kinda drag my feet on UPIs due to that). 

But then, if this site was ever set up, or functioned, in my own personal ideal way, invoices wouldn't be necessary at all 😄 (all my items are BIN, and immediate payment required would suit me perfectly if the cart functioned correctly 100% of the time, and was more intuitive for buyers to use instead of using BIN on each item separately). 

[*tippy*toes*]

You're right, some buyers do wait for an invoice for single items. I had one this week who hadn't paid after 4 days, so I sent an invoice and she paid within 20 minutes. I've had it in the past too. I can't pick who wants one and who doesn't. Normally I only send invoices for multiple purchases if they don't pay after buying each item.

[designers*n*more]

Love it! Thanks Kopes! 

I have no problem whatsoever if people need extra time as long as I know.

I also forgot that that aside from the initial email, eBay also send the sometimes annoying "Payment Reminders" 2 days after an auction if payment hasn't been made. So that is 3 lots of email communication! 

[cathyjoyjoy]

- depending on the item purchased, would it ever be okay to include a card congratulating the arrival of the baby or would that be too creepy???
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For me that would definitely be too creepy as it's just a little too personal for someone you do not know .......... but it would be funny to receive a card if it wasn't actually true !!!!