Posted before checkout complete

[partytrekker01]

Just started selling seriously 2 weeks ago and although i have sold the odd item over the yrs i decided to go with PayPal  to simplify things.

I'm very much a newbie and i've realized ive made a big newbie mistake.

I've sold a number of the same items and through all the excitement of seeing my phone pop up with sale i'd go and post it off.Concentrating on the buyer and not the completed sale.

So in short i have 2 buyers who have just received said items but are still yet to complete checkout.

I also have 1 buyer who has received the item but has cancelled payment.

I received the email below.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX has cancelled the unclaimed payment of $XX.XX AUD made with PayPal on 15 Dec 2014. For information about this cancelled payment, please contact XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.

How am I to claim anything on a 21 day freeze? If that’s how it works!

I’m just wondering how I should message them about payment?

[curraone]

So do your sold sales show that the amount is unpaid?

And have you made your paypal "premium" so you can accept payments.   I don't understand why "unclaimed"

[i-love-my-sheep]

Unless your buyers are honest, it is unlikely you will receive payment for the items they have already received. You could try contacting them if they don't pay and see what they say. If they refuse to send payment, you could try opening an unpaid item dispute, which might force them into paying (or they get a strike against their account if they don't), but if they do pay, you risk getting a negative from them. Given the amount of money you are likely to lose on those sales, getting a negative would be worth it in my view because it's more than a few $$.

Sadly, in this day and age, you have to treat buyers as though they are all thieves. NEVER EVER send anything until you have received a cleared payment (although I think you know that now!). I know it's easy to get caught up in the moment, but at what cost to you? We're talking a couple of hundred bucks here.

To open an unpaid dispute, go to your sold section and to the right of the listing, click on more actions, then select resolve a problem. On the next screen, select that you sold an item and haven't been paid for it, then submit. That will open the case for you. If the buyer hasn't paid in exactly 4 days (clock hours, not days), go back into that section and select that they buyer hasn't paid and then you can close the case. The buyer gets a strike against their account and you get your eBay fees back. If the buyer gets 2 or more strikes, they can't buy from a lot of sellers who have blocks in place.

If you go back in to try and close the case and the no opetion isn't highlighted, check the top of that page and it will tell you the date and time you can close it. It may not get you your money, but it could stop the buyers from buying from a lot of people.

If they don't pay, I would also add them to your blocked buyer list. http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin

If you don't already have them set up, set up other blocks to try and stop certain buyers from buying from you (serial pests that can cause you issues). Set the bocks to the extreme, so the unpaid strike block, set it to 2 in 12 months and so on. http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences

I know that what has happened is your own fault, but I thought I'd help you out from potential future issues with buyers while I was here.

[thecatspjs]

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@i-love-my-sheep wrote:

Sadly, in this day and age, you have to treat buyers as though they are all thieves. NEVER EVER send anything until you have received a cleared payment (although I think you know that now!). I know it's easy to get caught up in the moment, but at what cost to you? We're talking a couple of hundred bucks here.

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Managing risk is one thing, but I will never "treat buyers as though they are all thieves."

Can't even believe a seller would post such a thing on a public trading boards - outrageous and the worst type of selling attitude this is IMO.

And advising a newbie seller to take this approach .... outrageous.

[2106greencat]

http://pages.ebay.com.au/sitemap.html

Please, read everything about buying and selling before you continue.........

also, make sure you have set up your selling account correctly - unclaimed usually means you have put incorrect email details for paypal or you are not set as premium

[2106greencat]

I accidentally did something like this a long time ago.

A buyer sent payment via echeque and advised me she needed the item urgently etc etc. I had echeques previously with no problems so  I stupidly sent it, payment was then reversed as there were obviously not the funds to cover it.

I contacted buyer after she had left feedback, and asked for payment expalining etc etc, no reply for 2 weeks.

So, while I am not so proud of myself now, I replied to the buyers feedback - Glad you love the item, I would love payment for it.

I had ayment in 2 days.

[elusiveeditions]

I take your point catspjs, but I don't think i-love-my-sheep meant it quite like that.

It's a pretty solid principle that you don't mail items until you've received payment. The OP admits they made a serious newbie error there.

Whether it's BD, PP, cheque etc- it's reasonable to wait until the payment is received before sending. Now, some sellers differ in what 'received' means- eg, I take PP payments as received once they're completed in PP, whereas others might wait until they've transferred that to their bank account & can access it in cash/real life.

OP, you've no doubt learned a good lesson here... read up on your options as described on this thread (I couldn't do a better job of listing them), do your best to recover what you can and move on. You'll be a better seller for the experience 🙂

[character_parties_aus]

PJ's whilst it's not right to treat buyers as thieves ( as most are not the vast vast majority) the way eBay have set them selves up means it is very often seller versus buyer and that is a mentality that has been fostered by eBay and eBay alone that is now translating into the minds of buyers and sellers alike. It's unfortunate but the comments above are another example of it. i can see how people come to the conclusion even if I do not agree with it.

[casbit33]

I don't think I-love-my-sheep meant that every buyer is a thief. I think it's more about what tempts everybody.

Lets say you are walking down the street and see a $50 note on the ground. The vast majority of people, honest or not, would pick it up and pocket it, all the time knowing that it belongs to someone else.

The same with receiving an item through the post that you haven't paid for. Personally i would still pay, but that's just me. Some others wouldn't.

[sprinklespowerpuff]

Hardly the same analogy. You wouldn't know who the 50 bucks belonged to would you? In the case of buying on Ebay - I think one always knows who their seller is, lol.