Successful bidder says he has the right not to pay

[lotzrgood]

☹️This is the 2nd time this has happened to me recently. I have just had a bidder win an item, so sent him an invoice. He then said that he had changed his mind, and didn't want the item any more. When I reminded him of Ebay terms & conditions, he replied with - "Buyers have the right to buy, or refuse if they don't want to buy".

This is where sellers should be permitted to leave feedback against buyers. Yes, you can lodge a complaint with Ebay, but buyers like this should be banned, not limited. 

[jellybirddesigns]

You cannot force the buyer to pay and there are definitely time wasters out there.

The best way to get rid of non-payers is to make your items Buy It Now, with immediate payment ticked as an option.

Don't communicate any further with the buyer, just open a case for Non Payment as soon as you are able and close it when the time is up so you can recover your fees.

[purveyor_of_tat]

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@lotzrgood wrote:

This is where sellers should be permitted to leave feedback against buyers.

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The entire FB system needs over hauling. What other selling platform allows sellers to leave negs for buyers?

[papermoon.lady]

As Jelly said, you can't force a buyer to pay just as you cannot force a seller to sell (if a buyer wins an auction at a very good price for example), but I agree that sellers should be able to leave neg. feedback, particularly if a buyer doesn't even try to find an excuse or apologizes, but just says "it is my right to change my mind".

[zanadoo_56]

I've never refused to pay for something (even when I've bid for identical popular collectables in the hope of winning one I'd have paid for both if necessary).  It's just not right.

However I have had I think 4 or 5 occasions when sellers have refused to sell items I've won (and low winning bids could not have been the reason for most of them). 

I am not opposed to non-paying buyers being censured or added to blocked lists or whatever action can be taken against them BUT I wish action could be taken against sellers who refuse to sell as well.

Fair is fair.

[papermoon.lady]

Usually sellers who refuse to sell get neg. feedback and I think also a defect, although I am not a seller, so I am not sure how it works, but I have often read that sellers get "defects" when they cancel a sale, and after a certain number of defects they are penalized.

I must be lucky - no seller has ever cancelled a sale, not even in a couple of cases when I won auctions at very good prices. I do check feedback, and a couple of times I remember I wanted to bid on something, but after looking at the seller's fb I thought i would not in order to avoid a possible disappointment because there were buyers who said that the seller had cancelled the sale due to a low winning price.

I myself have always paid, and I have never retracted a bid, not even before an auction ended.

[digital*ghost]

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@zanadoo_56 wrote:

I am not opposed to non-paying buyers being censured or added to blocked lists or whatever action can be taken against them BUT I wish action could be taken against sellers who refuse to sell as well.

Fair is fair.

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While there is no blocked seller list, it's generally pretty easy to not buy from a seller ever again. Buyers can leave neg feedback for such sellers, sellers can't do the same for NPB's. A defect (for failing to follow through on a transaction) can't be appealed and can result in permanent suspension of a seller's account (multiple threads here from sellers who found this out that hard way), a NPB strike can be appealed and the worst it will ever do is restrict purchases from some sellers. 

If you really want fair, then it would be to reduce the consequences for sellers who don't follow through, lol.

To the OP - a lot of people conflate their ability to do (or not do) something with a right to do / not do it. Most of the time, it's not worth the energy remain angry about their misunderstanding, particularly as they don't tend to accept being corrected. By which I mean, in my experience, if someone believes they have the right to do something, and they can continue to do it regardless,  being read the riot act by a seller is more likely to amuse than educate and change behaviour. I know NPBs can be frustrating and they cost a sale, but the more energy you put into the situation, the more time / energy you lose on something that's unlikely to change. 

[purveyor_of_tat]

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@papermoon.lady wrote:

... but I agree that sellers should be able to leave neg. feedback, particularly if a buyer doesn't even try to find an excuse or apologizes, but just says "it is my right to change my mind".

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I refer you back to post #3.

Buyers are king on eBay. Every transaction earns eBay revenue. If buyers were to be harassed and abused by the FB system, they wouldn't use eBay.

eBay will never go back to the old system of sellers leaving negs for buyers.

[*sons_and_daughters*]

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@purveyor_of_tat wrote:

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@papermoon.lady wrote:

... but I agree that sellers should be able to leave neg. feedback, particularly if a buyer doesn't even try to find an excuse or apologizes, but just says "it is my right to change my mind".

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I refer you back to post #3.

Buyers are king on eBay. Every transaction earns eBay revenue. If buyers were to be harassed and abused by the FB system, they wouldn't use eBay.

eBay will never go back to the old system of sellers leaving negs for buyers.

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Not to mention that leaving buyers negs does absolutely nothing to stop them buying. A buyer could have a hundred negs in the last month. They are still able to hit the buy it now button. If everything was still auction, then sellers would be able to check a buyer's feedback, and cancel bids for someone who has lots of negs, unless they bid in the last seconds. Not so with buy it now. They can hit the button as much as they like, and sellers can't stop them. Therefore, it's pointless.