When is payment due??

[alecia31]

Hi everyone,
Just wondering how many days do people wait for payment from buyers? My last buyer won the listing on Thursday and after 3 messages she said that she will top up her pay and go card "some time this week".
When l asked if she could please pay by Thursday (a week after winning) or would she prefer to pass to the second highest bidder, she said that there was no time she had to pay by.
Is this correct? I thought that common sense would be 48 hours (l thought l read you could take out a dispute after 48 hours??)
Any ideas??
Thanks!

[trulyspecialgoodies · Accepted solution]

You can open an Unpaid Item case after exactly 4 days - eBay then give the buyer a further 4 days to pay before you can close the case.

Simply add a sentence to your listings stating "Please pay within 4 days of purchase" - or however long you want to give them. I add a note to my invoices asking for payment within 7 days of purchase.

[cq_tech]

I presume you're talking about auction listings as opposed to BIN, because with BIN listings, you can easily configure your checkout to require immediate payment, otherwise the item will remain unsold, and more importantly, still available to others.

[davewil1964]

3 messages in 2 working days could also be construed by buyers as being pushy. Especially when they have probably received 2 automated invoices from eBay as well.

[digital*ghost]

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@alecia31 wrote:

When l asked if she could please pay by Thursday (a week after winning) or would she prefer to pass to the second highest bidder, she said that there was no time she had to pay by.
Is this correct? I thought that common sense would be 48 hours (l thought l read you could take out a dispute after 48 hours??)
Any ideas??
Thanks!

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Most people who use eBay possess common sense, and at least a degree of politeness....but not all, so - as the others have said - the best thing you can do is define your terms in your listing. It gives you a reasonable timeframe to take certain actions regarding payment / non-payment, and you can refer any buyer who tries to (wrongly) tell you they can take as long as they like (while not your buyer's exact words, I would still take exception to their belief that they have an indefinite amount of time to pay).

I state 5 days when I list items on this ID, as a matter of practicality, since a UPI can't be opened until at least 4 days after the sale. I send no messages, and also have eBay's automated reminder switched off, until day 4, when I send one message. If no response to that after a reasonable amount of time, (average 48 hours), I block them from further purchase and open the dispute. Though I'm happy to negotiate a longer time if the buyer is communicative, at some point you have to draw a line - in the case of your buyer, I would send a very simple but polite message to let them know that I am not able to withhold the item beyond X date (no explanation is necessary, IMHO).

The ability to open UPI disputes after 48 hours is only available on the US site.

[phorum_junkie*]

Wow, if you sent me 3 messages on top of the automatic ones ebay send I would probably wait until the last 5 minutes of the 8 days before paying. I never send a buyer anything before day 3 and that is just the invoice with a request to provide detais of paymet as I have been unable to trace it.

Did you know that ebay send the buyer an email when they buy and another 48 hours later reminding them payment hasn't been made?

[*crikey*mate*]

I just want to add

if you have a buyer who doesn't pay, you do need to go through the process of having the transaction cancelled before offering the item for sale again whether that be via relist, second chance offer etc.

because, until the transaction has been cancelled, the first buyer can still pay, and you will then be legally obliged to provide their item, which will be hard to do if you have entered into a contract to sell it to someone else in the measntime,

as weird as it sounds frustrating and inconvenient that this is, it will be you at fault, and you who could get into trouble,

That's a law thing, not an eBay thing BTW.

so go through the eBay resolution process before trying to sell the item to someone else.

[ajarnjenny]

Oh, come on, give her a break. The buyer has told her that there is no timeframe that she has  to pay in. Seemingly thinking that she can pay whenever she feels like it.

New sellers here can be really put off, by the criticism that some dish out.

You are an experienced seller, the OP isn't. You can give her advice without  the 'Oh Wow!' and ridiculing her.

[alecia31]

Thanks Arjarnjenny! And for the record,, the 3 messages were in relation to specific postage that she asked for so l needed to change the invoice, not in regards to payment.

[i-once-was-bump]

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@phorum_junkie* wrote:

Wow, if you sent me 3 messages on top of the automatic ones ebay send I would probably wait until the last 5 minutes of the 8 days before paying. I never send a buyer anything before day 3 and that is just the invoice with a request to provide detais of paymet as I have been unable to trace it.

Did you know that ebay send the buyer an email when they buy and another 48 hours later reminding them payment hasn't been made?

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That is just being a nark for the sake of being one, and it reflects badly on you, not the seller.

If that is the best advice you can come up with then maybe you need a holiday from preaching advising newer sellers.

The OP asked "When is payment due?", they did not ask how to be totally obnoxious.

As for you never sending "anything before day 3" would normally be a useful suggestion if not delivered as a sermon.