topic Need advice RE buyer who won't pay. in Selling

Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

**the_music_cupboard** — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 09:18:34 GMT

Basically, I sold three items on the one day to a "buyer" who still hasn't paid. I sent a combined invoice with reduced postage on day 2. On day 6 I emailed her to ask if she still wanted the items, or wished to cancel. She replied that she intended to wait to see if I listed anything else worthwhile. (My listing said I was clearing items out my music cupboard). She obviously didn't plan to pay any time soon. I tried (unsuccessfully) to find out what else she wanted. After no further contact I opened three NPB cases (Days 9, 12, 12), emailing her each time that she could still pay or cancel, and waited the four days. It's now day 17. Here's my problem - the buyer has contacted me in the last 24 hours, just as the four days was up, cranky that I've opened the cases. She still hasn't paid - claiming that the invoice doesn't show combined postage - which it does. Based on her feedback left for others she did a similar thing before and left a poor seller with three negatives. Should I just close the cases and wash my hands of her? Or have I done something wrong.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

cq_tech — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 09:32:10 GMT

No, you've done nothing wrong. Quite the opposite, you've bent over backwards trying to accommodate her. Your buyer sounds like a bloody nightmare and you'll be well rid of her. Just close the NPB cases normally and if she does happen to leave negative feedback, contact eBay and they will remove them for you. Also, add her user ID to your BBL immediately.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

harley_babes_hoard — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 09:50:34 GMT

I agree with CQ. close the cases quickly so she can't leave neg feedback and then block her from purchasing again. She had her chance.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

kopenhagen5 — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:06:40 GMT

As above but just to add, unfortunately there is the propensity for a small misunderstanding in the ebay purchase list.

Sometimes the order in the purchase list will show the total for the 3 items and total of 3 lots of postage making one think the combining hasn't been done. Then after going into pay, it shows total plus 3 lots of postage but a little further down it will show "you have received a discount on postage" with the amount of 2 postage costs being deducted.

Many buyers wait for it to show in the purchase list which it won't depending on how the seller has set up their account.

Anyway, back to it, close the cases NOW.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

roza_sage — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:19:29 GMT

Close the cases and add you buyer to your blocked buyer list. Buyers that don't pay cannot leave feedback when the cases are closed unless there is a system error if this happens contact eBay customer support and they will remove the feedback.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

**the_music_cupboard** — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:26:16 GMT

I closed the cases - but I felt really awful. My hands were shaking! However, the three negatives she left a couple of years ago for a seller who didn't want to hold her items for over a month were a big incentive.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

robinsonmarineparts — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:31:54 GMT

Hello, don't feel bad about it, you gave the buyer plenty of time to pay.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

amalan11 — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:50:15 GMT

Some people are just too hard.If I want to wait for more listings before post I always let seller know and ask if its ok and offer to pay for what Iv chosen and they just hold ...sellers always very helpfull. She probably has no money or something

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

Anonymous — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 10:58:49 GMT

no need to feel bad at all... she had plenty of chances to pay

after being mucked around a couple of times when i first started selling i am far less patient

if they havent paid by day 3 they get a polite message from me asking if they need assistance and how i would appreciate payment asap.

if they dont reply, then case is opened on day 4 and closed on day 8, then relist and block bidder

if they do respond they get 1 chance to tell me when they will pay and if they dont then i open the case as soon as that day passes, and close 4 days later.. then relist the item straight away (and block the bidder)

no if buts or maybes.. and no other correspondence

i have heard so many sob stories that i just dont care anymore.. even over a $5 item

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

harley_babes_hoard — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 11:20:02 GMT

@hildegard112358 wrote:
I closed the cases - but I felt really awful. My hands were shaking! However, the three negatives she left a couple of years ago for a seller who didn't want to hold her items for over a month were a big incentive.

don't forget to add her to your blocked list so she can't try to buy again

http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

**the_music_cupboard** — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 11:21:57 GMT

Done 🙂

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

**the_music_cupboard** — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 11:38:17 GMT

...and thank you for all the advice 🙂

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

i-love-my-sheep — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 13:05:16 GMT

Hey, the first one is always the hardest, especially if you are a decent person yourself who doesn't want to upset anyone. I seem to have the opposite 'problem' with buyers. They'll bid on a few things, finishing several days apart, then pay as they win each item. By rights I should post each one separately, but I send large letter so don't have any protection anyway.

If I can get to them in time, I send them a message as soon as they have won their first item and tell them not to pay until they have finished buying. Whilever I can see they are still bidding, they can take as long as they need (within reason of course!).

If I'm interested in quite a few of a sellers items, I always ask if I can pay after I have finished buying. No-one has ever said no. If it's an overseas seller I normally pay every 2 weeks so there is time for everything to arrive before the PayPal cut off.

I do get NPB's, but thankfully, they are few and far between. One thing I am in the habit of doing is ALWAYS checking a bidders feedback, both feedback left for them and feedback left for others. The feedback left for others can tell you a lot about a person. There are instances when they bid at the last second so you can't check until they have bought, but most bid in advance. Doing that has saved me a lot of potential heartache.

Do you have buyer requirement blocks in place to stop non payers from buying from you? http://offer.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

**the_music_cupboard** — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 13:16:12 GMT

Yes, I do have all the possible blocks in place.

And you are right - the feedback left for others is often more informative. I don't think that many buyers realise that when they dash off a retaliatory neg it reveals how they treated a seller. Both the comment (and the seller's reply to it) go a long way to revealing the truth of a transaction.

Re: Need advice RE buyer who won't pay.

cq_tech — Sat, 29 Nov 2014 13:24:05 GMT

The fact that your hands were shaking simply shows that you are a nice person, but do you think your non-paying buyer's hands were shaking when she left those 3 negs for her previous seller? Somehow I think not.