Seller refused to sell - are sellers allowed to specify payment deadlines ?

[oasion45]

I recently won an auction and because I was away during the weekend, I did not pay immediately after the auction ended. The price of the auction was something quite a bit lower than what the market price was.

Seller specified in his auction description something to the effect that "payment must be made within 24 hours otherwise will be refunded".

When I came back home, I saw that the seller had opened an unpaid item dispute. No problem, I paid him. The unpaid item dispute was closed in my favor. Then a few hours later, he refunds, saying "since you did not pay me within 24 hours this transaction is cancelled"

I emailed him back "if you did not want to sell the item, why did you open an unpaid item dispute ? you should have opened a request to cancel the transaction"

I now understand why he opened a unpaid item dispute instead of a request to cancel the transaction. If he had done the latter, I would have refused his request to cancel. But even though he opened an unpaid item dispute, I still paid him and he still did not get his fees back.

My question is : are sellers allowed to specify their own payment terms or deadlines which are not in accordance with eBAY guidelines (i.e. the unpaid item process) or stricter than eBAY guidelines for e.g. payment is due in 24 hours, or payment is due immediately after auction ends or payment is due in 4 hours after auction ends ?

Please give me some advice on this. thanks

[oasion45]

And the other thing is : does this amount to a non-selling seller ? should I be leaving appropriate negative feedback ? What would you do ?

[shypansy]

Yes sellers can request certain terms, within reason of course,  eg selling a pick up item it is always best to state a time limit,   but ebay allows 8 days for payment,  4 days before a dispute can be opened, and another 4 days before it can be closed,  so expecting or even requesting payment before 4 days at least is irrelevant, and 24 hours is simply unreasonable,   you paid, so no strike against your name,  the seller did not get their fees back,  so FB is the last step,  leave none if you would prefer to move on,  or if you wish you can leave neutral or negative,  keep it simple though, "Seller refused to honor sale"  or Seller has unrealistic payment terms, 

[digital*ghost]

I think a lot of people are going to disagree with me on this, because the common advice is "eBay gives buyers at least 8 days to pay", which is based on the fact that a seller can not open an unpaid item case before 4 day, with a further 4 days before it can be closed for a refund on FVF... However, it's a technicality that is in the buyers favour more than designed specifically to give buyers a time frame, IMHO it's that a seller can't open / close a case before 8 days, not that a buyer "has 8 days to pay"

eBay actually states quite specifically that when you bid on an item, you are agreeing to the sellers terms, and one of the terms a seller can have is the time-frame for payment - it may not be enforcable due to the time-frames for disputes, but under the rules for buyers it says: Buyers who do not meet the seller’s terms as outlined in the item listing are not permitted to bid on or buy the item.

http://pages.ebay.com.au/help/buy/know-buyer-policies.html

[shypansy]

Tshirt, right?   I don`t understand how he could open a dispute before the 4 days from sale,   quite odd,  he does "demand" payment in 24 hours, very off putting,  personally I would not have purchased from that seller 😐

[bigbrickshop]

Tshirt, right?   I don`t understand how he could open a dispute before the 4 days from sale,   quite odd,  he does "demand" payment in 24 hours, very off putting,  personally I would not have purchased from that seller 😐

US sellers can now open Unpaid Disputes after just 2 days.

[shypansy]

I do agree with DG, in as much as waiting 8 days for payment is frustrating, I will open a dispute after 5 days if I have not been contacted by the buyer to confirm payment is pending, I just feel 24 hours is simply unrealistic, and saying the buyer will "be reported to ebay" if payment is not received within that time may lead me to suspect all it not above board,  fact is those terms are not enforceable, but as I said, I would not purchase from a seller with such unrealistic expectations in the first lace. 

[shypansy]

Aha thanks for that sportandplay,  I do recall something being mentioned about that,  I can only think they are shooting themselves in the foot so to speak, 

[patchoo78]

If the seller wants people to pay in 24 hours then they should just make all their listings Immediate Payment Required.. I pay immediately after buying so not an issue for me. On the odd occasion I do bid on an Auction I have the convenience of email on my phone to let me know I have won, some don't have this convenience

The buyer did pay in the end so the seller should have honored that. It's not as if they gave the seller the run around for a week before paying.

Most of us are not at their PC 24/7 and the OP did mention they were away when the Auction ended and might not have realised they had even won the auction.. It might have been different had it been a BIN item

[the-kazbar]

Whether it is enforeable or not, the seller clearly stated their terms. By bidding you agree to those terms.

The seller is out the FVF. I would certainly hope you would not also add insult to injury via feedback and DSR's