Buyers not completing a sale

[memorable_gifts]

Does anyone else have problems with people bidding, winning, then failing to pay for items?

[sandypebbles]

It is far from uncommon

I hope you have cancelled the sales with the reason 'buyer did not pay' so you get your fees back

And put them on your blocked list

[memorable_gifts]

Personally, I feel the buyer who fails to complete transaction should be billed a percentage of the sale. There has to be something that can be done to stop this.

[siddieswans]

I think it often depends on what you sell. If it is something that can be found elsewhere, then perhaps the bidder has found it  at a cheaper price, and so does not complete the sale after their initial bid. If your items usually sell at the opening bid, perhaps it would be easier for you to list as BIN and require immediate payment. That way your listing remains live until it is paid for.

If you want to see how eBay would fix this problem look at

Payment for Auctions - new announcement

It is a truly horrible idea which will inconvenience both reputable sellers and buyers.

[davewil1964]

That would probably not be legal. eBay are a platform. You could always go down the route of suing the non-paying bidder, the only way you would have legal redress.

People quote the aeroplane case, Smythe vs Somebody, but that had significant value and specific considerations that an ordinary, lowish (less than $150k) auction would probably not trigger. But it's your money. If you want to spend it on lawyers rather than food, go for it.

[davewil1964]

There has to be something that can be done to stop this.

There is.

List as BIN with Immediate Payment Required.

[imastawka]

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@memorable_gifts wrote:

Personally, I feel the buyer who fails to complete transaction should be billed a percentage of the sale. There has to be something that can be done to stop this.

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If You can't get them to pay for the item, how do you expect you can get them to pay the percentage??

[springyzone]

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@memorable_gifts wrote:

Personally, I feel the buyer who fails to complete transaction should be billed a percentage of the sale. There has to be something that can be done to stop this.

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I can see where you're coming from, but buyers and sellers are not necessarily signed up the same.

You as a seller have signed up wwith managed payments.

Someone who is just a buyer has not.

I personally (as a buyer) pay via paypal when i use ebay.

Ebay does not have my credit card or bank details.

There is no way they could get any money out of me if I went around bidding on auctions and not paying.

I did read in a post a few days ago that ebay was considering the idea that those who wanted to bid at auction might have to give over payment details before being allowed to bid, so that in the event they won an auction, that payment would be automatically completed by ebay.

That scenario would be different though as the buyer would in effect be signing an agreement to allow that to happen.

There are a few reasons people dip out of paying when they win an auction.

Maybe they bid earlier but then see it elsewhere at a cheaper price.

Maybe they lose interest.

Maybe they look at it afterwards and wonder if maybe they were a bit silly to get into a bidding contest and if they have gone too high.

Unless yours is an unusual item where you're not certain what price it might get, you may be better to just list it as a buy it now, as others have mentioned. A lot of buyers these days just like to buy immediately without messing around waiting.