Does anyone else feel buyers are using pandemic as excuse not to pay?

[miss_my_granny]

I had a buyer make me an offer 25 percent below my asking price. I promptly accepted.

Then - nothing...

Let me just say I am an experienced seller, and my lisitngs are all Paypal payment with instant payment on purchase, as I got sick of waiting the drawn-out non paying bidder game that has to come to a natural conclusion x number of days later as per eBay rules..

So, when you accept an offer, this INSTANT payment process is circumvented.

I sent her an invoice right away (and so does eBay) stating 2 day terms etc.....nothing...Radio silence

Another day of non communication/payment.....Hey, did she really want this thing?

Reminder sent, and personal message saying it was all packed and reayd to send upon payment....

Day 4  - I sent ANOTHER message.

FINALLY received : " unable to purcjhase due to C-19 as hubby has lost his job"

No apology, no sorry, nothing. Just not paying. Go away..basically

This is so frustrating.

I replied i was sorry to hear, of coursse I would cancel sale and sent her my best wishes.

I cancelled sale, blocked her (she had 0 feedback and was on eBAy over a year?!)

So FRUSTRATED

I am not oblivious to the massive job losses and so on happening due to this awful pandemic - but THIS s MY JOB - don't waste my time and not even an apology?.. have some common courtesy....

I really feel she did not have any intention to purchase, and used current situation as an excuse..it was just the brick wall for 4 DAYS that made me feel cheated of some sort of recourse for a bad buyer...I think I have been had, and I do not like the fact that she gets away without a non payment strike......

Thoughts?

[kitty-kat-kollection]

I have noticed an increase in the number of buyers who purchase an item and then just don't pay. I tend to send the generic ebay payment reminder after 2 days, and then a personal message after 4 days just asking if they still wish to buy the item.

In the past, probably about 70% would reply, either apologising and saying they'd forgotten all about it, thought they'd already paid, hadn't checked their messages, their child had been sick, or asking if they can pay on a certain date (generally about 3 days later). All have ended up paying, most of them immediately.

The other 30% never respond and never pay, so I go through the process of lodging an unpaid item case through ebay.

Anyway, lately I would say the increase in non-paying, unresponsive buyers is about 25%. It's annoying, but most of the buyers who do this have either 0 or under 10 feedback, so that's my choice to allow those buyers to purchase from me.

[repentatleisure1952]

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@tazzieterror wrote:

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

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Can you provide a link showing that the buyer has four days to pay?

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See here. 

" When you buy an item on eBay, whether you won an auction or used Buy It Now, you'll need to pay the seller. You need to pay for purchases within 4 days, but the sooner the seller receives your payment, the sooner they'll send your item. "

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Yes I am aware of that...it says "need to pay" & not that they have four days to pay.

Heck a seller if they so desire can choose to wait a couple of months or longer for payment.

[tazzieterror]

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

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@tazzieterror wrote:

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

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Can you provide a link showing that the buyer has four days to pay?

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See here. 

" When you buy an item on eBay, whether you won an auction or used Buy It Now, you'll need to pay the seller. You need to pay for purchases within 4 days, but the sooner the seller receives your payment, the sooner they'll send your item. "

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Yes I am aware of that...it says "need to pay" & not that they have four days to pay.

Heck a seller if they so desire can choose to wait a couple of months or longer for payment.

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My apologies for not spoon-feeding the correct information...allow me to spend another 10 seconds searching via eBay's help menu:

Unpaid item policy 

"Members must pay for the items they win or buy on eBay within 4 days of committing to the purchase."

[repentatleisure1952]

tazzie...my apologies...you are correct...as far as the UPI is concerned.

Sellers can still wait as long as they like for payment.

[countessalmirena]

@tuckcase1989,

You're right, of course, in that sellers can wait as long as they wish... even until the end of time itself.

However, eBay's system for resolving an unpaid item by reporting it as such has a maximum of 32 days from the date of the transaction. After that time, the seller can no longer open an Unpaid Item case, and can no longer claim credit for the final value fee. The item will be considered sold, paid, done and dusted.

eBay's system also has a maximum timeframe where the seller does open an Unpaid Item case. From the time of opening the case, the seller has 36 days in which to close it if the buyer hasn't paid. That means that the very maximum amount of time which the seller can wait for payment from the buyer - if he/she opens the Unpaid Item case - without forfeiting his/her ability to claim the FVF credit is 32 + 36 days - i.e., 68 days. It would probably be best for a seller with that degree of generosity towards the as-yet-non-paying buyer to clip the time down, just in case of internet glitches, eBay site having technical difficulties, being ill, forgetting, etc. Let's say 30 + 34 days (64 days in total).

All of that presumes that the seller can afford to wait. The FVF would have long since been charged... the opportunity to sell to another interested party might well have come and gone... the item is still there gathering dust... I think that this timeframe is more of a theoretical maximum to be used in rare circumstances by certain (few) sellers whose business model enables them to operate in that way. It's also important to note that in the event of the buyer not completing the purchase in spite of the generous payment terms, that buyer will receive a strike.

❝Reporting an unpaid item

If the buyer doesn't respond to your message or invoice and still hasn't paid, here's what you should do:

1. If it's been more than 4 days since the listing ended, you can select Report an unpaid item. This lets us know you're having a problem and starts the formal process for resolving the issue – we call this opening a case. You need to report a case within 32 days of the listing ending.

[...]

It's important to close out any unpaid item cases. If you don't close an unpaid item case within 36 days, we'll close it for you, but you won't be eligible for a final value fee credit. Also, if we close a case, the unpaid item won't be recorded on the buyer's account.❞

    - Resolving unpaid items with buyers

[tazzieterror]

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

tazzie...my apologies...you are correct...as far as the UPI is concerned.

Sellers can still wait as long as they like for payment.

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You seem to have lost sight of the goals of commerce.

[repentatleisure1952]

Thank you countess...I am aware of the 32 day time frame etc.

[repentatleisure1952]

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@tazzieterror wrote:

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

tazzie...my apologies...you are correct...as far as the UPI is concerned.

Sellers can still wait as long as they like for payment.

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You seem to have lost sight of the goals of commerce.

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Not at all.

I am comfortable with giving buyers 28 days to pay.

I am also quite gratefull to one seller who allows me to bid on auctions over a 14 day period & then settle the slate.

They wanted to give me longer but I insisted that I pay after 14 days as I felt they were being more than generous.

[countessalmirena]

I thought you probably were, tuckcase... I posted it with a "just in case" frame of mind.

I desperately want another cup of coffee, but if I make one now, it will probably wake a family member who badly needs some sleep... What to do? Hmm... I might make a cup of Russian Caravan tea instead. (Much quieter than using the coffee grinder.)

[11dustyattic]

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

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@tazzieterror wrote:

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@repentatleisure1952 wrote:

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Can you provide a link showing that the buyer has four days to pay?

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See here. 

" When you buy an item on eBay, whether you won an auction or used Buy It Now, you'll need to pay the seller. You need to pay for purchases within 4 days, but the sooner the seller receives your payment, the sooner they'll send your item. "

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Yes I am aware of that...it says "need to pay" & not that they have four days to pay.

Heck a seller if they so desire can choose to wait a couple of months or longer for payment.

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Haha I think you strayed a little bit off the point of my initial comment which was highlighting the op demanding payment before payment is formally due, or before a non payment case can be opened by the seller

Of course we can wait 6 months for payment 😉 if we so choose