Frustration with increased frequency non-payers & eBay's Unpaid Items policy

[tkno]

This is my first ever message post. I don't really post anything online, however I thought I'd say something because it's really frustrating me: I've had at least 2 non-payments in the last month or so. I can understand that if I'm a shop, I'd probably get the odd dodgy buyer, but for someone who just wants to sell their unwanted goods, to see them getting better bids and at the end, the very last bidder is a very new ebay user, you just know that they're not going to pay for it. And you find out that you're right. It's very frustrating.

eBay's policy is you can open an unpaid case after 4 days. And then you have to wait 4 days for them to respond to eBay's request to pay. That's a WHOLE WEEK you have to either wait for them to pay or (in most cases) till you can relist the item again.

In many of my cases, if you have received no messages from the buyer at all, chances are that you're never going to see your money.

I know you can relist your item again before the week or even straight away, but you're probably not going to have the same people viewing your item again and your item may not go for as high as it was before. And yes, you can send a second chance offer to the second highest bidder. But in my cases, they don't usually take that offer.

I understand there was probably an abuse of the negative feedback system for sellers and that's probably why eBay changed that, but I think there should be a change in how long we have to wait to open an Unpaid Items case and how quickly we can close it. 4 days is a long time to wait to open an Unpaid Items case. A further 4 days is too long to wait until we can relist the item.

I find there's more frequency in items being unpaid lately, maybe because you can just click away on your mobile and not think about if you're really going to pay or not. I think the Unpaid Items policy should also be changed to combat that.

[maranock]

Sorry but those are the rules and the chance you take when selling through Ebay. There are pros and cons to any selling or advertising platform and maybe somewhere else would suit you better. 

[ajarnjenny]

I agree with you. 

[kingfisher.curiosity.shop]

All sellers need to use the ebay Unpaid item process and put in place buyer/bidder  blocks.

Block all buyers with 2 unpaid item strikes in a 12 month period and they wont have the right to shop with you. Sure it may penalise some but if all sellers do it there would be a reduction in non payers as they wouldnt be able to use ebay. It would also make them realise that buying/bidding is a contract which has to be finalised.

[harley_babes_hoard]

ONLY 2 in a month, You are doing well.

[haolove13]

Only 2 in a month !!!!

Well as 2 out of 8 transactions in the last month that is 25%

That is a ridiculous amount.

And if you allow that only 50% of buyers are leaving feedback it is still over 8% non payers.

That is not the odd problem happening it is the relentless push by Ebay to make more commission with no regard to the financial viability of sellers.

Think about an auction that finishes close to the end of your billing cycle.

The FVF are added to your account immediately. You then have to pay for your fees a few weeks later  but do not get the credit until the next billing cycle.

That is tying up the sellers money for no return. Another example of how Ebay is not the best trading place anymore.

[craycrayshoelady]

I'm not sure if it helps but in my experience I get more non-paying buyers on auctions than I do on buy it now listings. I now only have buy it now listings and I haven't set up immediate payment required because the majority pay withing a few days 🙂

I'm not sure where your non-paying buyers came from or if there's a pattern on the types of items they're purchasing but it might be a good idea for you to set up your listings as Buy It Now with Immediate Payment required. 25% is a really high figure.

[harley_babes_hoard]

The thing is a lot of sellers can't even be bothered going through the UID therefore allowing these buyers to continue on their merry way without any consequences. I agree something needs to be done but we need to help ourselves as well. Be thankful for the 50% of buyers who are leaving feeback, it is not compulsory to leave it.

Make sure you have all your blocks in place to stop repeat offenders. Go to your preferences page and set them up if you haven't already.

http://my.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbay&CurrentPage=MyeBayPreferences&FClassic=true&ssPageName...

[digital*ghost]

I would be deliriously happy if eBay allowed a transaction to be cancelled due to non-payment after 4 days (or other time-frame specified by the seller) rather than keep the 4-day second chance tacked on to a UPI dispute. 

I would be even happier if they applied buyer requirements to all accounts held by that person rather than letting repeat offenders get a clean slate for doing nothing other than having more than one email address (eBay reps have been known to advise buyers to create a new ID for the express purpose of circumventing a seller's blocks, which is just outrageous). 

NPBs aren't my greatest concern, but they happen often enough for me to wish the above, as well as harbour some minor resentment for paying what they cost me in order for them to window shop and tie up my stock. 

[thecatspjs]

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@digital*ghost wrote:

I would be deliriously happy if eBay allowed a transaction to be cancelled due to non-payment after 4 days (or other time-frame specified by the seller) rather than keep the 4-day second chance tacked on to a UPI dispute.

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Me too