Question about whether to open an unpaid item case or close transaction

[isaaah0]

Hello, I'm relatively new to ebay (have around 40 feedback) and I recently sold an item. I allowed the item to paid via bank deposit or paypal.

Two days after the item sold I still hadn't received any form of payment and contacted the buyer via ebay message. I got frustrated and sent him two more messages which he hasn't replied to shortly after. In the ebay message it said "Order Status:Paid" with CIP. I'm assuming this is a bank deposit as the two other times I sold items the buyer paid with paypal. However, when I went to my "Sold" page, the checkout trolley was highlighted blue but there was no dollar sign or hourglass sign highlighted. Also, under "Payments" it said that I received the money in green.

It's been just over 8 days now and I'm wondering what to do now. I checked the buyer's feedback page and he had 19 stars and the top 2 feedback was about not him paying/trying to scam postage cost but the rest were good transactions. I'm super worried at this point and have no idea whether to wait it out (don't know how long bank transfer is usually supposed to take) or take some action (I wouldn't mind relisting the item at worst). I triple checked my bank details and they all match. Any response would be gladly appreciated. Thanks

[enigmabear]

be aware that ebay consider it 'sold' regardless or if the buyer has paid or not, so you will be getting charged fees on the sale if it turns out they did not pay

Does it allow you to open an unpaid item case?

I have not been paid by bank deposit myself for items, so I have no idea what it would say in that regard

[digital*ghost · Accepted solution]

I'd open the UPI - these days it's rare for a bank deposit or transfer to take any more than 48 hours to clear (not including weekends and public holidays, as they will cause longer timeframes). It can happen occasionally, I suppose, but generally a buyer who has paid will respond to a seller who is saying they have not paid.

Just so you know, unless you switch them off (which you can do in My eBay > Account > Manage communication with buyers), eBay will send an auto-reminder to a buyer 48 hours after a purchase, so in most cases you wouldn't need to contact someone about payment until after then, unless there's some other reason you need to. It's best to keep messages re: non-payment to a minimum, they don't really net anything if you send them multiple times, except an annoyed buyer who may start to feel the transaction is more trouble than it's worth. At most, I would suggest allowing eBay's auto-reminder, then a polite courtesy message a day or two after that, then UPI (personally, I don't contact anyone anymore, just let the auto-reminder go out, and open the UPI 2-3 weeks later, but I have a store so that kind of extended grace period is easier for me to cope with). 

You might want to double-check that you also ticked the box to display your account details to buyers during checkout, as that's actually optional and you have to select it for it to be in effect (also, while I have ticked that box, the last couple of buyers who used BD contacted me for my BSB, as they said it wasn't showing, which is quite common unfortunately). 

I recommend not engaging any further with the buyer, and personally wouldn't leave any FB under the guise of a positive like the other sellers (it's actually a breach of policy to leave a negative comment as a pos FB). 

[isaaah0]

Yes it does allow me to open an unpaid item case and I think I'll do that. I'm not sure what the difference between ebay considering the item as "sold" and the "Payments Received" as being green perhaps I'll research it later. Thanks for all the replies!

[enigmabear]

With ebay considering something as sold, pretty much if an item has a bid on it when the auction ends, or if someone 'buys it now' then ebay consider the sale has been made and paid for (even if it has not been paid for)

It is only if the seller opens an unpaid item dispute and then closes it (after the minimum of 4 days) that it is not longer considered by ebay as 'sold' the the seller gets their final valuation fees back

[davewil1964]

Did you offer Bank deposit?

If so, HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR BANK ACCOUNT?

eBay don't have access to it. Nobody but you do. Check whether you have been paid. If you have and you open a NPB, your career as a seller might be short and painful.

The time to do your research is BEFORE you take somebody's money and don't post because you don't understand the system.

[lyndal1838]

You might have checked the bank details but have you checked your bank account to see if the money is there?

If the item is marked as paid it could well have been marked by the buyer when the deposit was made.  Ebay cannot see your bank account to confirm if you have been paid.

[digital*ghost]

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@davewil1964 wrote:

Did you offer Bank deposit?

If so, HAVE YOU CHECKED YOUR BANK ACCOUNT?

eBay don't have access to it. Nobody but you do. Check whether you have been paid. If you have and you open a NPB, your career as a seller might be short and painful.

The time to do your research is BEFORE you take somebody's money and don't post because you don't understand the system.

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First line says that they offered bank deposit. 

If they were asking "how do I check where the deposit went?" I might have understood the reasoning behind the rest of your reply, but since they have instead asked how long a transfer takes to clear, and mentioned that they've triple-checked the bank details that were supplied for the buyer, it stands to reason that they more likely know where the funds would go, and how to check if it's there.

Besides which, I'm fairly certain most buyers, after 8 days, would be saying something by now in reply to a seller, if the buyer had, in fact, paid, and the seller hadn't marked it as paid, hadn't marked it as posted, and kept sending messages asking for payment. 

[digital*ghost]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

If the item is marked as paid it could well have been marked by the buyer when the deposit was made.  Ebay cannot see your bank account to confirm if you have been paid.

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When a buyer goes through checkout and selects bank deposit, the status automatically becomes "paid by CIP" in so far as eBay is concered, as the buyer is confirming the payment amount and method, however they are not officially marked as paid, only the seller can do that.

The dollar sign does not turn blue until the seller manually marks it as paid. It can turn to an hourglass if the buyer marks it from their side as "payment sent", but that's the only other status the order can have until payment is confirmed as received by the seller. (Some buyers won't mark as payment sent at all, some do straight away, some do 1 day or two later when they've actually transferred the funds, so it's not any real indicator of payment being made). 

[lyndal1838]

I agree with all you have said Digi but the fact remains that the OP assumes that CIP is bank deposit...she does not seem 100% sure....and nowhere does she say that she has actually checked her bank account.

It doesn't hurt to cover all bases when trying to help new sellers no matter how obvious it may seem to experienced sellers.