Unpaid item dispute.. how long??

[angelicprincesa]

Hi all,

I listed 39 lots of wool 2 weeks ago, 38 of which sold. 1 finished Sunday 19th, 37 finished Monday 20th.

Of those 38, I have sent/delivered 33 of them. 2 lots are waiting to be picked up (have heard from this lady), 2 lots are being sent when echeque from Paypal clears, but the last buyer I have not heard a peep from.

I sent her a message and invoice at the beginning of the week, invoiced her with postage, but told her that I was happy to deliver to her at work (she works in the same suburb as I live in) or for her to pick up, and would revise invoice. Ironically, this was the listing which ended on Sunday night (so the first listing to end) and most of the ones ending Monday have been paid for, sent and in about half of the cases, received already by the buyers, and feedback exchanged. (Good work Australia Post!!)

I usually put in my listing that contact must be made within 5 days of purchase, but failed to in this instance, so I am wondering, what would you consider a reasonable period of time to wait for contact from the buyer? Cheers for your help!

[davewil1964]

4-5 days.

You can open a dispute after 4 days. The bidder has another 4 days to pay before you can close it.

I would probably wait until Sunday to open the case. And close it on Thursday unless they stump up the $.

[happymangosteen]

So do most of you give people a week before you open an unpaid item case? Seems like in these instances doesn't matter what you write in the item description about payment timelines.

[shypansy]

You can state your own terms,  but as ebay allows 4 full days before action can be taken to open a non paying dispute there is no relevant reason stating any less time, 

I go by a basic rule, if no contact has been made from the buyer I open a dispute on day 5,

but if the buyer has communicated with a date of payment due to their pay day or other acceptable reason, I will allow 7 days.

An exception would be if the buyer contacted me prior to bidding and asked if they can bid, only payment will not be possible until a certain day, this may apply to an expensive item, or a pick up which requires additional arrangement on the buyers part.   as long as payment is made on that day I am happy to agree.

But I do close disputes on the dot.

[kopenhagen5]

Similarly to shypansy, my course of action is as follows -

Ebay send an automatic reminder 2 days after purchase.

An unpaid item case can be opened 4 days after sale date.

I usually send a message at 5 days asking if there is a problem with payment.

If no response, I open an Unpaid Item Case and that can sometimes spur a response or payment.
If not, I close the case as soon as I can, 4 days after it's opened.

Final fees are returned, buyer gets a strike, I add them to my Block Bidders List and re-list the item.