This point has been raised by many members before but it seems that eBay is reluctant to do anything about it. As a business seller, I often have non paying buyers and sometimes owed as much as $5000 for items purchased but never paid for.

Once the sale goes through, eBay charge me fees and I then have to go through the process of filing for a refund of my fees but in the meantime, eBay has effectively charged me for this sale.

If I was to go to an auction either live or via telephone/internet and bid on an item and then win/purchased the item and did not pay. I would be charged by the auction house usually 10% of the vaule of the item purchased. As eBay is effectively an "auction house" then they should implement rules regarding buyers that do not pay for an item. eBay would have relevant PayPal, Credit Card or other information on the buyer and could charge the buyer a % of the price of the item they did not pay for. This payment could then be refunded to the seller to cover our costs as often we incur costs in preparing an item ready for shipping while waiting on payment. In addition to our time in chasing payment and filing Non Paying actions etc.

I can only assume eBay is not concerned about this as they simply want the fees from the sale. However, as a sale is not complete until payment has been received, then eBay effectively is taking money under false pretences. The seller has entered into a sale contract with the buyer and eBay and both expect the buyer to pay. Therefore, should the buyer not pay, then they should be charged a fee for backing out of the sale.

Unfortunately, eBay is rife with fake, scam buyers and maybe a small deterrant is required to curb this action.