I have had some very angry buyers when I have used the unpaid item process so have started to ease up on using it a bit and send more communications (written and phone) just in case the buyer is being a bit tardy/have forgotten/other mitigating factors 

I agree that it is prudent to also put information in listings about payment being due within a certain time frame and also within emails. 

Quite a few recent transactions have resulted in unpaid items and I have just closed two. 

A few months ago a buyer who sent me an abusive email for merely opening an unpaid item case and left negative feedback. As I reported in another forum, although I won the paypal case, it took about three months and many many calls and emails and escalations to have a simple ebay policy applied (removal of defect/removal of negative feedback left by buyer when paypal dispute lost by buyer!)

In relation to the most recent "unpaid item disputes" (two in total), I just received a violation from ebay. Is a negative comment confined to a comment left by way of feedback? 

 

	MC034 Feedback policy violation: Negative Comment left for a buyer

Hello baudrillard2013,

After reviewing your eBay account, it appears that you have violated eBay's Negative Comment left for a buyer policy.
- The following Feedback comment you left has been removed:


Because sellers aren't able to leave negative Feedback for buyers, leaving a negative comment or follow-up comment with a positive Feedback rating isn't allowed.

For more information on this eBay Feedback policy, go to:
http://pages.ebay.au/help/policies/inappropriate-feedback-comments.html



To help you have successful experiences on eBay, we encourage you to become familiar with eBay Feedback policy by visiting the link above.

Thanks,

eBay