Action won, buyer has not paid...How soon is too soon for contact?

[john_koenig99]

So, one of my auction listings had bids on. Buyer won the auction. Now it's been more than 24h and he has not paid for it. I know eBay usually allows 3 or 4 business days leeway for payment, but this is a first for me (usually buyers pay within minutes or a couple of hours after the auction ends.

How long is costumary to wait before messaging the buyer? 

[metalmike888]

Do you have your listings set to 'immediate payment' or is there that at least 4 day grace period?

If it's the latter than the buyer might take longer to pay - i get those from time to time but the majority as you said pay right away or shortly after. I usually send them an invoice each day they don't pay and if it goes beyond 4 days i'll most likely cancel it especially if they're not communicating.


 

[msau4301]

I used to have this happen when someone was waiting for another of my auctions to end and was hoping to combine if they won another. Most times the buyer would reach out and tell me the reason, or I even had people ask if I could wait until payday Friday (or whenever). I usually waited out the 4 days to see what happened but occassionally I'd reach out after a couple of days, especially if I had other things I was taking to post office and wanted to make one trip. eBay used to send reminders on unpaid items after 2 days (think they still do?), so I'd at least wait for that, sometimes that will trigger someone to pay, or at least reach out to you.

[sapphyres-designer-jewellery]

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@john_koenig99 wrote:

So, one of my auction listings had bids on. Buyer won the auction. Now it's been more than 24h and he has not paid for it. I know eBay usually allows 3 or 4 business days leeway for payment, but this is a first for me (usually buyers pay within minutes or a couple of hours after the auction ends.

How long is costumary to wait before messaging the buyer? 

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I just send an invoice when the auction ends to make it easy to pay (even if they only won one item).

I don't generally send any message unless it's someone with higher feedback or a repeat buyer where there might be some reason for delay (but they will eventually pay). With other bidders I cancel after 4 days.

C.

[ricarmic]

Usually I wait a couple days, then send an invoice (some folks seem to want an invoice sent before they pay).  After I send the invoice I wait quite a while before I do anything couple weeks at least (in my case folks are either waiting for another lot to close or they're waiting for their pension cheque to come in). In my (stamp) world it is very rare for them to never pay.

[grann-4629]

On every purchase I have made, so far, I am on the keyboard when I commit to buy. The pay now page pops up and all I have to is click on the icon. I'm already at the keyboard and all it takes is a second to do this.

I don't understand why a buyer would turn off the keyboard and delay payment.

😎

[john_koenig99]

Well, just learned a new thing today. One can't send invoices if  shipping is through eIS. 🙄

[recped]

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@grann-4629 wrote:

On every purchase I have made, so far, I am on the keyboard when I commit to buy. The pay now page pops up and all I have to is click on the icon. I'm already at the keyboard and all it takes is a second to do this.

I don't understand why a buyer would turn off the keyboard and delay payment.

😎

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This listing was an auction, the winning (and only) bidder placed their bid 4.5 hours before the Auction ended. Unless they sat there at their keyboard for 4.5 hours they would not likely be around to make an instant payment.

[recped]

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@john_koenig99 wrote:

Well, just learned a new thing today. One can't send invoices if  shipping is through eIS. 🙄

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Of course not, you have no idea what the buyers total would be (includes EIS shipping and any duty payable).

FYI - With EIS you cannot combine multiple transactions. Mutiple Items puchased through a single checkout can usually be (auto) combined by EIS.

[john_koenig99]

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@recped wrote:

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@john_koenig99 wrote:

Well, just learned a new thing today. One can't send invoices if  shipping is through eIS. 🙄

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Of course not, you have no idea what the buyers total would be (includes EIS shipping and any duty payable).

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I was not refering to an invoice prepared by myself, but the eBay generated one. Pushing it through (so to speak) for the buyer to receive it.

I never get an invoice by default when I bid and win an auction item that is shipped via eIS. 

[reallynicestamps]

On every purchase I have made, so far, I am on the keyboard when I commit to buy.

With Fixed Price listings, you are purchasing and are right there.

With Auctions, like this example, the winning bidder may be asleep or at work or eating lunch. 

While auctioneers do have the right to use AutoPay, which demands that the bidder leave their financial information to be used if they win, many auctioneers are concerned that their potential bidders will be leery of doing so, and will not bid. 

AutoPay was introduced as a sop to auctioneers who had no problem making their bidders wait seven days to learn if they had won, but freaked out when the winning bidder took four days to pay. 

[msau4301]

I know from sitting on the other side of the fence (as both a long time buyer and seller here) US sellers enrolled in program could not send invoices at all.  I remember when buying from the US when I'd see Global Shipping, prior to eIS, it always annoyed me (especially at the beginning before I reached the sad acceptance stage) that sellers could not send me a combined shipping invoice for multiple purchases. There would be a "slight" shipping savings that would be on the invoice from eBay (not the seller) but the seller had no control and could never send an invoice themselves (this was way before all the tarriffs and before taxes were charged to sales like they are now.) As recped says we have no idea of all the final costs so we just can't do it.

 I also remember that there were quite a few of those sellers who didn't even know they were part of the program since they were automatically put it unless they opted out (sounding familiar these days).

While I've not yet given it a try myself I have to assume (hope) that just like I was willing to pay the extra money for something I really wanted others will too.

[dinomitesales]

I wait two days then send them a friendly message thanking them for their order and asking when I can expect payment (I say it nicer than that). If they respond and are communicative I'm willing to work with them. If I get no response the sale is promptly cancelled after the 4 days given to them by eBay using reason "buyer did not pay".

[john_koenig99 · Accepted solution]

Well, given 36h had passed, I decided to send a friendly reminder note to the seller, where I mentioned that the sooner the payment was received, the sooner I would be able to ship. 

The message worked, and the item has been paid, so it will be soon on its way to the hub, and beyond. 🙂

[grann-4629]

Right @reallynicestamps 

I also get this when I get accept an offer from a seller, and when my counter offer is accepted. I haven't had any luck with auction listings. I don't have the time (!) to watch the clock wind down, nor do I need the 'stress' of waiting.

[grann-4629]

That has to be very frustrating for a seller, especially if the seller is new to the business. "Oh boy, I just got my first sale on eBay", then to be disappointed when his buyer turns out to be a flake.

If a buyer cannot complete their part of the contract because of something beyond their control, they should at least communicate with the seller as soon as they can to explain.

[dinomitesales]

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@grann-4629 wrote:

That has to be very frustrating for a seller, especially if the seller is new to the business. "Oh boy, I just got my first sale on eBay", then to be disappointed when his buyer turns out to be a flake.

If a buyer cannot complete their part of the contract because of something beyond their control, they should at least communicate with the seller as soon as they can to explain.

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It can be frustrating, especially for new sellers. I've been doing it long enough that it doesn't really faze me much. And to be honest, it doesn't happen very often. I've never had "immediate payment required" on my listings and I can count the number of non-paing buyers on one hand over the last decade or so. The vast majority of people shopping on eBay will buy something and pay for it because they found it and they want it. I don't run many auctions, so I could see the percentage of non-paying buyers being higher for auctions.

I just had someone buy a DVD a couple days ago after some back-and-forth offers. They didn't pay right away, but I was fine with that. They eventually paid a day after buying it and left a note in the order saying: "sorry for the late payment, needed to get a prepaid card". Most people want the item they sought out on eBay and will pay eventually.