General Forum

A first for me. It's been 2 days (48 hours) and a buyer has not paid yet (and no contact/message).  Ebay policy states I must wait a minimum of 48 hours before opening an Unpaid Item case.

How do you handle these cases?  Just wait?  How much longer? Contact the buyer immediately after 48 hours? Or how long do you wait before contacting the buyer or opening a case?

I have it set up to automatically open the case (but the minimum on that is 4 days). I send out an invoice within 24 hours on BIN and within minutes of the last auction ending for the day (I usually run them to end on a single day) in case there were winners of multiple items. So, all buyers get an invoice quickly. Then, after a couple days, I'll send a message. Then, I let the auto process take over. Generally, once the case opens, they pay pretty fast after that. :)

I have my eBay settings set to have them automatically open an unpaid item case as soon as possible. (I thought it was 4 days). I've had a few people wait the full 4 days, but often people wait a couple days before paying. I like to think they are shopping in my store to combine shipping, haha. Sometimes I send an invoice after 2 days, but people have always paid. I had somebody buy a 1955 Topps Koufax PSA 5 rookie last spring and wait while another auctioned off for $200 more than mine before he paid. DANG!

i put in my listing to pay witin 3 days. on the 2nd day i emai, if no response, i email on the 3rd day. if no response i open a Ebay Case.

It's been occuring more often with that site. I been looking at the rating on the person buying and if under 30 stars, i email them and pretty much ask if they are real and intend to buy. Its happening on the flip end too, i just made a purchase and the guy has a high rating, but never shipped it.. after going through ebay , i just rcvd a refund.

I personally go by the amount of feedback that they have.  If under 200, I open an eBay case after 48 hours.  If over 200, I'll send them a message after 48 hours just reminding them that they purchased the item and ask when payment can be expected so that I can get it in the mail to them.  If still no response, I open the case on the third day.

I also have one "buyer" who for some reason bids on my items and never pays.  He then will create new accounts and bid on my items again.  Been going on for years.  I try to block them all, but he just keeps creating new ones.  I'm pretty sure its not just me he does this to as he has a reputation in the eBay community.

I had somebody like that - he stopped after I cancelled the transaction, he left me negative feedback, I called ebay to say he had violated their rules (it's against their rules to create another ID to bid onsomeone's auctions if they've blocked you), and they removed his feedback from my profile. First name was Curtis.

yeh... i been reporting people in the same way.. i understand ppl are trying to make a cpl extra dollars on something, but when there is a bid for $1 and people keep bidding only to find out the next actual winning high bid is like $100 and you look at the hidden bids only to find the person who made that high bid has a low rating like 20 stars, thats just him/or someone boosting the price to make money. if you throw something up for .99 and let it ride- deal with the outcome , whether it bad, medicore or good. if you want a certain price then list it that way.

 If someone does not pay me after  72 hours,  I send them a reminder.  After 5 days, I send a second reminder.   After a week, I send a final reminder.    I have never had to open a case.    I try to remember that people do get sick, have job or family problems that may limit even their ability to get online.  But even a funeral should be cleared up after a week.

I agree with you on your assessment. I for one forgot I bid on an item and did not think to look. Found out I won and paid. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Things happen and life gets in the way. After a week I will open a case if no response.

vroomed...you and I are talking about the same guy.  He's left negative feedback for me as well, which I also had removed for the same reason.

I sell about 100-300 items in any given month depending on the releases for the month and usually only have to re-list an item for a non-paying bidder maybe once a month, so it doesn't happen frequently.  It is annoying when it does though.  I just can't imagine bidding on something and then not paying for it.  If the seller has auctions ending over multiple days, I always let the seller know that I'm looking at a number of things and would like to wait a few days to combine shipping.  I know that buyers do that with my stuff, I just want to know about it.