Billed for an item under dispute

[newcoyote]

So I recently sold an item at auction. There was only one bidder. The winner is now nowhere to be found. Not paid and not responding to messages. I opened an unpaid item claim. I have since received an invoice from Ebay for that auction. Will I have to pay it even though it's really not looking like I'm going to get paid by the auction winner? 

[momcqueen]

Yes, you need to pay the invoice when it is due no matter the state of any unpaid item dispute(s). 

If your ebay Final Value fees need to be refunded after you've paid your monthly bill, I think ebay will credit your account. There is a setting which asks if you want it credited to next month or applied to the current month but the latter presumes you have not already paid for them that month.

Sometimes those UI buyers will reappear like magic an hour before the dispute closes and pay like nothing ever happened. If they do, you need to ship like nothing ever happened. If they pay, they get to leave feedback for you. If they don't pay, they cannot leave feedback for you.Therefore, it never pays to be pushy with buyers while you wait to see whether or not they will actually pay for what they have bought. 

To avoid thrill-bidders in future, set your buyer preferences to block anyone with more than two unpaids per month. It's also a setting to be found under your Account preferences. 

[mr.elmwood]

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@newcoyote wrote:

So I recently sold an item at auction. There was only one bidder. The winner is now nowhere to be found. Not paid and not responding to messages. I opened an unpaid item claim. I have since received an invoice from Ebay for that auction. Will I have to pay it even though it's really not looking like I'm going to get paid by the auction winner? 

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Billing is based on the sale, not a Paypal payment. eBay has no way of knowing if you accepted cash or any other untraceable form of payment.

Open the UID, close it, get your fees back.

[rose-dee]

Yes, as 'Mr. Elmwood' says, the best course of action is to open an Unpaid Item Dispute for that transaction.  If the buyer doesn't pay for the item, you'll get your Final Value Fees on this transaction refunded (including any FVFs on the shipping cost).  

Depending on your billing date, that refund/credit may happen in your next billing cycle, so don't worry if you don't see the credit immediately on your eBay account or current invoice.  Just pay it when it's due, but keep an eye out for the credit on the next bill. 

If your buyer does pay, you are obligated to follow through with shipping the item as usual (and obviously you won't get a credit for the FVFs on the transaction). 

[pjcdn2005]

Since you  have already opened the claim, make sure that you close it as soon as eBay allow you to. (96 hrs after claim was opened). Your fees will then be credited.