Frustrated

[amethyst1415]

Why do some buyers win your item and then disappear? I check their feedback and they are receiving positive feedback as having paid the same day as winning mine and even after yet they don't pay for what they have bought from me.

Also, is it normal to be based foreign (who I do not ship to) but have a shipping address in the states? What is going on with this buyer? I sent an e-mail explaining that I have it set up on my acct. that if a buyer does not pay in four days an unpaid claim is opened. I then asked if they still wanted the item to let me know so we could either get it paid for or cancel the transaction.

I offer free shipping and the item was not that expensive. I just don't understand why this is the third time my buyer just disappears off the face of the earth after winning. I had three watchers on this item and multiple bids. I'm so frustrated.

[nan*55]

I have that same thing going on now too. Multiple buyer with high feedback. It's been a week. If I hear nothing by tonight. I'm filing NPB.  Frustrating!!!

[froogal_electronic_parts_and_overstock]

It is very common for all of the above. 

It is common to be based in another country and have a US ship to address. I have one myself. This allows you to buy from US sellers who won't ship outside the US. They have friends, or freight forwarders who then reship it.  There are a couple things to be wary of. 

If the buyer has a US address but then requests shipping to a country you don't ship to, and the only reasonable shipping is without tracking, then there is a much higher chance the person is trying to scam you. You need to decide whether you are going to base on their FB (high= less chance of scam), location(some countries have higher rates of scammers, ie. Nigeria), and value of the item(used clothing is not a high theft item, iphones are).

You are fully protected by ebay and paypal when you ship according to their best practices to the address the buyer paid with. It does not matter where they are located.

It is very common for some buyers to wait until paying. Some may be transferring money, some may pay once or twice a week, and some use the 4 day unpaid grace period and 4 days after that, as a small line of credit.

It is common for even experienced buyers to buy stufff and then fade away. Usually it's zero FB buyers, but even experienced buyers change their mind but usually a buyer with higher FB will contact the seller to prevent unpaid strikes.

It's not 'best practice' to contact the buyer after the sale. You are risking an automatic 5 on your DSR. Best to put that information in your ebay auto emails.

Don't get frustrated. It happens all the time and is normal. 

[amethyst1415]

What do you mean do not contact the buyer? If I was asking her if she wanted to still buy the product I think that is considerate (instead of letting the unpaid claim open, which it will today). What is an automatic 5 on my DSR? Also, how do you set up automatic e-mails?

If she leaves me negative feedback because I asked her if she wanted to still purchase the item then she is not being fair. I was trying to be fair to her by contacting her so that she would not have to deal with an unpaid claim.

[mr.elmwood]

There is no such concept as "fair" in business. Opening communication with a non-paying bidder is an invitation to trouble. They have already signaled they are abandoning you, do not contact them.

[pjcdn2005 · Accepted solution]

An invitation to trouble? I guess no one has ever accepted my invitation because I always contact a buyer once before I open up an unpaid item claim and politely ask if they are still interested in the item. About a quarter of the the time they have simply forgotten about it or thought they had already paid and the rest of the time I never hear back. I wouldn't suggest contacting them more than once though.

jg - Another poster mentioned the communication 5 star....I wouldn't worry about that. When a buyer gives you feedback they can rate each of your starts..communication, item description etc. If you offer free shipping you get an automatic 5 stars. If neither you or the buyer message back and forth during the transaction AND you upload a tracking number during a specific amount of time, then you get an automatic 5 stars in communication.

Non paying buyers are frustrating but all you can do is file an unpaid item claim and relist the item once the claim is closed. If you want instant payment, the only way to guarantee that is to list the item as a Fixed Price rather than as an auction and check off 'immediate payment required'.

[mr.elmwood]

PJ, we each have different customer bases. Some genres attract trouble, some do not. My genre is very low in trouble makers, very low.

I do not do auctions. The last time I tried, oh, I dunno, three years ago, it went very poorly. Not going that route again w/o very careful consideration, blocks, low expectations.

I choose not to contact customers, for any reason. Why? Usually, they have done something other than correct. To contact them is like asking "Why are you dumb?". I just "let it be".

All of my customers, with a problem, have done something "dumb" at their end. The last few refunds were for "Why did you buy this when it will never fit your car, is not for your car, is advertised for a different car".

So, I choose not to open that can of, as my Mrs Igloo calls it, trojan worms.

[rose-dee]

I think the response to a "disappearing customer" has to differ depending on the demographic you're dealing with.  There is probably no right way of dealing with the problem that will work for every seller. 

Like 'pj', I usually give a buyer who hasn't paid and hasn't contacted me about 5 days' grace, without a word.  Then I send a very friendly message, and give them another 2 or 3 days before proceeding with a UIC.  I send only one personal note because, as we all know, eBay has already sent them at least one automated payment reminder. 

I think there's a risk that opening a UIC without any warning to my buyer, might be even more upsetting to some that getting a friendly payment reminder.  I keep that in mind because if a UIC were to lead to eventual payment by the buyer, the buyer is going to leave whatever FB/DSRs they feel is appropriate. 

But then my buyers are generally a nice lot, they are mostly women (most seem mature and able to read), and they mostly are happy to have found my products in the first place (I don't have much competition in a couple of my categories).  Those factors can make a big difference.  I have other challenges -- like shipping rates -- but not too many buyers who never pay.  In the end, some are fast, some are slow, but nearly all ultimately make payment.

[jt-libra]

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@rose-dee wrote:
 

I think there's a risk that opening a UIC without any warning to my buyer, might be even more upsetting to some that getting a friendly payment reminder.  I keep that in mind because if a UIC were to lead to eventual payment by the buyer, the buyer is going to leave whatever FB/DSRs they feel is appropriate. 

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I feel the same way.  I send a note on the 3rd day after purchase asking the buyer to kindly let me know if they`ve changed their mind.  I then go on to say that an unpaid item claim will automatically be filed on the fourth day after purchase and that I don`t want them to get caught by surprise.

I think that a buyer who opens their Inbox and sees a claim against them without any word from me might antagonize them and result in low DSR`s if they do pay up.

My experience has been if they haven`t paid by Day 3, being informed of a UID does not make a difference.  The majority will not pay.

What always surprises me is how many people will take a strike for a $10 or $12 item.  I haven`t seen the actual e-mail that non-paying buyers receive from eBay, but I`m assuming that it does indicate that they will be prevented from purchasing from many sellers if they accumulate too many strikes.

[ricarmic]

In my case (I think my demographic are generally pretty good too in the postage stamps world) what I do depends.

I am seemingly a very patient guy, I let the automagic UIC generate itself after the 30 days.

Always I let this happen for a new buyer with less than a couple feedbacks (most problems are with 0 feedbacks). I never contact them.

Occaisionally I will contact a buyer with lots of feedback, usually I check their other purchases to see if mine is out of sorts with what they buy. If it is, I don't do anything, just let the automagic UIC happen eventually.

If it is a repeat buyer, normally I just undo the unpaid tracking before the 30 days and if it gets to be a couple weeks or so I will send them an invoice again, mentioning that the first one may not have reached them. If they don't do anything I don't do anything, I don't mind if I burn fees wise once in a while with a repeat buyer (unless they do this repeatedly then I would).

A good case in point is a very good customer didn't pay, the 30 days went by (but I had turned off the UIC) and I sent the 2nd invoice etc. About 6 weeks later I got a message that they had moved, their computer was packed away and they had forgotten to pay me before they moved, and they resumed their regular purchases. If I had UICd them it could have soured the relationship and they are a very good customer......so sometimes there are good reasons.....

[rose-dee]

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@ricarmic wrote:

I am seemingly a very patient guy, I let the automagic UIC generate itself after the 30 days.

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I'm amazed that I still find out new things (every day or so it seems) on these boards!  I suppose I've never let things get to the 30 day point, but I had no idea eBay sent out automatic UICs after 30 days -- do you have to actually set this, or does it happen unless you turn it off intentionally? 

There is also an argument to be made, as someone has suggested earlier, that if you suspect a really troublesome buyer who hasn't paid (and who might retaliate in FB/DSRs if pushed to pay), and the item is of relatively low value, you could just let the transaction completely die away on its own after about 45 days -- no UIC, no FB/DSRs from the buyer, and re-list the item.  It might occasionally be worth a couple of bucks in FVFs to avoid a worse outcome.  (Not that any of my buyers have ever fallen into that category, thank goodness).

[ricarmic]

Rose, I actually turned it on this way when it was first introduced but I went looking and the UIA (unpaid item assistant) is on you selling preferences page, close to the bottom.... you can set it there....and whilst I was looking for it I see it is actually set for 32 days for me, so that must have been the default.....I have a few customers that compile lots over days/weeks so the long version works for me.....and I have few actual non-paying buyers....maybe 1 - 2%