What can be done about non-paying bidders. I had another 5 this week. How can sellers be warned?

[barbaraannecupsandmore]

There has to be something that can be done about non- paying bidders, and some way to warn other sellers, Nn some of the best selling days of the year I had 5 items in limbo waiting for payments that never came, this is grossly unfair to sellers, and the buyers get off scot free. There is no way now that I can catch the ho;liday market in time.

[recped]

Generally speaking Auction get more non-payers than Fixed Price.

Pretty simple reason really, when you BIN you can immediately pay, when you place a bid it will be at least a few minutes, more likely a few hours and often a few days between the time you bid and the time you can pay. That time give you the opportunity to a) find the same thing elsewhere for less, b) change your mind and buy something else, c) blow your budget and have to decide which you can afford and which you can't.

As for mobile, I expect a lot of the non-pay/slow-pay issues are because buyers make a purchase on their mobile device but they resist making payments that way and intend to pay later from their desktop.

I personally don't buy with my mobile devices, first I can hardly see anything on a tablet and on a phone (if I had one) it would be impossible (my vision isn't great but I'm far from blind). If I did make a purchase with a phone or tablet I wouldn't be paying that way, there is no way I'm putting my PayPal account on a device that could easily be lost or stolen.

I do laugh when some sellers get upset about a non-payer and complain about how the item was taken off the market. Often turns out the item has been listed for months or even years without even a nibble.

[ironchachi]

Yes - I'm finding this time of year I get a variety of excuses for paying...credit card lost...wait for pay cheque...forgot I bought this. A previous poster had mentioned patience in dealing with slow payers.

I believe that around this time of year you need some flexibility with certain buyers. I have a lot of seasonal buyers purchasing items for their grand parents or parents and have simply forgot E-Bay policies or are power buyers and purchase so many items that 1 or 2 get lost in the matrix when using checkout.

Non-Payers I have no remorse but following some of the good tips mentioned earlier by previous posters may help in the future for you. I wish you all the luck and hope for brighter horizons my friend.

[maggiebvintage2010]

re:  Since eBay changed certain categories to auction only, femmefan wrote:

Which categories are those?

http://announcements.ebay.ca/2014/04/30/7598/

http://announcements.ebay.ca/2014/06/01/7618/

re:  I do have one regular who buys, doesn't pay,   femmefan wrote:

"Are you aware of the Blocked Bidder List? It’s under Manage Bidders on the Site Map."

Absolutely, all those who never paid reside there.  But this buyer is a regular, and always pays as I said in the post, so not blocked.  I mentioned it only to highlight that the act of non-payment, or of not paying until eBay gets involved, may titillate some buyers.

I don't have a store, limit my activity on eBay to suit myself, have listed fixed price for a long time, and have only ventured into the auction marketplace since eBay made the changes in the June announcement.  Non-payers were never an issue for me with fixed price listings - a very rare occurrence.

"rose" - that is exactly what my point was - it is only since June with auction-style listings in those categories, that I have had an increase in non-payers.  Also, when I took advantage of all those October-November-December auction-only promotions in every category, the non-payers increased exponentially.

"poco" - I too have my preferences set that way.  An interesting thing I have noticed recently is that the purchase reminders are not always sent at the 2 day mark.  I just checked through a lot of old sales, and find it's sometimes 3 days, sometimes not sent.  I wonder if this is a glitch?  I can't comment on the ones that went to the Resolution Centre, because I can't see the communication history on them now.

[pierrelebel]

"and have only ventured into the auction marketplace since eBay made the changes in the June announcement.  "

It is important to note that eBay has not limited sellers to use the auction format exclusively in those categories.  eBay simply removed the "free" insertion previously available for items listed at fixed price.

Now, if a seller finds it beneficial to list at fixed price (fewer non-payers, more sales, whatever the reason) it may make sense to simply spend the money ($0.30) and list at fixed price for 30 days.

If one lists one hundred items at fixed price, it works out to $30.00 a month.  Of course it would be more economical for a seller to have a store and pay $20.00 only while paying lower Final Value fees on those same sales and having all the advantages of a store for free.

Worth thinking about it.

[jt-libra]

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@rose-dee wrote:

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I wonder if, generally speaking, people who bid on auction items are more likely not to pay?  

If so, why would that be?  The thrill of the chase gone sour?  Too little rational thinking and too much wishful thinking?  I don't know, but it seems to me that when you purchase a BIN item, you look at it carefully, consider the price and the shipping, then make a decision.  With auction items, sometimes the final price is not what you initially expected or hoped it would be.  

 I

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I think it has a lot to do with the type of items one sells.  For instance, I sell cosmetics and other health and beauty items which seem to be very attractive to young women.  I believe that most of my non-paying buyers are young girls.  They love make-up and I think they are not responsible enough, nor do they even care enough, to consider the inconvenience to the seller or the possible strike they may get.  I don't mean to paint them all with the same brush, because I've had many transactions with some lovely, polite young girls, and, in fact, they are some of my favourite individuals to deal with.  Their cute e-mails and emojis make me smile.

Now I have another selling account (non health and beauty) with about the same number of sales, but with a few more fixed price than auctions.  I've never had one single non-paying buyer.  I'm sure that clothing, electronics, make-up, as just a few examples, would have more non-payers than, say, auto parts, for instance.  Maybe Mr. Elmwood would disagree -- but if you need a part for your car, you've probably done your homework, shopped around and are earnest about buying and paying for that item.

It's been very interesting to hear everyone's viewpoints on this topic. 

[roadie16]

Well I think that I am the anomaly here. I am a Buyer not a Seller. I have never sold anything on Ebay.

Trying to make my first purchase was interesting. I was having quite a time and enlisted the help of the Seller.

The Seller was great. He helped me with setting up my Ebay account, how to use PayPal, etc..

By the way, I have nothing but great things to say about all the Sellers I have had the pleasure to deal with. If I have had issues

they have been patient with me.

I "always" pay for the item I have purchased as soon as I receive the invoice. Only once did I have to return an item, as it

was not as advertised. The Seller recognized his mistake and all was handled very professionally.

Maybe in some cases people are having issues with understanding how Ebay works. I know I did at first.

Yes the shipping costs for Canadians can be exorbitant. Fortunately living in a border town, I have a USA parcel depot that I use for any USA orders. It still costs me an added $1.00 - $5.00 per item that I purchase as well as toll fees of $6.50. If I am lucky some Sellers have shipped directly to my house when cost effective for me.

[femmefan1946]

Which categories are those?

No, those announcements only deal with free listings, all categories can still have auctions.

But this buyer is a regular, and always pays as I said in the post, so not blocked.

Some sales are not worth having. If a buyer is consistently late and needs to be forced to pay up, that’s a good reason to Block him.
Among other reasons, time is money (about 18 cents a minute at minimum wage) and concern for your DSRs if he gets miffed at being pushed.

[decal-fx]

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rose-dee wrote: 

I've had only 2 true non-paying buyers in the last couple of years that ended in UIDs 

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   Wow that's amazing, I sometimes have more than 2 a day (Four currently open right now). I send a Friendly reminder, after 3-5 days, with offerance of help on how to pay including alternate methods. A UID is Always filed using eBay's automatic assistant after 8 days.