feedback after buyer not paying

[realjazz-123]

After 3  polite messages to please pay, an international  buyer has not paid or made contact in about 10 days after listing ended. If I open a case buyer gets a message from eBay to pay within 4 days. Question 1: What happens to buyer's profile if buyer decides not to pay? Question 2. If buyer does pay and then receives item, is it not  likely I will receive negative feedback or low DSR ratings from the buyer?  If I do nothing at all I lose final fees of about $7. Thanks for any suggestions.

[ricarmic]

What I do is use the maximum time period and the case is opened automagically (at day 32 I believe) by eBay. Unless it is a repeat buyer, I do not send any reminders etc most of the time.

99% of the time the case closes in my favor and I do not hear anything from the buyer. (so I get all my fees back)

The other 1% of the time, they do actually pay, so far I haven't gotten bad feedback from that process,.... but it was a long time ago that happened, before the defect era.....

[pierrelebel]

"What happens to buyer's profile if buyer decides not to pay? "

The buyer gets a "strike" by eBay - but nobody sees it.  It is an internal piece of information.  It is understood that, in most instances, after four strikes from four different sellers, a buyer will be suspended or lose buying/bidding privileges.

" If buyer does pay and then receives item, is it not  likely I will receive negative feedback or low DSR ratings from the buyer?"

Why would that be?  If the buyer paid, no strike is given by eBay.  If the item is satisfactory and the service adequate there is no reason for the buyer not to leave positive feedback if the buyer generally leaves feedback (not all buyers do).

Filing a non-payment claim against the buyer is the right thing to do.  Not only do you get your fees refunded if the buyer does not reply or pay but it helps all sellers get rid of a non-paying bidder/buyer - eventually. 

On the other hand, often it leads a buyer to pay for a purchase.  There may be many reasons why a buyer delayed payment.  That is not important or relevant as long as the buyer pays.

[pjcdn2005]

Some sellers are more patient but if I hadn't heard from a buyer after 10 days, I would file an unpaid item claim. I usually contact a buyer once before I file an unpaid item claim and haven't received a negative because a claim was filed.

[realjazz-123]

My guess is that buyer does not want to pay shipping cost (least expensive option is untracked international airmail). To avoid a 'strike' , buyer might begrudgingly pay but leave low DSR as retribution. Of course my paranoia may not be logical but reveals all kinds of possible  risk.

[pierrelebel]

"Of course my paranoia may not be logical but reveals all kinds of possible  risk."

Selling on eBay is a business.  Paranoia should not be part of it.

[pjcdn2005]

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@realjazz-123 wrote:

My guess is that buyer does not want to pay shipping cost (least expensive option is untracked international airmail). To avoid a 'strike' , buyer might begrudgingly pay but leave low DSR as retribution. Of course my paranoia may not be logical but reveals all kinds of possible  risk.

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Anything is possible but it is unlikely that if a buyer doesn't want to pay the shipping stated then it is unlikely they are going to pay it just to avoid a strike.

Since your listings don't state any shipping prices for the U.S. or any international countries, the buyer probably didn't know what the shipping cost was until you sent him an invoice.  The best way to avoid problems like that AND the best way to increase your sales is to make sure that your shipping is set up properly so that buyers can see the shipping cost before they make the purchase.

I'm sure that many buyers have scrolled right past your listings because they don't know what the shipping cost will be.  Also, your search visibility will be limited in those areas and listings without shipping costs are put at the bottom of the list when a buyer searches using 'price plus shipping lowest first.'

[realjazz-123]

Thanks for your suggestions but  I am a bit puzzled. All my listings have exact shipping price for US, Canada and international written into the description. As well, I complete boxes for shipping weight and dimensions of package to be used. I am concerned about  your comments given I do provide shipping info.  

[pierrelebel]

Unfortunately, there is a problem with the way you enter the shipping information.

Take a look at http://www.ebay.ca/itm/KYUNG-WHA-CHUNG-VIOLIN-BACH-PARTITA-2-DECCA-SXL-6721-HOLLAND-NEAR-MINT-GREAT-...

Check the shipping tab.

Change your location to Australia or any other country you ship to.

What do you see?

That is the problem.

[rose-dee]

Hi - I'm getting what 'pj' gets when I change my location to "United States" or "UK" when looking at one of your listings (I just picked a random item). 

The message that comes up says seller will ship to that area, but the buyer needs to contact seller for details.  This isn't good.  And 'pj' is quite right about buyers passing you by and searches shunting you to the bottom if you don't have full shipping specifics.

You may not be using the shipping options in the SYI form properly.  If you're showing flat rate shipping, you should be specifying 1 domestic and 2 international services (1 for the U.S. only, and 1 for everywhere else).  What I do is choose the most distant location internationally and base shipping on that.  Customers prefer to get a refund than a nasty surprise about shipping.  Or, pick a rate somewhere in the middle and stick to it when shipping -- then you lose some but gain on others, and it more or less comes out in the wash.

You do have the option of just letting the eBay system deal with the non-payment, as 'ricarmic' noted, but I wouldn't keep pestering the buyer to pay. 

One thing you can try (if you suspect the buyer is suffering from shipping cost shock), is to send them a polite note asking if they would prefer to cancel.  If they say yes, you may have made a happy buyer who has been let off the hook.  This has worked well for me in a couple of cases where I suspected non-payment was for legitimate (or at least understandable) reasons.  Just make sure that if you initiate the cancellation process you choose the reason "buyer changed mind or made a mistake".  Then you should not get a defect.  My approach is, why force a sale if the buyer has had second thoughts? 

If you decide to pursue payment, for whatever reason, keep in mind that DSRs for shipping cost are no longer counted toward seller status evaluation.  However, that doesn't mean a disgruntled buyer won't leave you neutral FB, which will generate a defect. 

Frankly, if I were in this situation, I'd ask the buyer if they would rather I cancel the transaction.  No harm, no foul for anybody. 

[ricarmic]

I took all the shipping information out of the listing description because very few people seem to read it anyway. It is better to put it in the listing shipping and payment options section, since you are using flat rates, it should be easy (this is what I do with my listings). Note that the listing I looked at said $15 to Canada inside the description and $17.22 outside it, which is more than $15 US converted....

[rose-dee]

By the way, I meant to add that you should keep in mind that not every buyer is even aware that a cancellation process is available. 

Even experienced buyers (who have never sold) may not know about cancellations, or may assume a cancellation will get them a black mark.  I'd offer it to the buyer in this situation, especially if the shipping shock was my fault.

[pjcdn2005]

You could be using dimensions that are too small for the service that you specify or you might be using the wrong service for that particular country. Unfortunately, the shipping calculator does not tell you when you are listing that the dimensions or service won't work so it is important to know that information before you list. For more info on sizes please see post 21 on the following thread

http://community.ebay.ca/t5/Seller-Central/Blocking-Buyers-with-feedback-score-of-0/td-p/269875/page...

[realjazz-123]

Thank you and others for all the helpful comments. For my new listings I am going to 'experiment' with eBay boxes with shipping details as well as continue to describe in the listing the  flat rate shipping for Canada, US and international.

[pierrelebel]

"continue to describe in the listing the  flat rate shipping for Canada, US and international."

Most definitely NOT a good idea.

It will be confusing and often contradict the information given by eBay to your buyer using the "shipping" tab.

Take the time to properly identify the postal services required (domestic, USA and International) and price each one accordingly.  You may find in most instances that fixed shipping rates for each destination give better results than "calculated" rates.

KISS

[pierrelebel]

For what it is worth, I would like to add that you can lower your FVF paid to eBay by incorporating your domestic shipping charge into your selling price, since you are a Top Rated Seller.

For example.

You sell an item for $50 with $20 shipping charge.

You pay FVF on $50 less 20% rebate

You pay full FVF on $20 shipping (no rebate)

If you offer the same item for $70

You pay FVF on $70 less 20% rebate

If you charge extra shipping for selling to the USA or overseas, no FVF will be charged on those shipping charges as long as the first domestic rate offered is "free"