Obviously this is less then a slap on the wrist because it happens so often! Same can be said for the "Report This Buyer" option.
But are those repeat buyers ?Or are they different people?
If newbies (for example or people without active Paypal accounts or Nigerians, whatever) are not aware that their behaviour is a problem, then a seller could have 10 failed transactions from 10 entirely different bidders. And those 10 bidders may learn from their errors and never do it again.
I wonder if we comprehend the sheer number of eBay members and bidders.
And that is where the problem is: eBay's refusal to enforce the contract. It is that simple.
Curious: What would you suggest?
I would like to see cancelled purchases and Unpaid Item Strikes recorded publicly on the bidder's Feedback page, as Bid Retractions are now. Cancelled bids too, although since these can be unilateral on the seller's part, they would be more difficult.
For me, as a seller, the benefits of impulse buying FAR outweigh the costs.
Absolutely. Cancelling a bid is a no brainer. Who needs to chase a non-payer? Too much drama. Let's have more reasons for the bidder to cancel. And as mentioned,record those cancellations.
But I suspect that many, if not most, of my sales are from lucky finds and impulse purchases.
Once upon a time, if a member got three non paying bidder strikes in a certain period, they would get kicked off ebay. Now there doesn't seem to be a limit, and buyers and not pay for as many items as they want, without concern.
Ebay has always been cagey about their standards for non-payers. It is generally believed, anecdotally, that a bidders can take a “mulligan” on his first UID Strike. Then, possibly, the three strikes you're out rule kicks in. But eBay won't say.
Publishing Strikes would give us something to go on. If sellers were to look at feedback.
But many sellers, me included, never see our bidders' feedback until they purchase, because we sell at Fixed Price. We can make our Fixed Price sales “Paypal Required/ Immediate Payment Required” which would be one way of dealing with the problem.
Still, the buyer will see his own feedback page and may think before making silly bids.
Some of it is in part that paypal restricts people off of instant transfer and on to echeck and people don't want to wait 2 weeks before item gets shipped.
The answer, and it is not perfect, is communication. Tell the bidder that using a bank account rather than a credit card to purchase means that the seller cannot ship (because PP will not allow the shipping label to be printed) until the e-cheque (note CANADIAN spelling) clears both banking systems and that this can easily take two weeks. Tell the customer that the item is packaged and ready to go as soon as the shipping label can be printed. Tell the customer when the e-cheque has cleared. Ship immediately. Tell the customer the shipping invoice number , even if it is not going to track anything. Tell the customer that delivery cross-border will take 10 days (if the norm for you is five days. Or 14days if the norm is 10 ). Basically, lower the customer's expectations, then exceed that.
And, yes, this is extra work. But it is extra work that pays you. Unlike cancellations which are unpaid extra work.
'Course, there're other schools of thought." - Zoe Washburne
