Buyers not paying

[mcrlmn]

I'm a rookie seller, and getting a bad taste in my mouth...

Twice in a week I've had bidders/buyers not pay.

This is a pain in the.., and ties up the item for a minimum of 8 days resolving and closing.

Even if the bidder did eventually pay, I wouldn't trust and would probably cost me a lot more for registered mail.

Is this bidding and not paying as prevalent as I'm beginning to think it is?

[2014sportsterguy]

You could avoid deadbeat buyers using BlN, I don't think non payers is really a concern most buyers pay.

Always block any fussy buyers who needs them anyway, make sure your settings are tough on buyer requirements.

[dutchman48]

Paypal does not accept registered mail as proof of delivery

[2014sportsterguy]

Bit confused registered mail has tracking? Why does PP not except?

[femmefan1946]

Nobody knows why.

There is an urban legend that 'Registered Mail' is a code for "Worth Stealing".

The service is also expensive (ExpressPost starts at $10.95 - Registration is $9.00 plus applicable postage and is slower.)

OP- Have you set your Seller Preferences to automatically Block bidders with Unpaid Item Strikes? (And thank you for filing those Disputes and handing out Strikes to deadbeats, btw.)

Have you considered setting your Seller Preferences to automatically Block bidder who do not have active Paypal accounts? These tend to be newbies who may need a little coddling and friendly communication can help... a little.

I hope you are putting your deadbeats on your own Blocked Bidder list. It's under Manage Bidders on the site map.

[mcrlmn]

Geez, got another one today!

That makes 3.

[mcrlmn]

Unfortunately, you can only block bidders that have received 2 Unpaid Item strike s within 1 Month, have 4 Policy Violation reports within 1 Month, or have a feedback score of -1 or lower .
...and sellers can't leave any negative feedback without selecting 'Positive' Feedback.

[femmefan1946 · Accepted solution]

No -you can Block bidders who have had two Strikes (true) but within a year not a month.

Buyer requirements

	Block buyers who:	Have received 2 Unpaid Item strike(s) within 12 Month(s) Have a feedback score of -1 or lower Are currently winning or have bought 10 of my items in the last 10 days and have a feedback score of 5 or lower	Edit buyer requirements

The other two are not particularly useful, but do activate them. The over-active buyer is sometimes useful, but not for a seller whose customers buy multiple items at a time.

And don't EVER try leaving 'false positive' feedback. If the buyer complains, YOU get a violation and you don't have enough experience as a seller to withstand that hit.

Besides it's unprofessional and does no good.

Most sellers never see their customers' feedback until the customer buys, because most sellers use Fixed Price listings rather than auctions.

Meanwhile any future bidders will look at your Feedback Left and form an opinion of your temprament. Don't make them backbutton by looking vengeful.

The Strikes system works for all sellers, not just you.

Business is about selling not revenge.

[mcrlmn]

Thank-you for your advise. I will review my settings.
I did take the high road and didn't leave any negative feedback.

I understand your point about negative feedback, but how do we advise other sellers of a potential problem?.
If non-payers would initiate or respond, rather than ignore contact, I personally would prefer to close and move on rather than deal with the issue for the next 8 days.
On the first instance I advised the previous bidder, who patiently waited until I could extend a Second Offer; which was accepted.
It was a $90. sale I didn't want to lose.
The 2 today are less significant but none-the-less a pain.

[reallynicestamps]

but how do we advise other sellers of a potential problem?.

Well, for the first time in probably three years I will be able to see who is bidding on my items, because for the first time in years I actually have some auctions going.

Like most sellers, I almost exclusively use Fixed Price listings. I also use Good Til Cancelled,so at my high point I had over 1500 listings happily relisting automatically every thirty days.(Recent retirement and a move across the country means a lot of my stock still in boxes)

And most of the 800 million listings on eBay each day are also Fixed Price.

FP sellers cannot see feedback until the item has sold, so really it's useless to us. It 'might' clue us in that it would be sensible to upgrade shipping to 'tracked' if the paid buyer seems skeezy, but that is rare, your experience notwithstanding.

When you give a deadbeat a Strike, all other sellers who have set the automatic Block will never have to deal with that buyer again. It is generally believed that a buyer with four Strikes is booted off the site. Since we can't easily track buyers accounts, this is guesswork.

Businessman, see? Roots in the community.-- Badger

[love2shoppe4me]

Well I don't sell here as often as I once did, so I have started again. Now I know the reason I stopped in the past. It's like pulling teeth sometimes. You list items several times, many times lowering your items to rock bottom prices, finally get a bite or two, getting a commitment but then no purchase. Meanwhile Ebay has already charged you for a sale that you haven't received money for. You then send several polite invoices, with no response. It's like you feel you are begging them to fulfill their commitment. Now you have to wait the required time before you can post again, especially in December when you are missing the countdown days to the holidays.

Sometimes I wish, when people "commit" to buy, more seriousness should be taken with that commitment, and an automatic withdrawal would take place. Grrrr...

[femmefan1946]

You don't have to send the customer any invoices. EBay will do that, if you have the shipping filled in.

You do have to wait four days (to the second) before opening an Unpaid Item Dispute and four days before closing it.

You do not have to chase the customer.

Pay and ship.

Don't pay and get an Unpaid Item Strike.

Since you have been away for a while, look at your Seller Preferences and set up automatic Blocks on bidders who have UID Strikes. You can also Block bidders with violations and bidders without active Paypal accounts.

You never see these attempts to bid.

You could also use Fixed Price listings/ good til cancelled. Keep in mind that only about 40% of listings sell. And that there are now around 800 million listings each day.

With FP, you can demand Immediate Payment or the listing remains active and available to others.

There have been a lot of changes is the past three or four years. Fees went down, but FVF are now also charged on shipping.

We get FVF breaks, and higher placement is Search for using 'Free' Shipping. (Which isn't of course) But remember  800 million.

In my opinion, there is no advantage to lowering prices. There can be some advantages to raising the price of unusual or unique items if they are unsold. Seriously.