New Seller needs help re: Best Offer accepted and terms of payment

I accepted a Best Offer from a well seasoned buyer/seller on Feb. 17th. On the 19th they sent a message saying that they were glad they won but they were retired, had gone over their budget and wouldn't be able to pay until March 2nd! I am unemployed and caved to accept half the price advertised, feeling it best as I needed the money ASAP. As a new seller I have to wait 3 weeks to receive my money as it is and with this delay, it will be 5 weeks before I see it now. Is this normal? What are my options? I sympathize with my buyer, but I also sympathize with myself. On top of this I listed it in US dollars (as ebay suggests that will attract more buyers?) and am loosing another $20. off the currency exchange. The buyer has a good rating, but I can't help feel that something is fishy here. How can someone so experienced with buying and selling loose track of their budget. Please advise as to what I can do or what someone more experienced would do. thanking you in advance. 

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Re: New Seller needs help re: Best Offer accepted and terms of payment

We on eBay sell in a situation  where we do not have eye-to-eye contact with a buyer.

 

Many times  they will say something, looking for a discount.

 

There is no way to determine if what they say is "real" or not.

 

It is because of this  that all buyers and potential buyers are treated equally.

 

Examples....

 

(1) Looking for a discount  because the book  is about his great grandmother... Charlotte Gray

 

(2) Looking for a discount because her father fought as a part of the military group whose history is presented in the book

 

 

One never knows who is telling the truth....

 

If they buy and then say  they can pay on March 2.....  Consider how Paypal works  with a buyer's payment,  and how they will eventually cover that payment ... or get billed by Paypal...

 

Many bank accounts allow for an small overcharge... With the Bank of Montreal, the overcharge can be as much as $500

 

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Re: New Seller needs help re: Best Offer accepted and terms of payment

I assume you're referring to item # 221363901641, the toy telephone?  I'm also assuming that the buyer did not include her stipulation about paying later as a condition of her offer -- if she did, then you may be stuck with it if you've accepted her offer with the attached condition. 

 

However, if that request (to pay later) came after your acceptance, then you have options:

 

1)  Even though you may be desperate for cash, it's not an enormous amount (around $100?), and you may make as much in additional sales soon anyway.  So, if you want to remain on good terms with this buyer, send a message to her thanking her for her offer and saying that you will agree to the delay in payment as a one-time courtesy, but that you are unfortunately not able to agree to a delay beyond the close of business on March 2nd.  Don't say why, and no need to explain further. 

 

Make it sound businesslike, and don't say anything about your personal situation and needing money.  Check on March 3rd, and if payment in full hasn't been made, you can open an Unpaid Item Case (UIC).  In my view an experienced buyer like this probably knew better than to make an offer if she couldn't pay right away, and she may have been counting on your inexperience. 

 

On the other hand, she may really have a legitimate issue with paying right away (some other urgent expense arose in the meantime perhaps?).  By giving her what she's asked, you may make a very happy customer indeed.  There is just no way of knowing what the buyer's true motives are, and in the end, it's irrelevant.  Even if you find her request "fishy", you can play along for the sake of concluding the sale and making a satisfied customer -- but set your limits and don't go beyond them. 

 

2)  You can send the buyer a message indicating that unfortunately you're not able to agree to her delayed payment, and ask that she please pay within, say, 24 hours.  Keep the message polite and simple.  After that point, once you're beyond 4 days post-purchase, you can open a UIC against the buyer. 

 

However, keep in mind that:

(a) eBay will give your buyer some time to pay, and your item will be in limbo until the case is resolved (i.e. you won't be able to relist it); and

 

(b) if the buyer does finally pay, she'll be able to leave Feedback and DSRs, which could potentially seriously harm your fledgling business if she decides to retaliate because she feels you were unfair.

 

In my view, for future transactions, if you need funds so quickly, I recommend you require immediate payment on the more valuable items.  This option is available during the listing process, or you can revise your items to include it.  Also, I haven't looked carefully at your listings, but you should make sure, for all other items, that you indicate in the listings when you expect buyers to pay - 3 or 4 days is probably reasonable.

 

If you're not selling on eBay with a business plan that anticipates some losses, but rather as a means of getting badly needed quick cash, you are going to have to be very careful.  The eBay of today expects all of us sellers to operate as professionals, as if we were running online businesses. 

 

You are aware of Paypal's 21-day holdback of funds, but there are also various selling limits that eBay itself places on new sellers.  In effect, you are still on probation as far as eBay is concerned.  As a new seller, you can't afford negative FB, poor DSRs and other demerits without getting penalized and perhaps restricted from selling (or even removed from the site by eBay).  You have to decide how important it is for you to be able to keep selling on eBay. 

 

I don't usually like to give a definitive opinion, but if I were in your precise situation, as a new seller, desperate for cash, with a FB score of only 2, I would agree to this buyer's request as set out in point (1) above, and bend over backwards to be friendly and businesslike until March 3rd.  I say this even though I think she is probably taking advantage of your inexperience.  After March 3rd, you'll have to take steps to be paid (open a UIC). 

 

Next time though, decide which items you can't afford to not get paid for right away, and set them up with "Immediate Payment Required". 

 

Incidentally, I don't understand your comment about losing $20 on currency exchange.  If you're listing in $US, you will actually gain anywhere from 7% to 9% at the moment on the exchange into Canadian.  Paypal's fees for converting currency are still pretty low, certainly not enough to eat up the difference between $US and $Cdn value.

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Re: New Seller needs help re: Best Offer accepted and terms of payment

rose -dee makes very sensible suggestions.

 

However, as an OAP myself, I wonder if your customer is really short of money or if she just went over her mental budget for the month.

Her OAP cheques will arrive on the 27th or 28th, If she has only those, she can't afford to buy anything, since they will total around $12, 000 a year.

So if she is shopping for neat stuff, she has another larger income.

 

I don't have a lot of time for people who cry poor, when they are wealthy enough to own a computer and to shop online for frivolities.

 

 

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Re: New Seller needs help re: Best Offer accepted and terms of payment

Thanks for your reply. The buyer did end up purchasing it before the postdated time and all is well. I didn't think that there was any underhandedness by this person, as they have established a very good record.  I think all was legite, I'm just not an experienced seller and wasn't sure if this was something I should be alert to.

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Re: New Seller needs help re: Best Offer accepted and terms of payment

thanks for your reply. The buyer did end up paying for it soon after instead of the postdated time so all is well. I don't think anything shady was going on with them, but it is all good advice for the future.
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