What is being done about buyers who buy things then never pay.

[lyndilane]

I have had several instances of buyers buying items then never paying or messaging me and saying something like " cancel transaction please, I changed my mind"

I generally just cancel the transaction to avoid a headache of the unpaid item. I also just cancel because I have had instances where a buyer has agreed to purchase, then messaged me to cancel for whatever reason (same as above) THEN once I cancel they leave me positive feedback.

Tell me, should I be fearful of opening unpaid item cases against these people (fearful they can still leave me negative feedback) or what?

These buying then changing minds is happening WAY too often and it needs to come to an end. Its a pain in the rear end for sellers and once someone agrees to buy they should be held to it.

 Ps. Last month I had this happen to the tune of $600 worth of transactions!!

[chaldo2010]

Make it very clear on your seller/item page that buyers must make payment within a certain number of days, otherwise, an unpaid item case will be filed against them. Once they hit three of those, their account gets shut down by eBay. I also block buyers who never pay, so I don't have to deal with them again.

I have my settings automatically set to 4 days, and if no payment has been made, so it begins.

If they leave negative feedback, you can always have eBay involved to remove it, since it was nothing you did wrong on your end. Been there, done it.

[goldnideas]

Buyer can't leave negative or neutral Feedback for a seller if an unpaid item case is open on his/ her account. (Feedback policy)

[karl*katz]

You can block members who have two or more unpaid item strikes

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/manage_bidders_ov.html

[reallynicestamps]

If you have had that many cancellation requests, then maybe you are doing something wrong.

Since you are selling 'designer' products your buyers may be more fussy and entitled than my readers and dressmakers, but I do notice one thing that might help you.

You don't put sizes in your titles and you don't put measurements in your descriptions.

Since the measurements for a woman's garment vary with the price point, some of your customers may be having second thoughts after impulsive purchases ( your prices are very good for the kind of thing you sell) because they don't know if the item will fit or not.

You have a Size 44 jacket listed, which is a European measurement. Many North Americans would think that was a very large item, not about a Size Eight ( or Size 0 in some lines).

As for cancelling, I agree that it is better to cancel (and to put the timewasters on your Blocked Bidder list) than to try to get blood from a stone.

If you are asked politely and promptly, send a Mutual Cancellation. Tell the customer to agree immediately to be released from the transaction. You will get your fees back. The 'politely' is because with MCs the customer can leave feedback. Don't every use this if the customer has that 'entitled princess' vibe.

For her, use the Unpaid Item Dispute'. She gets a Strike for non-payment and cannot leave feedback. Much safer and also helpful to your fellow sellers.

And set your Seller Preferences to exclude bidders with those Strikes as well as bidders who do not have active Paypal accounts. Those are the two groups most likely to be either deadbeats or scammers.

[reallynicestamps]

Make it very clear on your seller/item page that buyers must make payment within a certain number of days, otherwise, an unpaid item case will be filed against them.

I disagree. Unpaid items really are few and far between and this kind of negative message is telling potential buyers that you expect problems. 

Never be negative. 

Once they hit three of those, their account gets shut down by eBay. 

EBay will not tell anyone how many UIDs it takes to have a deadbeat shown the door. Because eBay will allow a first offence to be removed (anyone can make a mistake) the number is probably somewhat higher.

I also block buyers who never pay, so I don't have to deal with them again.

You can set up your Seller Preferences to automatically Block bidders who already have UID Strikes.

I have my settings automatically set to 4 days, and if no payment has been made, so it begins.

If you are having so many problems, the automatic system is useful. It also gives you an out with the customer "Who me? Oh, no. EBay does that automatically. Thanks for payment, your parcel was shipped this morning."

[octopusvenom]

And what about feedback once the unpaid item case is closed? lyndilane, I feel for you. Last week I had a newbie doing just that. Bid and then waited 7 days before emailing to say that she was not interested in the item anymore. Meanwhile, I opened an unpaid item case and even though I re-listed the $200+ item, I'm keeping that case open. ebay said they took action but won't tell me what they did because of the buyer's protection blah, blah, blah. I wanted to leave negative feedback to warn other sellers but the system doesn't let me do it. The only option available is the positive click - ridiculous!
I agree that something must be done about those deadbeat buyers. Frustrating!