Contacted for payment

[misslissa01]

I won an auction item and within hours of winning, I was contacted by the seller for a reminder of payment. Why am I being contacted within 24 hours for non payment? This was not a buy it now item.

Thanks!

[femmefan1946]

Respond to the seller and let him know why you have not yet paid.

But really, why would you not pay for something as soon as you learned you had won it?

Paypal, backed with a credit card, is instant payment. The sooner you pay the sooner you have your item.

If your PP account is backed by your bank balance, this is an e-cheque and may take up to 10 days to clear both the US and Canadian banking systems. Delaying your payment means you may not see the item for a month between clearance of the echeque, packaging, mailing, and customs.

[dmil8030]

Hello 'misslissa',

Was that notice sent to your regular email?  Often, after a sale, we receive any number of automatic reminders to our regular email.  They may say "You have won suchandsuch", or "Enjoy your new item", or "Your invoice for item whatever", -- something like that.  They are computer generated without the involvement of a real human.

If, however, the reminder was from the seller directly and appeared in your ebay messages to the left on your My eBay page, it is most probably because you are only a few days old and have zero feedback.  The seller would like to hear from you to be reassured you are going to pay promptly.

Sometimes new people win an auction and don't have an appreciation of the seriousness of ebay auctions, and neglect to pay.  Sellers really hate that.  So infuriating is it to them that many will avoid selling to newbies if they can.  The system forbids that particular brand of discrimination, but at the same time sellers can remove anyone's bid for any reason.  For many sellers, seeing that goose egg beside your name would be sufficient reason.

Sellers like to be paid immediately, but you have 4 days to pay before a seller can file an Unpaid Item dispute.  You have a further 4 days after that.  If no payment is forthcoming, the case is closed and you get a strike on your record which lasts a year.  Earn yourself another strike and you will find it just about impossible to bid or buy because sellers have autoblocks on people with 2 or more strikes.  I'm sure it won't be an issue as you will certainly pay the seller momentarily, but just for your reference, the Unpaid Item process is outlined here:

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/buy/questions/unpaid-item.html

[dmil8030]

misslissa, - you do not need to back up your account with a credit card.  Many people do not have credit cards, - and don't want one.  Ebay makes it very easy for everyone to buy. 

So if you use a paypal account attached to your bank account, the sensible thing to do is transfer money into your paypal account before you buy.  You will not lose the money you put into your paypal account if you do not use it.  It can just sit there. 

Otherwise, if the funds have to be withdrawn from your bank, it is not automatic like an interac card, rather it is an echeque which can take up to 10 days to clear.  The seller cannot ship until it clears.  It is officially paid for, however. 

Whereas if you have sufficient funds in your paypal account already, the seller gets paid right away and you get your item all the sooner. 

You were not being harrassed for payment, but instead you got what I explained earlier were computer-generated emails which do not always arrive the second you win, nor cease to show the second you pay. 

If you paid for the item using an echeque, - then you've paid.  Relax. and wait.

[penguin2805]

I agree with the last comment.  I think the buyer was just sending a reminder.  If it was in a harassing tone, you should report it to ebay.  The best thing is Communication!  If it takes a couple of days to get your Paypal up & running, let the seller know what's going on.  As a seller, I can be very fair as long as I know what's going on.

[ok_so_im_50]

You just registered a few days ago. It sounds like you just do not know how ebay works yet. You probably got the automatic "you won" email and not a harassing email from the seller.

[misslissa01]

I understand that you must pay for an item as soon as you win it. That is not what I was asking. I had set up my pay pal and was not aware that there was a delay in payment transferring. Immidiately I paid through pay pal but as I didn't know you needed to back up your bank account with a credit card, the transfer takes a few days for processing.

I was curious as to why I was being harassed for payment as soon as I won the item.

[penguin2805]

Yes....that's how it works. When you win an auction, you pay for it promptly.  You don't go to a store, buy something & then say I'll be back in a week to pay.  The seller sent you a reminder, not a non payment.  Non payment is after 4 days.  I'm curious your reasoning that it's not a "buy it now"...how long do you think you should have before you pay???