I'm a new eBay seller...

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Vintage Caroline on March 21, 2012 at 10:32am

Hi Mary~

Congratulations on your first Ebay sale! Yes, the buyer would have received an email notification from Ebay that they are the winning bidder. As you already know, per Ebay policy, the buyer has 3 days to pay (though in some places Ebay states to give them 4 days). After 3-4 days, you can open an Unpaid Item Dispute (UID) against the buyer. I personally never do this...

Everyone has their own way of dealing with non-paying buyers. I will share with you how I handle them. Luckily, I have only had a very few over the years :). What I do is, regardless of when the auction ends, I always give them through a weekend to pay. My reason for this is because sometimes people get so busy during the week that they either forget or just don't get around to it. But then, the weekend comes around, and they have the time to make the payment.

If Sunday evening or Monday morning comes around and I still have not received payment, I send them an email with a friendly greeting... I then remind them about the auction that they won and that I have not received payment. I then ask if they are still interested in the item and I mention that I realize sometimes things come up which make it impossible for a buyer to follow through with a purchase. I explain that I will give them 48 hours to make payment for the item and that if I do not receive payment, I will assume that they are unable to complete the sale and I will be sending them a request to cancel the transaction.

Usually they simply have forgotten and make the payment after being reminded. If they do not make payment, I send them the request to cancel the transaction. This is important because by cancelling the transaction you then get your fees back and you are free to relist the item.

I do not file UID's because it sets the stage for a hostile transaction and I see no point in forcing someone to buy my item when they really do not want to. But that's just me. As long as the transaction is able to be cancelled and my fees are returned to me then I am fine.  I then put that buyer on my blocked bidder's list.

I hope this helps! :)

Caroline

Permalink Reply by MTippingAtelier-Admin on March 21, 2012 at 10:41am

Thanks so very much, Caroline!!  Yes, I figured I would give it a week, that's my style too, even on Etsy:)  I, too, have no desire to do a UID.  I will wait until Monday and then send a nice email reminder, as you suggest, and take it from there.  Selling on eBay is somewhat daunting to me, I'm just not used to all you need to know!  There seems to me to be a lot of  "fine print" that one needs to seek out, it's not readily apparent;)!   Thanks, again!

Mary

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Permalink Reply by Vintage Caroline on March 21, 2012 at 11:45am

You are most welcome Mary, so glad I could be of some help!  You are right about the "fine print"... this is why although I make sure that I understand and respect Ebay's policies, I know that they are not always in the seller's favor or seller's best interest, so I "tweak" them when necessary.  So far this has worked well for me :).  Best of luck to you with your Ebay sales!!!

Caroline

Permalink Reply by MTippingAtelier-Admin on March 21, 2012 at 11:56am

Thank you!:)

M.

Permalink Reply by Vintage Jewelry Chest on March 27, 2012 at 5:31pm

Hi Mary,

I totally agree with Caroline.  My buyers on eBay usually fall into 2 groups- those who pay instantly or those who pay in about 3-5 days. I think those that wait are typically browsing a bit or just have gotten busy and forgotten to log in to pay.  I always give 7 days for payment. I will typically just send a friendly reminder around day 5 or 6- I'm not pushy about payment, just kind of hint by mentioning the next days I'm shipping out packages and letting them know that  I'm available if they need any assistance. Most often they pay right after my email as they really have just forgotten:D  

Good luck with your ebay Shop!

Marsha

Permalink Reply by MTippingAtelier-Admin on March 27, 2012 at 5:52pm

Thank you so much, Marsha!  Well, the buyer actually paid and the item should have reached him by now, so all is well:)  

Thanks for all the advice--it's very helpful to me!

M.

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Permalink Reply by BWs Vintage Collectibles on June 2, 2012 at 9:45pm

Hello.  Ebay will send your buyer an automatic invoice.  You do not have to do it.  I do, however, send one a day until paid.  I do not use the message board if I can keep from it--now.  Sending invoices will not affect the message stats, or shouldn't (who knows what Ebay will change tomorrow)

Ebay has a feature you need to find to sign up for automatic claim opening after 4 days.  For instance, last week, I had a buyer who did not pay me.  On the 5th day, Ebay opened an "unpaid item" case for me, after 7 days (I think it was 7 days total) they closed the case (no payment was sent to me).  Ebay refunded my final value fees, insertion fees, etc.  

The Ebay automatic system records that buyer as someone with a mark as an unpaid buyer, which can influence their options to buy from others.  

When the buyer pays you, you can ship right from Ebay by linking on to the right of the summary or you can go to your Paypal account, and click on the payment to ship from there.

The "no contact" rule that Ebay is imposing is just plan stupid.  I always want to converse with my buyers or bidders.  It is good customer service to be concerned and assisting them making a decision.  Also, I always want them to contact me prior to purchase if they would like shipping quotes for multiple items or international areas....I am going to ignore their new rules and just forge ahead.   

I also have 2 stores somewhere else, but you have to go to my page to find them.  I can't post it in this forum.

Hope this helps.  I am a newbie too, to blogging and to this new group.

-=brenda

Permalink Reply by Gizmos on June 3, 2012 at 1:18pm

I have been selling on Ebay ( feebay) for 13 years, and boy have I seen changes. Not all for the good. Not wanting sellers to contact buyers is in a nutshell is "stupid". I think the reasoning for this is to try to eliminate selling a product outside of Ebay by using their contact system. There are a lot of sellers who do this, and vice versa,, a lot of buyers who try to make the deal outside the auction. It depends on the item whether I charge an unpaid item. It depends on the buyer as well. You can still check their feedback and you can see whether them pay immediately or not. I, like others have mentioned always send a friendly email noting that I know people get busy yada yada yada. Most of the time this works. Yes, I do not want someone to buy something from me if they really don't want to, but hey, they bid on the item and it is a binding contract. The changes that Ebay have made to their site has promoted ( to me) more and more non paying bidders. I have had more non paying bidders in the last year than I had in the previous 12. Personally, I try to sell on Etsy the most, love the friendly atmosphere, but there are just some things that have to be sold on Ebay. These two seem to be the best for me.

Stepping off soap box:)