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I sold 8 35mm slides for $25 each ($200) to a shopper in Canada on 3/27 with a good Feedback record. Rather than opening 8 unpaid item cases, I was thinking of sending them a note encouraging them to pay in order to avoid getting 8 dings on their buying record. I’m not actually sure where the threshold is where eBay “cuts you off” for a history of not paying. I was going to mention nicely to them the risks they run for not paying.
Has anyone had success contacting a buyer directly before opening cases? Do you know if eBay actually ever imposes buying restrictions?
ps: The slides were of Navy aircraft doing take-offs and landings on an aircraft carrier in 1962. It seems the guy buys old slides, scans them, then makes color prints and sells them on eBay.
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–We have a “personal appeal” that we send to buyers who dont pay. We send it before we open the unpaid item case. Says something like “You purchased this item and now we are waiting on payment. We are a small seller and lack of payment hurts our ability to make a living. Please pay for the item you agreed to buy.”
–On our account, we have it set to block any buyer that has two or more unpaid item cases within six months. So I’m not sure when eBay would suspend a buyer, but it’ll certainly hurt their ability to buy from sellers like us.
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Ah, make them feel a bit guilty … didn’t think about that angle. I do like the 2nd part about sellers auto-blocking 2+ unpaid in 6 months. That might get his attention.
I do worry they might opt to cancel all the orders in order to avoid the whole issue.
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Yeah, we go for the guilt angle vs the threatening angle.
When eBay auto-sends the unpaid item cases, then they get the threats from eBay. Unfortunately there’s just a percentage of buyers who dont seem to care. Although the lost sale sucks, I wouldnt stress over it.
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It’s a Canadian GSP buyer, and since it is my first contact with them I simply sent a note: “Hello. Thank you for placing an order for 8 of our 35mm slides. They are packaged-up and ready to ship. Please pay promptly. Thank you.”
If I get no action, on Saturday I will send: ”
Hello again. EBay informs me that I can open 8 unpaid item cases for the 35mm slides you purchased on 3/27. I’d rather not do that as it may trigger eBay to severely restrict or terminate your buying activity. I know many of us eBay sellers automatically block shoppers who have 2 or more unpaid item cases on their record over the last 6 months. I’d rather not see this happen to your account as you seem to have a good record at the moment. Please pay promptly. Thank you.”If that doesn’t work …. it’s Stewie time.
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I use the “send payment reminder” option in the mobile app after 48 hours. Then I just let the auto unpaid item system to its job. It’s about 50/50 on people who pay with the reminder and unpaid claim.
I no longer send personalized messages. Some folks just don’t care. I don’t consider an item sold until money hits my paypal account. Makes it a lot easier to deal with unpaid items that way. -
You can set the unpaid item assistant to open a case automatically after a certain number of days have gone by. I have mine set to 4 days.
I usually send out a message after 2 days, which is just a reminder. At 3 days, I send out another reminder and mention that an unpaid item case will open the next day. Then, I just let the unpaid item assistant do its thing.
I have an issue right now where I’ll be out of town soon, and, if the buyer pays after I leave, I might not be able to ship it out on time. I’ve mentioned that to him in a message. Hopefully, eBay will remove any late shipment ding because the buyer paid late. There is no method for me to change the handling time for an unpaid item. I’ve packed up purchases in the past to take with me on vacations. So far, the items never get purchased, and I haven’t had to ship from some other location.
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Yeah, I have the unpaid item assistance on MANUAL just for cases like this, or when a buyer tells me they need more time to pay. I only have maybe 1 unpaid situation per month, and so having some control over the dialog can be useful. I wish eBay was more clear about the actual restrictions buyer’s face when they do not pay.
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If someone asks for more time, there is an exclusions list:
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I assume once an unpaid item case is open a buyer can still cancel the order. It seems this still would put a black-mark on their record, yes?
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I believe a buyer can cancel without punishment. Only sellers get punished for cancelling an order. But someone would need to fact check me on this.
I just know there’s no way to filter buyers who cancel items. Maybe a buyer who cancels items all day long would get suspended/warned by eBay.
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I just verified that if an unpaid item case is opened, that it would end up on the buyers record as a STRIKE whether they canceled or ignored it (didn’t pay).
I also just checked and the BLOCK rule is “Have received 2 Unpaid Item strike(s) within 12 Month(s)”.
The only way for the buyer to avoid a strike once a case is open is if they ask the seller to cancel the sale and the seller does the canceling. I’m not sure I would do that since they already waited several days and likely are doing it to avoid a STRIKE on their account. This could be used as leverage to get them to pay, but then they may hold it against you.
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Good to know. Im glad eBay is willing to punish buyers who purchase but dont pay.
Did you call eBay or find a webpage with this info?
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I would give them a chance to respond in this case. They might have had issues that you are not aware of and it is a 200.00 sale. A buyer with a good record, I would let it ride little extra. I would send another personal note just letting them know that you are looking forwardi shipping the item once they complete the transaction. Don’t give ultimatums or sound upset or threatening. I usually say that if they don’t complete the transaction I am unable to relist the item until I open an unpaid item case and that might hurt their ratings, which you are trying to avoid.
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Cool. Did you send the message that said “if you dont pay, eBay will give you five black marks”?
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