So if you "sell" something on eBay and the "purchaser" doesn't pay...

[Jim Underwood]

I was selling something on eBay, and the auction ended about 3:30 last Friday. I immediately emailed an invoice and was going to ship the thing as soon as I got payment... Well. I never heard back from the winner, even though I sent a couple more messages.

Apparently, eBay's policy is that you can begin cancellation procedure after four days. It's been four days if I count the weekend... Should I start the cancellation procedure? OR does the weekend not count toward the four days?

[Matt Meiser]

Given the events of the last few days you might cut them a little slack. Not a ton, but a little.

[Jim Underwood]

Hmmmm... maybe, but why didn't they at least acknowledge on Friday or Saturday? Y'know like, Ok... I'm busy boarding up my house for the hurricane, will pay as soon as I get back? They had enough time to make the final bid....

[Keith Westfall]

maybe their connection is down....

[David G Baker]

I usually wait for 2 weeks and if I don't hear from the buyer I let them know that I plan on re-listing the item if I don't hear back from them under normal conditions, but I agree with Jim U. Possibly due to conditions that the buyer can't control I would give the buyer the benefit of the doubt.

[Jerome Stanek]

They may have put a high bid in and their bid was never over that one. The bidding goes up by what you have listed.

[Prashun Patel]

Open up a claim. I had the same problem. Unfortunately, chances are you're NOT going to be paid, and the best you can hope for is a refund from ebay for the listing fee.

To their credit, the phone contact info for the 'Bay customer service is pretty good. I'd at least call them, since claims take a LONG TIME to get resolved.

[Prashun Patel]

Jerome-
Exactly what happened to me! I listed a car for sale. The bidder meant to put in 3000 instead of 30,000... 8 weeks later still trying to get refunded the listing fee from Bay.

[Jim Underwood]

Well fortunately there wasn't a listing fee.

Wish there was a way to figure out where this person lives.

[Joe Angrisani]

Start the cancellation process. You can always end it immediately if he comes out from under some Sandy rubble and pays.

Sounds like you don't know this: A person does not need to "be around" at the close of an auction to win. Plenty of programs out there that auto-bid at the last moment. They could have entered their bid into their auto-bid program 5-6 days before your auction closed. If I bid on something Monday, and Sandy showed up late that week, I can tell you an auction might slip my mind in the grand scheme of things.

But start the process and relist the item just in case they're weiners.

FYI: I've sold about 4,000 items on eBay. Been shafted maybe a dozen times. Chances are, there's a reason they haven't responded.

[David Weaver]

I'd agree, follow the process guidelines and just go through with it and relist the item.

I have had people delay paying, but they have always been in contact while they delayed. It doesn't benefit anyone to be the humanitarian on paypal and ebay, they stick to their rules hard and fast. The one in 10 people who genuinely forgot or whatever and who would've paid, that's just too bad. Ebay and paypal won't hold it against you and it's not your job to spend a couple of hours of your own time trying to figure out who is genuine and who isn't.

[Gary Max]

Some folks only check their emails once a week---------Really

[Kevin Bourque]

I had a buyer not pay recently. I opened a claim against them and quite frankly I have no idea what action if any was taken against them, but the sale was cancelled and I got my listing fees back.

[Kevin W Johnson]

Hmmmm... maybe, but why didn't they at least acknowledge on Friday or Saturday? Y'know like, Ok... I'm busy boarding up my house for the hurricane, will pay as soon as I get back? They had enough time to make the final bid....

If you're boarding up your house in prep for a hurricane, cheching your email is the last of your worries.

[Jim Matthews]

Check the Advanced Search option at the top of the eBay menu bar.
On the left, under Members Find Contact information.

Even money says your buyer is among those still without power.
If not in that geographic region, start the unpaid bidder process.

How much money are we talking about, anyway?

[Matt Meiser]

Or they could be like my friend from NW Ohio who was supposed to come home Sunday evening and last I heard was still stuck in eastern PA. Or my friends from west of Cleveland that haven't had power since Monday night and so far all the power company has done is put up caution tape around their back yard.

Normally I'm with you--not much excuse for not paying fast. Its been a wild week for a huge part of the country. I'm 600 miles from NYC and I spent an hour doing siding repairs last night as a result of this storm and a lot of schools in our area were closed. I saw pics today from the Lake Michigan and it looked like the ocean.

[Jim Underwood]

Check the Advanced Search option at the top of the eBay menu bar.
On the left, under Members Find Contact information.

Even money says your buyer is among those still without power.
If not in that geographic region, start the unpaid bidder process.

How much money are we talking about, anyway?

Thanks Jim. Turns out the guy is out in California.
And it's about $90. I'm trying to recoup some money I spent for the shop, and want it back in my account ASAP.

[John Fabre]

I bought a car part Tuesday from a guy in MA. for $220.00, no worries, I hope he's ok. I'm sure the storm knock out his power, no hurry. Give the guy a week, maybe there's someone in the East he's worrying about.

[Jim Koepke]

Turns out the guy is out in California.

If he hasn't answered or paid by now, I would go through the relisting process.

You might also block his bidding in the future.

jtk

[Jim Underwood]

I was just getting set to cut this buyer off, and whadyaknow, they just paid about 15 minutes ago. No note, no response...

[Jim Rimmer]

Could be he lives in California and happen to be on the East coast for business?

EDIT: Nevr Mind; Jim U. posted while I was typing.

[Jim Underwood]

Of course now the funds don't seem to be available til I ship. What's up with that? It's been too long since I've sold anything on eBay...

[Joe Angrisani]

Of course now the funds don't seem to be available til I ship. What's up with that? It's been too long since I've sold anything on eBay...

Geeze, Jim. Just print the shipping label (in PayPal, at a discount to your local Post Office) and be done with it. :)

Dare I even mention that the funds will not truly be yours for 90 days....?

[Steve Meliza]

Sometimes certain forms of payment can take several days to clear in PayPal (eg. e-check). Do not ship until it does.

[Jim Underwood]

How in the world would you write a check to PayPal? Doesn't even sound possible...

[Matt Meiser]

There's a thing called eCheck I've seen once in a while. Don't know how/why it offers that option but it occasionally does.

[Mike Henderson]

Sometimes certain forms of payment can take several days to clear in PayPal (eg. e-check). Do not ship until it does.

I had a situation where my credit card had been updated and I hadn't updated my PayPal account. Since PayPal did not have a credit card as fallback (for payment) they held up payment to the seller until the money was actually deducted from my bank account. So the seller would not ship until he actually got the money, which I understood.

Mike

[Brian Elfert]

Of course now the funds don't seem to be available til I ship. What's up with that? It's been too long since I've sold anything on eBay...

Your funds will be hold by Paypal until after delivery of the item until you have 25 sales on Ebay. This is a somewhat new policy I ran into this year for the first time.

[Andrew Pitonyak]

Of course now the funds don't seem to be available til I ship. What's up with that? It's been too long since I've sold anything on eBay...

Depending on the account type, how risky PayPal thinks things are, etc..... They may not release the money for 30 days. More specifically, I just expect that they will hold the money for a month. I expect that their terms are posted somewhere. I read them, but they have changed many many times since then.

[Jim Underwood]

Your funds will be hold by Paypal until after delivery of the item until you have 25 sales on Ebay. This is a somewhat new policy I ran into this year for the first time.

So if I've only sold 23 items, the funds won't be available until the item is delivered. Dang...

[Keith Westfall]

I bought something and the funds were taken out of my pay pal account within 2 days max! Yet the seller didn't get it (and wouldn't ship of course) for about 3 - 4 weeks! What's up with that??? Is Ebay / Pay Pal holding money for bank interest? With a lot of sales (money) I would suspect that could add up to quite a bit. Multiple thousands of $ getting interest for 2 - 4 weeks on an ongoing basis could be a sizable income.

The slow shipping was not a concern for me as I was away for work at the time, but someone that wanted it right away would probably be a bit ticked!

I should also say that i emailed the seller a few times and the delay was that the money hadn't been released to them.

[Brian Elfert]

Here is a list of reasons Paypal may hold back money:



You have limited history or selling activity.
You have low Detailed Seller Ratings, negative Feedback, or other indication of below-standard performance on eBay.
You have a high rate of customer refunds, disputes, claims, or chargebacks.
You're selling in a high risk category or industry such as tickets, travel, gift certificates, computers, consumer electronics, or mobile phones.
Your business or selling activity is inconsistent. For example, you have a spike in selling activity, your average selling price changes, or you started selling in a new category.
The account information you have provided is incomplete or inaccurate, or we're uncertain about the information you've provided.
Your withdrawal activity has changed.


The reason they hold money for certain things like game systems is mostly related to high demand items like the Xbox 360 when it first came out. People listed Xbox 360s on Ebay, but they didn't always have one. They may have thought they were getting one and didn't get it, or they simply never had one.

[John Fabre]

So if I've only sold 23 items, the funds won't be available until the item is delivered. Dang...
No, you should see in your account that says "Ok To Ship". Once you enter the shipping information (tracking number), payment will be released. If the buyer leaves feedback, you'll see payment the next day. Took from three days to a week for me to see payment. See my thread.
http://www.sawmillcreek.org/showthread.php?177996-PayPal-is-at-it-again&highlight=

[Rich Riddle]

If you are looking to recoup cash fast, PayPal and eBay are not the best way to sell; Craigslist is the way to sell. Unfortunately, that option opens a host of other problems.

[Jim Matthews]

I much prefer to buy and sell, right here in the Creek.

I do hope this all works out for you.

[Jim Underwood]

Crossed my fingers and shipped it off today. We'll see what happens...

[Jim Underwood]

Well this is interesting... Apparently if you ship within 24 hours of payment, using eBay's utilities, then the funds will be available within a short amount of time. However, being nervous about the buyer not responding at all for five days, and the fact that the funds weren't available even after he paid, I didn't ship for a couple of days... So now eBay or PayPal is delaying the availability of funds until about the 11th.

If you want to know more about how to get your funds more quickly, here is a link to eBay's tips on getting your funds faster:

http://pages.ebay.com//sellerinformation/howtosell/acceptingpayments/fundsavailability_lmtdexp.html

[Brian Elfert]

Well this is interesting... Apparently if you ship within 24 hours of payment, using eBay's utilities, then the funds will be available within a short amount of time. However, being nervous about the buyer not responding at all for five days, and the fact that the funds weren't available even after he paid, I didn't ship for a couple of days... So now eBay or PayPal is delaying the availability of funds until about the 11th.


Ebay doesn't require you ship with 24 hours. If you ship through Ebay directly, or provide Ebay the tracking number you will get your money three days after confirmation of delivery. You get your money immediately once you have 25 selling transactions, have sold $250 worth of merchandise, and it has been more than 90 days since your first selling transaction.

One interesting thing is that UPS is pulling out of Ebay/Paypal. You will soon not be able to print UPS labels from Paypal or Ebay.

[Jim Underwood]

I didn't say they require you to pay within 24 hours. I said if you want to get your money sooner, then pay withing 24 hours. That's what it says right on the link I provided:

Ship the same day your buyer pays and print your shipping label on eBay for fastest access to your funds.While you establish your selling track record, access to funds from buyer payments may be delayed to promote successful fulfillment. As soon as you meet all of the following criteria, payments from your buyers will generally be available immediately:


It's been more than 90 days since your first successful sale;
You've had more than 25 sales transactions; and
You've had more than $250 in total sales.

How can I get my funds quickly?To access your funds as quickly as 3 days after eBay can confirm delivery, we recommend that you ship within 24 hours after your buyer pays and print your shipping label on eBay. With eBay label printing:


Tracking information is automatically provided to eBay
You get discounted postage rates (the eBay label printing service is FREE)
Funds for shipping will be available to you immediately (up to $15)