eBay Extends Unpaid Item Period to Seller's Dismay

by: FeelingFroggy

In the past five years with five different stores we have had exactly ZERO unpaid items.

If ya all want it you will pay when you click the buy button. No glitchy carts and no unpaided items.

Paid now or go elsewhere.

by: Tinker Belle

Personally?  Two days is incredibly short. I would not feel so strongly, except an unpaid item claim can DAMAGE a bidder.

There are plenty of valid reasons to NOT use the instant payment function. One that comes to mind first is buying multiple items that can be shipped together. Another is having a question about shipping arrangements (example, seller offers only UPS Ground and I really want and will pay for Priority Mail, for the fragile item I've bought).

Further, I snipe a lot of items, simply because our electric goes off almost routinely, and I have to use DSL and cannot rely on a last second bid to get through in time. So I expect an invoice since the snipe service can't handle an instant payment too.

SORRY - Hate to do it but I have to side with eBay this time.  

by: Marie

OP, did you recently change your Combined Shipping terms?

As is pretty normal, Ebay's CSR was ill trained and had no business explaining this to you when they themselves do not understand the rule.

Ebay hasn't changed anything, this is just a misunderstanding on how this works.  If you offer combined shipping for those that purchase from you in a given period, the UIA can not be set for a time period that is less than your combined shipping rule.

For example, if you offer to buyer that you will combine shipping charges for items that are purchased within 7 days, then your UIA can not be set up for anything less than 8 days.

With that said, you can manually start a UID, but the UIA can't start one before your combined shipping timeframe passes.

It has always been like this and if you look closely at the UIA screen in your site preferences, there is a statement to that effect.  It appears just below where you can select your timeframe for opening a UID.

Ebay is doing what they have always done since they started the UIA.

by: Ina

Thanks, Marie - and if/when I get a response from eBay, I'll post an update.

by: Marie

You are welcome.  Hopefully if you do get an answer from someone at Ebay, they will understand their own rule.  Over the years I've seen when you have gotten responses that are, shall I say, less than correct.  LOL

by: iheartjacksparrow

Have to agree that two days is somewhat quick to file for an unpaid item. When I was selling on eBay, I'd wait a week before I would file. Personally, I've always paid immediately, except for the few times that I didn't realize I'd won an auction.

by: Rexford

The same buyers who are in no hurry to pay wonder where their package is when they finally do pay.

I like what feelingfroggy said--pay now or go elsewhere.  This ain't the Mercantile on Little House on the Prairie.

by: RCL

OMG. Marie, do you work for eBay?

by: Marie

@RCL

Why would you say that?  Because I understand the rule / policy therefore I must work for them!??!

My job is a seller on the internet.  Ebay is one of the primary site I sell on.  I believe, as part of my job, that I need to know and understand the rules of the site in which I'm selling on.

I approach my job as an internet seller just like I did any other job I've had in my life.  It is my responsibility to know how to do my job and in this case part of that job is understanding the rules on the site in which I'm selling on.

So is it your theory that because I know the policy / rule, therefore I must work for Ebay?  

I explained the policy / rule, NOT my opinion of the policy or rule.  Just the facts as I know them to be.

Besides, if I worked for Ebay I would not have said what I did in my second post.

by: Truk

Anyone really surprised at this point

eBay continues it's tirade against it's own customers no other business treats customers this way

by: Marie

@truk

You appear to be blaming Ebay for something they did not do wrong.  The OP just misunderstands how it has ALWAYS worked.  I gave a full explanation above.

by: shesnotthere

@Marie - I don't have combined shipping set up and I haven't changed anything in my settings.

by: Marie

@shesnotthere

You may want to verify that in your site preferences.  I just played with mine a little and if I put in that I'll combine up to 7 days, then the UIAs lowest amount of days to open a UID is 8 days.  But when I changed my combined shipping to 3 days and then went into the set up for the UIA I could select 4 days for opening a UID.

by: Biglouis

I agree with the posters who said 2 days is a very short time. I have several IDs on Ebay and purchase from outside the USA (although I do have a US shipping address). I use a snipe service and it can be 8 - 10 hours before I find that I have won something. I usually pay within 24 hours. Occasionally there have been times when I was away from the computer which stretched payment to 2/3 days. We are not all wedded to smart phones and able to check the internet every 5 minutes. And I dont access payment processers by public wifi.

by: Surplus

No 48 hours is not unreasonable to expect payment or contact about when I should expect to get paid.  Let me know what is going on I'll work with you, keep me in the dark I am going to assume you won't or can't pay.  I've been doing Ebay for 13 years and my experience tells that that if you have not paid within 48 hours 90% of the time you will never pay.  Buyers who fail to pay are added to our banned buyer list no questions asked.  I've even had a couple of buyers email me later wondering why they couldn't buy more stuff from me after the ban.  Its real simple No PAY = Bad Business.  I have way too many good customers to fool around with the 1% non paying losers.  As I've always said there are 2-3% of your customers in retail you don't want.  The quicker you identify who they are and get rid of them the better life is going to be.  

by: Rexford

If all bids and buys were backed up with buyers' credit cards eBay could accept payment immediately.  Why they refuse to implement this is beyond me.

I do agree with what Surplus just stated--many buyers who don't pay within 48 hours never pay.  

by: RedSqrl

I agree with the sentiment that people who don't pay in a few days won't pay.  I would get about 2 or 3 a month who don't pay in a timely manner, and maybe 1 of them eventually pays.  Some buyers don't take the whole "agreement to buy" thing seriously.  It costs me money and time to run the listing all over again and wait.  

I do think there's room for improvement in how combined shipping is done on ebay.  

by: shesnotthere

@ Marie

You are right. Once again, I got bad info from an eBay rep. Somehow my preferences got changed to have combined shipping. When I edited it to turn off combined shipping I was then able to go into Unpaid Item Assistant and change it back to 2 days.

eBay should pay you to train their customer service reps.  

by: VV

This is why I don't do auctions.  Fully half go unpaid.  If you can't/don't pay why should my inventory be held up?  

by: Golddustwoman

I totally disagree with Tinker Belle. eBay is the only online company I know that lets buyer's take days to pay for something.  It's ridiculous!  If a buyer can't pay, then don't bid -- it's that simple.  Tinker Belle might like her product & money all tied up in eBay's UIA system, but I do not.

As for me, I don't have any unpaid item problems because I list all my items as Buy it Now with immediate payment -- just like the big, professional businesses.