eBay Resets the Clock on Deadbeat Buyers

by: GetAGrip

Why would you wait 2 - 3 weeks to resend and invoice. Wait the four days and cancel the item. Deadbeat buyers aren't going to pay after 4 days. What ebay should do is toss them off of the site.
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by: ebayout

Ditto...4 is the magic number. Doesn't ebay even auto-cancel after 4 days?
You haven't been charged fees...move on.

by: Marie

Sadly this is something I learn recently too.  Sending an invoice, even a reminder invoice will reset the non payment clock.  So you have to wait another 96 hours from the time you sent the new invoice.  

But I'm with the others, you are waiting far too long to cancel the transaction for non payment and move on.  You also need to keep in mind that you are running dangerously close to the 30 day mark if you wait 3+ weeks.  After 30 days you CAN't Cancel it for non payment.

by: Weirdbooks

I send a reminder via messaging if the auction is unpaid longer than 24 hours.

90% of buyers who don't pay within 24 hours NEVER pay.  

I also stopped Local Pickup as a shipping option (though buyers can request that via messaging).  Over 50% of my Local Pickup sales were never picked up, and those buyers ignored all messages.  It was a Youtube ''Hack'' to get free shipping apparently, as some sellers will ship at their own expense when local pick-up buyers have ''trouble'' picking up the item.

As for canceling for unpaid orders: 4 Days.  That is when eBay considers the auction/sale as unpaid:

''sometimes you might find yourself in a situation where the buyer hasn’t yet paid for the item they bought.

If that happens, you can cancel the order after 4 or more calendar days. If the listing was a single quantity, Buy It Now item, it will be relisted automatically unless you choose not to relist.''

by: Marie

@Weirdbooks

"you can cancel the order after 4 or more calendar days."

It is not calendar days, it is fiscal days.  A seller can file for a Cancelation for non payment 96 hours and one minute after the buyer purchased the item.  So for example a buyer purchases something on Sunday at 1:00 PM.  If they do not pay by Thursday at 1:01 PM, you can file for the cancellation due to non payment.

The only exception to this is if you actually send an invoice to the buyer.  This action causes the 96 hour clock to restart from the time the invoice was sent.

by: Ronn

In my terms, I note that winning auctions should be paid no later than (7) days after the auction ends. As others have pointed out, usually within a day or two the auctions are paid. In one case, a repeat customer paid (8) days later. As Weirdbooks noted, they add (4) extra days beyond the 4 day cancel level. That seems about right.

by: Marie

"As Weirdbooks noted, they add (4) extra days beyond the 4 day cancel level. That seems about right."

That is ONLY if you send the buyer an invoice.  Sending a buyer an invoice on day 4 will extend the time the seller has to wait to cancel the transaction for non payment by another 4 days.

But if you DON'T send the invoice, you can file the cancellation for non payment 96 hours and 1 minute after the buyer makes the purchase.

by: ebayout

I'll wait til day 2 and send a gentle reminder...
"Thanks for bidding. Looking forward to payment."

by: Weirdbooks

@Marie

I was quoting eBay Help files.  So eBay's Help files are wrong then I suppose.

While it may differ in practice (fiscal vs calendar) I have not noticed such in actual application when cancelling.

by: Marie

@Weirdbooks

You are correct, they often don't word things in the best way.  I've been trying to get them to change the way this policy reads, but that is always a very hard road to go.  They are correct that it is 4 days, it is just not 4 calendar days, it is 4 fiscal days which makes a difference.

IDK what you may or may not have tried.  For me, I've cancelled in 96 hours and a few minutes each time I have filed for a cancellation due to a non payer.  I do however do mine manually, I do not have my account set up to automatically file them at a certain point.

by: Old School Seller

I give an auction buyer 7 days to pay, sending an invoice EVERY morning.  If still unpaid on morning 8 I cancel the sale. I don't recall ever getting a notice that I have to wait an additional 4 days from last invoice to cancel.

by: pace306

In 2023, NONE of this should be needed - except if you sell on the worlds dumbest selling channel aka the crooks from San Jose.

Do ANYTHING to try and keep the sale alive and screw the seller.

MAYBE the seller can/could sell that item to someone else - but no, lets play the waiting game and watch as it drags out/resets.

Someone wake Sleeping Griff up and let him know his free meal ticket is broken.

by: Snapped

“ You haven't been charged fees...”

There’s a ‘phenomenon’ that regular auction sellers may be aware of that those who only use them sporadically may be unaware of.  It can be thought of as a presumption of ownership a given bidder may develop once they’ve committed to making a bid, and then another, and another, as others may also start to feel.  This is why many bidders wind up bidding higher than they may have originally intended, (I’m not losing this for just another $5..), to the point of bypassing a ‘similar’ BIN listing they could have bought cheaper.  It’s the ammo that arms a bidding war.

Until it’s not paid for.  

When that listing finally ‘sells’ - after resisting, indexing, and who knows what other impacts  - and if it sells - it will likely be for less.  Those first round bidders are long gone.  Others who happen to return wonder what is ‘wrong’ with the gizmo now.  A ‘second chance’ bemoans bidding so high based on the ‘alleged’ deadbeat.  Who’s free to sport fish the next guy now.

No fees perhaps.  Plenty of ‘loss’ to make up for that though.

by: BackOff

The only thing worse than a deadbeat buyer; the buyer who sends an offer, accepts my counteroffer, pays for the item and then tells me to cancel the order a day later.

Most likely the recent case I experienced was an Amazon reseller, since the buyer name and ship to name/address didn't match and it said "No invoice" in the ship to address.

Anyone else dealing with these types?

by: BackOff

In my experience, 99% of bidders / buyers who don't pay within 7 days, will never pay. Let the item get automatically cancelled after 4 days, so the buyer gets a non-paying defect. It helps other sellers avoid these problem makers when we block these problem makers in our settings.

by: Chicago48

I will send an invoice offering the buyer the option to cancel the purchase.  Giving them 24 hours.  If not paid, I will cancel it "buyer cancelled" and then relist free.
This is usually a 7 day wait.  If the buyer hasn't paid by day 3 or 4, they don't want it, so give them the option to cancel.

by: CT Bay

You asked me to cancel when you didn’t pay. I decide how long a “buyer” has to pay. Non-payers are only a days long problem if you allow them to be.

by: Marie

@Chicago48

Those are two different types of cancellation.  A buyer requested cancellation has no negative impact on the stats of their buying account.  But a Cancellation for non payment does and it is helpful for others sellers to avoid this buyer if they do it a second time, via site preferences with buyer requirements.

by: Andy

Some points to clarify: Buyers do have a full four days (96 hours) from end of auction within which to pay. After that time period, you can cancel the sale manually with the reason of Buyer Did Not Pay. That reason is not offered to you before 96 hours have elapsed. Once 96 hours have gone by, the sale can be cancelled as Unpaid, and the deadbeat will get an Unpaid slap on his account. Two or more of those and he can be blocked from future purchases by sellers who have their Buyer Requirements set properly.

You can set your Preferences to have this done automatically for you. You can pick a payment window from 4 days to 30 days, though I don't see any reason to go longer than you have to.

https://www.ebay.com/Cancel/Preference/UnpaidPurchase
R>If you do not have automatic cancellations set up, sending an invoice will reset the clock. Automatic cancellations will not.

More to the point: Unless you're actually changing the amount due for some reason (e.g. combined shipment with discounted Shipping charges), there is no need to send your own invoices, as eBay generates plenty of notices to the buyer, especially at the two-day mark.

Also note that sending an invoice locks in the Shipping charge to be that required to send to the buyer's eBay address. If you are offering Calculated Shipping (where the buyer is billed for the costs of sending to his desired Ship To: address) and the buyer is planning to send the item elsewhere, don't invoice the buyer yourself, as you will then be on the hook for any additional postage required to get it somewhere else. Calculated Shipping cannot operate if you have locked in the amount due by sending an invoice before the buyer has selected his shipping destination.

So I would recommend setting Buyer Preferences to whatever settings will work for you (I use 4 days maximum, and screen deadbeats with 2 or more Unpaids within the past 12 months), and it will take off a lot of the strain of dealing with deadbeats. Let eBay do it for you.

by: ebayout

“ You haven't been charged fees...”
There's "what is", and "what might have been" and "what might be".
I'll take "what is" to the bank.