What are the general guidelines for a buyer contacting a seller on ebay? I sold something 3 days ago and sent?

Question

an invoice the first day. It's now 3 days later and I've heard nothing from the buyer, so I sent an e-mail requesting contact.

What are Ebay's policies or guidelines on when payment should be made by and if I should start to worry that this guy hasn't contacted me.

He was a sniper, and had he been a regular bidder I would have canceled his bid because of his f/b. Unfortunately, he bid at the last second, literally, so I got stuck with him as winner.

Thanks.

And to the person who told me to "read Ebay's policies and guidelines" - oh, durr, do I really need to do that? How about I come here and ask people more familiar with it rather than spending 20 minutes searching through a bunch of unrelated topics before I find it? Because that's about where I was headed when I started with Ebay and ended up deciding to come here first. Lord, if you don't have anything constructive to add, why not just shutup?

Answer 1

1) You should try calling the buyer during business hours. If you cannot reach him, you should leave a message with auction number. Do not threaten, just say that you haven't received the payment, you are concerned and would like tracking information so you can work together. If he/she thinks you are working collaboratively to solve the problem, he/she is much more likely to work with you.

2) You can file a report with eBay. This would be an unpaid item dispute, and you must wait 7 days frmo the auction CLOSE to file this report. Here is a link to do so:
http://rebulk.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?CreateDispute

3) You should continue to contact the buyer by email. You should use BOTH their direct email, but also email them through the eBay email system.

4) You should not leave feedback until you have exhausted all possibilities to avoid the seller taking an action out of spite. You may, however, wish to view their feedback and see if the current situation is consistent with the buyers's feedback; this may give you a sense as to whether this may all be a misunderstanding.

5) Once you submit an unpaid item strike, eBay will attempt to confirm to contact the buyer to hear their side of the story. eBay can then decide to issue a strike against the buyer. After three (3) strikes the buyer will become suspended from eBay, also known as Not A Registered User (NARU). You will also become eligible to re-list the item for free (though if it does not sell, you will have to pay BOTH listing fees!!). The policy for this is located here:
http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/questions/free-relist.html

6) Perhaps MOST IMPORTANTLY: There are services that can give you additional options against non-paying bidders. One such service is ReliaBid. They offer protection agaist unpaid items and give you tools that do much more than an unpaid item stirke, including debt collection. I use this service in my auctions and it has has a very positive impact.
http://www.reliabid.com/

Answer 2

Normally you are supposed to give him at least a week. If he doesnt respond in a week or does not pay, then go ahead and send a complaint to ebay. Ebay will investigate and they will try contacting him themselves. If nothing happens, then ebay will credit you your sellers fees and you can repost your item. From the day the auction ended, it usually takes as long as 3 weeks for ebay to finally give you your credit, so it is a major pain in the butt. But at least you get your fees back.

Also, the buyer will get flagged and ebay will send an alert to the buyer telling him that he has been reported and has been flagged. If he does this consistently, ebay has the right to suspend his account.

Answer 3

Weird problem to have man.. wonder what happened to the guy, got my mind racing lol. I'd contact him as much as possible and write down when you tried, also could try writing him a letter if you have his address saying how long it's been and you need rid of it, say if you don't reply by whatever date then you are agreeing to me reselling the bike and not refunding you the balance paid due to the amount of time you've had to store the bike and the value that has been lost in terms of the mot and tax etc. I think that would be a reasonable thing to do considering how long you've kept it for him despite no contact.

Answer 4

if you go to eBay they should have a FAQ about the policies...as for your problem...its really up to you, if an item is sold and you have notified the buyer then YOU are the one who has to set the amount of time they have to respond...if you have already done this then you need to contact eBay again, letting them know the details and then leave NEGATIVE feedback on the buyer

Answer 5

I've read this somewhere on Ebay...go to
"help" ...in the search field type in "report nonpaying bidder"......there should be all the info you need. It will tell you the procedure.

Answer 6

Read Ebay's policies and guidelines