Ebay seller question, have you ever shipped to someone who didn't pay ?

Question

I sell a bit on ebay, but try to be very cautious about "hackers". I had an item up for auction, highest bidder won, I used to wait to send invoice for 24 hours to see if they are bidding on other items. I got lost in one transaction, went to the ebay site, not paypal, and clicked on make shipping label, and made it, and then thought ??? I don't remember receiving payment for this ?? ANd I hadn't. So, beware of using make shipping label from ebay. Make sure you have received payment or maybe all of you are more alert than I am. I am hoping some of you will give me feedback on "loopholes" to watch for when I'm selling. I have reverted to immediate payment, but in order to do this, I have to make a buy it now, and I don't like that. Any advice, suggestions, telling me I'm dumb :) just don't use foul language, OK :)

for those of you who have been there done that, tell me how to avoid those loopholes

Answer 1

For all buyers who have paid with PayPal, I always go straight to the main PayPal site and log into my account. It's very easy, you will never see a payment there if they haven't paid. I click on the "details" link in their line and look over the payment carefully. I give my buyers the option to subtract their own shipping discount if they already know what it's going to be ... so I always have to watch for people giving themselves discounts they shouldn't have. You can disable that feature if you haven't already. I check for notes (some people will leave messages with their payment) and I always print a packing slip for every customer from the PayPal site. Once I've printed them out, I go and match it up to eBay's list of people who have paid and are awaiting shipment. eBay sometimes goofs and doesn't mark them paid. I match them up by zip code instead of the title in case I have duplicate items so I don't get confused.

When I print the shipping label I will do the same thing as before, log into PayPal from the main site.

And I just remember the last person I printed a packing slip for, so the next day I just pick up after that name. If you have trouble remembering, just make a note of it.

I know they give you so many ways to do the same thing it can get confusing. So just remember this. There are only two places to look for payments, in PayPal and in your mail if you accept other forms of payment. If you don't have money from someone in one of those two places, then they haven't paid you :o)

Another thing ... you shouldn't have to hover after a customer has made a purchase to see if they're going to make another one. Make up a form letter and store it somewhere ... one that tells them that they need to let you know when they're done shopping, after which you will invoice them. I am subscribed to a program through eBay (Selling Manager Pro) through eBay which sends this email out automatically on my behalf after every purchase ... but if you don't sell a lot it would be better for you to use your own form and send it manually.

Good Luck!

Answer 2

You'll lose sales if you use immediate payments only. You can simply use the My eBay section to easily see if someone's paid by Paypal.

Answer 3

Most sellers wait until they receive payment, and that the check has cleared, before shipping.

Answer 4

Been there, done that... You learn from experience as we all do... Best of luck with your future endeavors.