posted on October 25, 2000 11:04:08 AM
as you might know, i'm new to this. your advice would be greatly appreciated. at least 2/3 of my buyers have been paying late, with excuses galore, when asking advice here previously, the majority advised to give them a "little more time" the mail might be slow, there was a legal holiday, etc...but i just don't want the hassles anymore...NO MORE BABYSITTING...as another poster here said. it's just too time consuming, and i AM doing this for money! it should not take over two weeks to receive payment, i should not have to repeatedly email after 3 days auction end and no response from bidder, etc. i want to adhere to the "payment within 10 days policy". of course, i would make exceptions if it seemed warranted. current scenario. auction ends-i send winning bidder notification, three days elapse, no response from bidder, i email bidder, an apologetic email is returned stating will be paying by money order. now its 11 days later, i email her letting her know that as no payment was received i will be filing for FVF and leaving negative feedback, and if payment was sent please notify me when, and that if it seems this can be resolved i will not have to take action. she emails a blunt response-no salutation, just: "i sent it last week" no signature. i email back-could you be more specific, should i keep waiting or assume its been lost or stolen, she emails back bluntly again, "i don't remember exactly, approximately the day after i emailed you with shipping info, a stolen money order doesn't seem likely"..SO-i checked my records. she would have mailed it around the 18...that means 6-7 days ago. do you think it would take a week for something to be sent from east to west coast?should i ask her to fax or send a copy of the money order. she seems way too blase about the whole affair, and not the least forthcoming in resolving the situation.
posted on October 25, 2000 11:09:34 AM
It could very well take that long, but, in the case you are talking about, it seems more likely that you have met a deadbeat
posted on October 25, 2000 01:45:23 PM
I have had a number of non-paying bidders. I will be truthful. The only effective strategy that has ever worked for me was after three weeks I ask eBay for a return of my final value fee and they send out their notorious letter. When my buyer comlains, I simply say I must protect myself, no insult intended. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but at least I don't run into the eBay hassle of sorry you are too late, no refund of final value fee.
posted on October 25, 2000 01:55:27 PM
I posted a thread here earlier about my first NPB, with an update when I found that she'd responded to my negative feedback with "Sellers have been contacted to resolve the problem". (I responded that there'd been no contact even after the NPB.) Well, last night I got a very whiny email about the fact that she HAD emailed me about her "computer problems, and how payment had probably been missed, what with going on vacation and the computer being fried on my return". Oh yeah....she did email me...the day AFTER I filed for FVF credit. Funny how her 'puter JUST HAPPENED to get fixed that day..... Just do what ya have to do. In this case, I'd suggest that she email you a scan of the receipt or snail mail a photocopy, and if you don't have one or the other in your possession by a specific deadline, then you will file an NPB alert. You still have to wait another 10 days to file for FVF credit after that. If you do get a copy of a receipt that verifies the dates she's given you, then strongly recommend that she have the MO traced or stop payment on it and get another, as it really is lost. Last time I told a bidder who said "I already paid you" to submit a copy of his cancelled check, I got his check in the mail--3 days after I filed the NPB. Didn't do a thing for his credibility.
always pickersangel everywhere
[ edited by pickersangel on Oct 25, 2000 01:57 PM ]
posted on October 25, 2000 02:12:33 PM
I'm the one who said No More Babysitting.
Here's the Drill
EOA when auction closes--if you send them promptly it indicates you run a tight ship and that prompts faster payment.
7 days after auction closes file an NPB alert for anyone who didn't respond. I ask them to email me with their address in my EOA, so the NPB alert is needed at that point.
10-14 days after auction closes I file an NPB alert for those who responded but haven't paid.
Ten more days and file for FVF credit on anyone who hasn't paid.
This is a strict no-nag approach. If they won't respond to an NPB, they can deal with eBay.
You mentioned mail times...it can take up to 14 days or so to get a piece of mail, however most of the time it only takes about 7-10 days. If you NPB on day 10, that still leaves 10 days to mail a payment. You can always cut the bidder some slack after you file the alert in case the mail is delayed, but I wouldn't ever wait beyond two weeks.
I probably save a half-hour or more a week by not nagging bidders. It's a pleasure not to get into that anymore.
posted on October 25, 2000 06:43:38 PM
Well it looks like I have my first NPB also.
Auction ended: 10/16
Sent out Winning Bidder Notification: 10/16
Re-sent Winning Bidder Notification because the first one was deleted: 10/18
Received a reply on 10/18 promising payment via PayPal "tomorrow" which would be 10/19.
Sent a reminder e-mail on 10/21.
It's now 10/25 and no response and no payment. Using the 10 days from the end of the auction method, it looks like I'll be filing an NPB tomorrow.
posted on October 25, 2000 07:02:52 PM
Anyone who has been promised paypal payments but no notice from paypal after an hour or so should write to the buyer and let them know .
last week alone I had several buyers sending payment to a wrong miss typed address really delays thing big time if its a frist time paypal mistake.
WWW.dman-n-company.com
posted on October 25, 2000 07:24:33 PM
Depending on the "total Dollar amount" most of the time I just relist and hope that the next winner may bid to make up the difference...actually had one "excuse" of being in jail....
DMAN3...as for PayPal, I wish I could put my name on the "bucket" that they have filling up with ALL the mis-typed addresses. The buyers account is deducted, but no-one seems to know where the money goes until someone questions it!!!
posted on October 25, 2000 08:15:47 PM
Lisa - in your case, I think you are jumping the gun. I know I will not be popular with some of the AW regulars when I say that demanding that payment be in your hands 10 days after the auction closes is unrealistic. OTOH, 3 or 4 weeks later IS a problem. If I were you, I'd wait another week or so ... may avoid some nasty comments
posted on October 25, 2000 09:14:28 PM
I sell a small $5.00 item. In my terms of service, I give a very liberal 14 days to pay. I send out the EOA notice with 24 hours which includes my mailing address. If no contact is made, I send out a second in after three days. Then I wait for the 14th day. If the payment hasn't arrived in the mail on the 14th day, I send them a very strongly worded email reminding them of the obligation to pay for the item and their payment MUST arrive in 10 days. In this email, I include a link to their auction, and a link to the ebay nonpay bidder alert page.
Also, along with the strong email, I notify Safeharbor about the potential non-payment. Of course the bidder dislike being turned into ebay, and when they receive the email from ebay, it causes them to respond. If the payment doesn't arrive in the FINAL TEN DAYS, they recieve negitive from me. I get the FVF and they get nothing. This heavy handed approach seems to work for me. I like to invest trust in people, but as soon as I do, the clock start ticking. I too, suscribe to the motto of NO BABYSITTING!, because I have become very tired of it.
I used to work for an older man who was a very conservitive business man. If some went wrong and you tried to explain what happened, he would always respond with, "guess what, I'm not interested in your excuses".
So guess whay ebay bidders, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN YOUR EXCUSES!
posted on October 25, 2000 09:16:46 PM
If the payment was going to be coming via snail mail, I probably would give him more than 10 days. The thing is that this is supposed to be a PayPal payment and it was promised to me almost a week ago. I'll probably give it a few more days though just in case, because sometimes things REALLY do come up.
Even if I were to jump the gun and file the NPB, he would still have an additional 10 days to pay me. Personally I think 20 days is PLENTY of time to make a PayPal payment.
posted on October 25, 2000 11:01:47 PM
I understand about the PayPal payment. I have a email address that requires a lower case letter followed by numbers and sometimes they use the upper case and so therefore I don't get paid. When someone writes me and tells me they are going to pay me by PalPal I write back telling them about the address and becareful when you type it and then I explain why I told them that. Now, I have no problems.
posted on October 26, 2000 06:59:21 AM
You would be surprised at how fast you get a response once the NPB is filed. I once had someone reply with a "that wasn't very nice, I was going to leave you positive feedback but not now. Payment went out today"
This was 35 days after the auction and he still had not sent payment. At that point I tell them they have to use an instant payment system such as bidpay or the item is relisted and they get a neg. If they give you a neg so be it, but most ebayers can look at a feeback rating and tell if the negs you have were deserved or not.
Give them NPB the negs they deserve, they waste your time, cost you money in listing fees and you lose business from the honest ebayer that would have paid you on time. Another thing, you may want to start limiting who can bid on your auctions. eg. no bids from 0 or neg ratings, sunglasses, excessive neg. feedback (especially for non paying).
posted on October 26, 2000 07:24:17 AM
One thing I do about the slow mail payment is to send an email pointing out that it hadn't arrived, then say that if they have to send a second check or money order, I will either return or destroy any duplicates. So far I have never had a duplicate payment show up. Either the transaction ends in no-payment and a negative, or the ONE payment finally shows up.
Several times the buyer has suddenly "found the envelope in the car".
Every time I leave a negative I worry about a retaliation. One guy strongly hinted I would get one. So far, so good. But in most cases for me it seems like 4-6 weeks have gone buy, and that's pretty generous, I think.
posted on October 26, 2000 10:06:02 PM
UPDATE: she paid! via paypal, at my suggestion. now, for the feedback! what to say? she was only 3 days late...incidentally, i received a payment from a buyer from the same east coast city as my "problem" bidder and it took only 3 days! mballai-thanks so much for the breakdown on how you manage your post sales-it's EXACTLY what i needed! macandjan-you may be on to something...i find that one "conservative" item that i sell often, always has consistently quick emails and payment, whereas the bidders for the more "funky" items tend to be flakes!!! yeager, and ALL you are SO wonderful and so knowledgeable, this is just the BEST board on the 'net. THANKS.
Just do what ya have to do. In this case, I'd suggest that she email you a scan of the receipt or snail mail a photocopy, and if you don't have one or the other in your possession by a specific deadline, then you will file an NPB alert. You still have to wait another 10 days to file for FVF credit after that. If you do get a copy of a receipt that verifies the dates she's given you, then strongly recommend that she have the MO traced or stop payment on it and get another, as it really is lost. Last time I told a bidder who said "I already paid you" to submit a copy of his cancelled check, I got his check in the mail--3 days after I filed the NPB. Didn't do a thing for his credibility. 