posted on December 6, 2000 02:08:28 PM
I wirite seller end of acution and wbn e mails but never get a response. auction ended 11/14/00 i get an e mail 12/05/00 from the buyer something like this:
> I am greatly sorry to inconvinence you however I am
> currently unable to buy your product: day of the
> tentacle. I hope you will accept my apology. If
> you have any concerns, please feel free to e-mail me
> at any time.
I fell free to e mail him and write him back:
No I can not accept this at this time, e-bay is a
serious auctioning place and when you bid on an item
you become under a legally binding contract to buy
that item. I highly suggest for you to reconsider you
buying/ not buying this item. If you did not know this
it costs me money to sell items on e bay it also costs
my time. If you decide not to pay I will most
certainly file for charges that I have undertaken or
will undertake because of you. I hope you reconsider
thirteen dollars is not a lot of money.
Then I get an e mail back from him:
Dear Seller,
Is there a certain deadline that I should meet in sending my money?
I wirte back;
Yes you have greatley exceded it but i am willing to get a second chance.
By the way I waited this long and didn't file a npb report because I simply did not have the time to spare. Any way this whole deal greatly anyoed me. Any tips?
Zapped101
P.S. I seem to attract bad bidders got one who didn't pay or write e mails for 20 days this one got one who won't leave feedback pos nor neg. I don't know is it me and can i stop it? I have had 2 good bidders in my e bay selling carrer so far is that good?
P.S.S Sorry for any spelling errors. And sorry if this post happens to be long.
P.S.S.S. I was wondering for the free list day will they also refund your final % of what the item sold for and is that auction mannager pro that I have to dowload to get this day free or not?
posted on December 6, 2000 03:55:30 PM
I think you need to sit back and decide how you will deal with situations like this BEFORE they arise. That's called "making a business plan".
I see a lot of complaints about how much of a pain in the neck it is to develop a working TOS, but this is a prime example of what happens when you don't.
Decide how long your cash-flow allows you to wait to recoup your investment, and set your payment schedule and policies accordingly. You may not have filed an NPB because you "simply did not have the time to spare", but you're wasting your own time (and therefore money) by not following up on deals, contacting potential deadbeats, and relisting and recouping your costs in a timely manner. If you do that, you won't have to worry so much about free listing days.
posted on December 6, 2000 04:04:43 PM
I have to agree with HCQ. The time to set your policies is before you need them. Before I started selling seriously on Ebay, I spent some time on the discussion boards, figured out what the potential problems were and what constituted good customer service while not allowing the bad eggs to take advantage. I am probably fairly lenient, but if I haven't had a response to the WBN within 3 business days, I send a 2nd notice from two email addresses. If that gets no response, or payment hasn't been received by about 2 weeks after auction close, I send a "we haven't received payment yet" notice. If that doesn't get the $$$ within a week or so, I file the NPB (which is really just another friendly reminder). In all but ONE case where I've filed the NPB, I've had to file for FVF credit as well. Don't waste so much time waiting on these people--it just encourages them to be lax. Set a policy for your own benefit that you can work with and follow it.
posted on December 6, 2000 07:04:58 PM
I often see emails here in which sellers contact buyers an mention NPB and FVF and EOA, or other such terms. Chances are these buyers have absolutely no idea what you are talking about....
posted on December 6, 2000 11:14:14 PMzapped101I see no critisism here, just good solid advice. Read the posts again with an open mind. The posters are trying to help you.
posted on December 6, 2000 11:46:25 PM
I"LL HELP YOU ZAP.
Email the deadbeat and tell him, "Hey buddy, next time don't bid on an auction if you can't afford to pay for it ! You are banned from bidding on any of my current or future auctions ! I am filing for a Final value fee from ebay and I am going to leave you a NEGATIVE feedback !!!!"
Then follow up with, "P.S. - It is people like you that make ebay harder for the honest users"
Then, "P.S.S. - After 3 of these Non Paying Bidder Alerts you will get suspended from ebay"
Here's what I do.
1. EOA notice as soon as I can send it
2. NPB alert 7 days later if they haven't responded. 10 days later if the money isn't received.
3. File for FVF credit ten days later if the payment isn't in my eager little mitts.
Very rarely do I hear anything after this from a true deadbeat. I schedule a neg accordingly.
You need to do this consistently. It's part of being a good seller. Make the time.
posted on December 8, 2000 05:22:58 AM
Zapped, I know how you feel, I'm dealing with two deadbeats right now (2 different auctions) and it's a major pain! In both cases I got "the check is in the mail" emails from them but of course it wasn't.
So now I've adopted a policy of requiring payment within 14 days of the end of the auction and I've added a line to my auctions stating that. After 14 days that's it, I file NPB and ultimately relist the item (or offer to 2nd highest bidder). I've had too many of these lately and am out $$.
posted on December 8, 2000 06:12:46 AM
...on the other hand, since November I've had a few folks who've paid me later than I normally like, but since I haven't had enough time to do more than send friendly followup emails, they think I'm the soul of patience. Well, I got paid. Racked up more positive FB. Sometimes they do come through, and considering how frantic everyone is this time of year, patience isn't such a bad thing.
HCQ is right though, you need to at least have a plan of what you would do if you had the time to follow through!
posted on December 8, 2000 12:52:45 PM
The last time I posted, you all got real mad at me, so I have kept my mouth shut and read for my own enlightment. This problem forced me out in the open again, however.
PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM GIVING YOU INFORMATION THAT WAS GIVEN TO ME. DO NOT JUMP DOWN MY THROAT BECAUSE OF WHAT MY CUSTOMER SAID. i AM ONLY TELLING YOU SO YOU MIGHT THINK ABOUT IT. OK?
I have a fine customer who has purchased a number of my collectables items. We have built up a correspondence and recently, she wrote this, in response to a comment I made about looking at one of the Power Sellers auctions that had what I did not have for her. The following IS WHAT SHE SAID NOT ME.
I have found that a lot of these Power Sellers have a TOS that sounds as if I am a crook and they have to protect themselves from my evil ways. Since I am not a crook, justin, I have decided to awoid those pople and deal with little sellers like you. You state your charges, and give good service but don't act like you think the bidders are looking to cheat you.
Now I don't really care if you guys make half page long TOS on your pages, but I just wondered howmany other bidders are going to get the same impression by bidder did?
And now I will duck while you all tell me how awful I am
posted on December 8, 2000 02:45:50 PM
This isn't about rambling, threatening TOS.
It's about spending some time thinking about how you want to run your business, how to solve problems BEFORE they occur, and how to communicate to your customers (a) what you expect from them and, at least as important, (b) what they can expect from you, so that when the s* hits the fan, you as a seller aren't scrambling for ideas and have an irate customer saying "hey, YOU didn't set the rules, so here's what we'll do".
If having a business plan is going to scare away customers, I guess biz schools are going to have to rewrite their textbooks.
