posted on December 18, 2000 06:27:20 PM
I have had my first experience with a slow winning bidder. In fact, I am still waiting... My auction closed on November 19th. I sent an e-mail within 24 hours to the winning bidder. No response. I decided to give him/her two weeks to respond. I then sent the following e-mail and still haven't received a response.
Dear [email protected]
This is my second e-mail to you regarding E-bay auction #xxxxxxx, (Item description Here). Perhaps my first e-mail was lost in the Internet shuffle. The auction officially ended on: November 19th (almost two weeks ago). Are you planning to buy the item? Please let me know via response to this e-mail, -or- you can e-mail me at home at either [email protected] -or- [email protected]. I monitor both e-mail accounts.
Your winning bid is $x.xx + $3.20 priority mail shipping (Total: $x.xx). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx. If you wish a different type of shipping, please let me know. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
posted on December 18, 2000 06:30:37 PM
You waited too long. If you do not usually get payment within 2 weeks, chances are you are not going to. Especially if you get no replies from this user.
Relist your item after Christmas and get top dollar.
posted on December 18, 2000 06:40:02 PM
lidsavr--don't forget to file a NPB (non-paying bidder)alert on the bidder as well as file for FVF (final-value fee) credit 10 days after.
posted on December 18, 2000 07:31:50 PM
You might want to file a NPB Report, then claim your FVF...that way, should you decide to NEG bidder, it will count toward the three (for same offense) required to be booted out. If no report is filed, Ebay does not seem to take NEGS too seriously. That's why so many users with mucho negatives are still around.
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posted on December 19, 2000 01:21:05 AMLidsavr, your letter sounds very professional and to the point.
Next time you might want to consider adding a deadline, something like "Due to my inventory constraints I will be forced to relist this item if I don't receive payment by Dec XX". This way you let the buyer know you are not going to wait forever, and you know when you can relist.
posted on December 19, 2000 04:08:53 AM
I send a polite "please advise of payment status" on day 11, file NPB form on day 15-20 depending on how they answered the first email, then file for credit 10 days after that.
I've been lucky, very few deadbeats in 380 or so auctions.
posted on December 19, 2000 05:31:46 AM
The NPB should get their attention if they intent to pay.
I send the EOA, a reminder in 14 days (10 business days) and then file NPB which gives them a 3rd notice and 10 more days to send payment. That should be enough time if they truly intend to purchase.
posted on December 19, 2000 06:03:31 AM
If we receive no response from the bidder...
Day Seven: Friendly Reminder
Day Ten: NPB Notice and relist (if no reply to friendly reminder)
Day Twenty: FVF Credit
If we receive a promise of payment response to our EOA notice...
We skip the friendly reminder (since they obviously know who to pay and how) and go straight to:
Day Ten: NPB Notice
Day Fifteen: Relist if no response to NPB notice. If we recieve another promise to pay, we wait until the end of the 10 day "workout" period before relisting.
Day Twenty: FVF Credit and no further contact with bidder.
We have yet to receive a payment after we relisted an item. (even the auctions we relist after 10 days)
Most bidders are very good at keeping in touch and sending payments promptly. You can almost tell when a bidder is not going to follow through. Scanning their feedback and bids will confirm it in many cases. Our goal is to get the item relisted as soon as possible when we suspect that the bidder is not going to follow through. In the event that a bidder becomes "naru'd" at any point during the process, we relist immediately.
posted on December 19, 2000 05:02:50 PM
The person finally replied to my e-mail today. He claims he doesn't have an E-bay account, that someone set him up and uses his e-mail address. He says he has been getting a lot of this lately. Sound fishy to me though. That account has 5 positives and 1 negative. The negative is for not responding to repeated e-mail requests for payment. I feel like posting a negative, but on the other hand the winning bid was for only $3.76 + priority mail shipping and doesn't feel like it's worth my time. What do you all think?
