posted on November 5, 2005 09:48:36 AM
This is just to vent a bit.
Last weekend my two best auctions, a set of books on Saturday around 6pm sold for $108 and on Sunday around 5pm a rare book sold for $112. Saturday bidder brand new, 0 feedback. Sunday bidder had 459 feedback, 100%
But here 5 & 6 days after auctions ended, NOTHING!
No payment, no response to reminder invoice, no response to 2 e-mails sent to both bidders politely requesting at least some kind of confirmation of their bids.
On my higher-end items, nothing like this has happened for over 3 years, they are usually the first to pay, and I have not had a deadbeat over $50 in value for several years.
And I just put a $5,000 remanufactured engine into my van! Arghhh, just waiting now for the 7 days to elapse so I can get going on the non-paying bidder process through eBay.
posted on November 5, 2005 09:53:19 AM
Consider second change offers. You may salvage something. This time of year lots of strange bidders out there that are gone rest of year. Good luck... David
posted on November 5, 2005 10:06:04 AM
David, that's a good suggestion, but on these particular ones I favor re-listing and possibly achieving even better results.
Coincidentally on the same Saturday I had an $11.75 book sale, winning bidder e-mailed 15 minutes after auction ended with this dumb-ass statement, quote: my husband is screaming and swearing at me about buying the book, i cant buy it
After a couple of back-and-forth e-mails and more of the same, plus insults from this idiot, I made a 2nd chance offer to the underbidder, who was from UK, they accepted quickly, paid by Paypal, and book was shipped to them two days after auction ended!
At this point with these other folks though, I don't feel I can ethically offer it to someone else, as I don't know whether their payment has been sent or not ~ they have my land-address info with the invoice I sent, and payments could possibly (though I doubt it) be on their way, so until I go through the non-payment dispute process, I'm kind of stuck.
posted on November 5, 2005 10:34:54 AM
This is not meant to be snippy.
But...
If your peace of mind or fiscal integrity is endangered by two sales that don't complete in an optimum manner, you're probably not selling enough.
You need a cash flow that is as consistent as possible. Otherwise you get yanked around by the whims and vicissitudes of other people. Not a good way to live.
I can't remember the last time I initiated a UPI or NPB or whatever the foo they call them these days. If someone doesn't pay after a month, I relist. Meanwhile, there's cash coming in.
fLufF
--
[ edited by fluffythewondercat on Nov 5, 2005 10:36 AM ]
posted on November 5, 2005 10:40:22 AM
Hey there Fluffy.
Thanks for the comment, don't worry I'm not testy today!
Actually things are fine, zooming along, close to 200 auctions running currently & doing nicely.
Sure the money would be helpful, that $5,000 for the engine used up my float, and I'm working to get it back now.
The annoyance is simply in the missing bidders, the silence, the annoyance of having to initiate the deadbeat process, and the time lost until re-listing and re-selling.
Ooops, gotta go, more descriptions & photos to do for tonights batch of auctions!
posted on November 5, 2005 11:09:14 AM
I average 70% to 80% sell-through consistently, and have for 7 years now.
This week I'm just over 50% so far, but the auctions are staggered with about 20-30 per day, so there's lots of time yet, bids going along nicely & numerous watchers.
As always, there will be some pleasant surprises and some disappointments.
posted on November 5, 2005 12:32:38 PM
Buyer could be across the country paying with a money order. If that's the case, 6 days seems a minimal amount of time to expect payment.
If you are worried, file NPB after 10 days and/or offer 2nd chance offer if you don't hear from the buyer.
posted on November 5, 2005 12:40:49 PM
It's not the length of paying time, that's really not the problem, it's the absolute lack of contact either from these bidders or in response to the invoices & e-mails sent, and that's the part that is unusually long, in my experience. Almost always, like 99.9% of the time, the bidder will at least send a brief note that payment is being sent, or something, with these ones it's like they vanished from the face of the earth.
posted on November 5, 2005 02:14:29 PM
Things happen... spam filters, business trip, illness, etc. I send a reminder (automatically) after some number of days (5 I think), but I don't really sweat it until 10 days or so have gone by, send another pointed reminder, and then after a couple of days a UPI action (the timing varies a bit based on what the item and their feedback is).
I'd have a coronary, or at least a Xanax abuse problem, if I worried about somebody being AWOL for 5 days.
posted on November 5, 2005 03:01:59 PM
Why not consider calling them. I have done it several times, and found that computers were down, buyer was sick or other reasons. That has usually brought a response.
posted on November 5, 2005 03:23:04 PM
For what it is worth, when I was selling heavy, I sent an invoice, waited three weeks, sent an email waited 2 days and then filed for listing fees back from Ebay which nearly always got results.
Don't forget to block any bidder that you think is a dead beat or don't want to deal with. Bidder block is one of the best Ebay tools for sellers....David
posted on November 5, 2005 05:07:24 PM
Upriver...I understand completely what you mean. It is not the cash flow, it is the unsettling effect of the no replies. I had 2 bidders on 4 different sets of whatchamagadgets. Each emailed me daily asking the questions the TOS already covered (combine shipping?, pay in 7 days, etc.). I have a total of 14 emails from one of them over a 7 day listing and 10 from the other.I thought someone was playing a joke, but checked it out and not the case. Each wins a couple auctions. I sent the invoice with combined shipping to each 9 days ago. Do you think I have heard squat from either since? I'm not sure what planet the space craft was from that came and zapped them up, but I bet your buyer's were on the same route. Good luck to you.
