Unpaid sale - eBay

LNametab on 12/11/2016 - 23:13
Last edited 12/11/2016 - 23:26

Sounding out the general crowd/consensus here..

I put something on eBay (basically my first time) and someone bought it. This is a $400 odd item. After 36-48 hours, and proactively chasing payment to post before the weekend, the buyer responded saying 'sorry I made a mistake pls cancel'. His 'mistake' is apparently not doing research on the product and now doesn't want it (he later admitted this). I highly suspect the buyer poached a cheaper sale, given that his username involves the 'brand name' and 'lover', I doubt he didn't know the product, or got cold feet.

He's now started trying to guilt me or spin things saying 'if you don't cancel the order now, you have to wait so you should just cancel now as it's in your interest'. He then told me that there's nothing more to do other than say sorry as he's not obligated to pay, and told me I should contact eBay to better understand my/his rights.

If he contacted ASAP, or even < 12 hours, this would have been.. not ok, but I probably would have accepted. If he gave a better reason (even if it was fake) I probably also would've been less annoyed. The later comments have pissed me off even more.

Anyway, main point is.. Do I hold it until 4 days and lodge the unpaid claim, so a mark is against his name? Or do I just cancel the order, suck it up and move on?

Poll Options expired

  • 54
    Wait and go through unpaid process
  • 18
    Accept cancellation and move on
General Discussion

Comments

  • Savas on 12/11/2016 - 23:25
    -4

    Can't you just cancel the order for him?

  • Ughhh on 12/11/2016 - 23:28
    +42

    Open unpaid buyer claim, if buyer refuses to pay or respond, he'll get a well deserved strike and you'll get your final value fees back. You can put your item up for sale while that's happening. There's more to lose for him than you.

    Don't let annoying idiot buyers like this get away

  • WaveZero on 12/11/2016 - 23:42

    If it were me, I would do the cancellation and relist it. Too much hassle, I sold a number of items for eBay (50+ items) over the years and usually the seller has the short end of the stick. One time sold an Android phone that is still in perfect working order, shipped it and then buyer said it wasn't working, the buyer wanted a full refund or partial one, even opened a dispute on Paypal which deducted about $400 off my Paypal account and made it negative. I had to force the buyer to ship back the phone before I would give a refund, as I knew it was 100% working. I contacted eBay support and they said I would have to give back a refund if the item is defective even if the listing says "NO RETURNS OR REFUND".

    The worse part is, the buyer ship the phone back using the Post Office's COD method which I had to pay money to get my phone back. So after losing about $35 or so dollars in shipping (my shipping and the COD payment) and about 3-4 weeks of my time, I was still forced to give a full refund to close the dispute. In the end, I sold that phone for dirt cheap and had a quick and easy sale.

    TL;DR
    Avoid buyers like them and don't force them to pay for items, as most likely they would screw you over in the end. If you want to sell your item quick, then don't bother disputing and relist your item. If you have time to spare, then do an unpaid dispute claim via eBay and wait.

    • Diji1 on 13/11/2016 - 00:15

      Avoid buyers like them

      Uh … how do you do that on a site where you list items and randoms make bids on it?

      • WaveZero on 13/11/2016 - 02:25

        Just have a strict Buyer Requirements and also exclude postage to international addresses, if you're only tending to sell in Australia, it would save a lot of time wasters from other countries. It usually fixes a lot of my issues.

        Another method is to cancel your listing before your listing expires if you saw a dodgy account or you're unhappy with the buyer's account via their feedback.

        • Ughhh on 13/11/2016 - 09:57

          Just have a strict Buyer Requirements

          If you let the buyer get away with just a cancellation, he won't get a buyer strike, therefore he'll get through your buyer requirements checklist.

        • Nametab on 13/11/2016 - 10:21

          @Ughhh:

          And this buyer lives 10mins from me, has 2000+ feedback and no strikes because I set requirements and he likely does takes this approach with others.

          He sniped it at BIN price in 3mins, and it's highly unlikely he didn't know the main functions of the device.

        • Ughhh on 13/11/2016 - 10:50

          @Nametab:

          What a dbag. Unfortunately sellers can't leave buyers neg feedback, so other sellers won't know to avoid him just by looking at feedback. If he keeps getting the get out of jail pass, he can keep screwing other sellers.

        • Nametab on 13/11/2016 - 10:57

          @Ughhh: that's my thinking. Part of me just wants to cancel and move on, but I really want to make sure he gets a strike.

    • Nametab on 13/11/2016 - 02:26

      I know he won't pay. The only real options are unpaid claim, or cancel.

      • StuffnStuff on 13/11/2016 - 08:51

        Regardless that eBay states its a contract to buy so they should follow through, nothing is ever done apart from a negative strike goes on their acct for non payment providing you don't cancel the sale. Here is what I do:-
        Relist the item now - You do not need to wait for the dispute to complete.
        Lodge a non payment dispute. The buyer has the option to pay, which they have clearly said they will not. After a few days the dispute is closed and you need to click on the link to confirm/agree and your seller fees will be refunded immediately.
        The buyer gets a bad strike.

        When you list items you can set them up so that only people in Australia can purchase/bid. You can also set it so that anyone who has more than xx number of non payment strikes within a certain time eg 2 months also cannot bid.

        for every item I sell I always check the buyers history/feedback before posting. You scan normally smell a scammer a mile away. When you post, make sure you put in the tracking information, ifs its valuable send as registered. Also only send to the registered address on their paypal/ebay payment. Basically you need proof you posted is the deal goes sour and you need to claim back off paypal.

    • garetz on 13/11/2016 - 03:16
      +1

      You accepted the cod ? You should of refused it, and it would of been sent back to him. He has to prove you actually received it, by sending it registered, i would never accept a cod in that situation.

      • WaveZero on 13/11/2016 - 07:57

        I really didn't want to wait another 3 weeks, I live in WA and shipping to Eastern states take about 1.5 weeks (normally), so if I refused my Paypal would be in negative balance for a very long time. I was just glad that the buyer shipped it back rather than screwing around with me.

        But true, I should've refused it, but the hassle involved for me wasn't worth it. If only Paypal doesn't screw over the seller, why do they take away your money even though the dispute still hasn't be resolved? It's pretty unfair you ask me.

  • amkssg on 12/11/2016 - 23:44
    +6

    If the buyer is being a pain, and you do not trust him, then do NOT cancel the transaction. File an unpaid item instead.
    The reason being that, if you cancel it, and he decides to be a jerk and click "I do agree", then ebay does not refund you their cut of the commission.

    An unpaid item claim is the only guaranteed way for you to avoid paying ebay and paypal fees.

  • jnewau on 13/11/2016 - 00:03
    +6

    Do NOT cancel. The buyer is trying to avoid a non payment strike

    Don't message them any more, simply wait till you are able to open an unpaid item case and follow the procedure, after a few days you'll get your fees refunded

    If you cancel you may not get your fees refunded

  • altomic on 13/11/2016 - 00:38

    lodge the unpaid claim

  • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2016 - 01:08
    -3

    My view is cancel and try to forget it. ebay gives sellers very few rights. Fights take time and risk your feedback. Vent here but keep your ebay record clean.

  • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2016 - 01:24
    +1

    I'm surprised there isn't a factoring company who'll pursue ebay non-payment claims for you. It seems like the law in on the sellers side, but it's just too difficult to pursue.

    Do you have the buyers name/address/phone number from ebay? Send them a letter threatening court action. Lots of people freak out of this stuff and pay up.

  • Geewhizz on 13/11/2016 - 07:19

    Basically you can't force him to pay. You can either do a mutual cancellation, and just resell, or you can report him as a non-payer. He still won't pay but will get a strike, and you will have to wait before you can relist.

  • sparkles on 13/11/2016 - 07:36
    +1

    If you want to relist it immediately, simply cancel it and move on. You technically can't relist the item with an unpaid claim pending and you need to give it the time to play out (to it's inevitable conclusion). I always figure you can't get blood out of a stone, so whats the use of trying. It just wastes your time. You will get your fees credited back to you as there is an option that says "buyer request to cancel" or something like that. It's annoying, but it's just one of those things dealing on eBay. If you want to avoid this use "immediate payment required" on all your listings, you eliminate 99.9% of the time wasters. Selling on auctions, or allowing non-immediate payments opens the door for all and sundry to waste your time and energy.

    • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2016 - 09:57

      Agree. All you gain by reporting is not important mark against their name. If you mark unpaid, then gives the buyer opportunity to pay and then stuff you around claiming non delivery, not as described, so on. I'd just cancel and move on.

      • Baysew on 13/11/2016 - 10:13

        How much would it cost OP in eBay fees if they cancelled?

        The other consideration is the item likely to sell at same price if relisted.

        • [Deactivated] on 13/11/2016 - 10:20
          +1

          I understand fees automatically refunded if cancelled at buyer request, and payment not received.

      • jnewau on 13/11/2016 - 11:00
        +1

        Cancelling opens up several risks:

        • the buyer can still leave negative feedback if they want to be a PITA
        • you can get a transaction defect as a seller

        The Unpaid item process is designed for these situations, and it's there for a reason.

        Most problems on Ebay can be avoided if people follow the right procedures

        Yes it takes a few days extra but it's worth it.

        Strikes against buyers also help other sellers who block idiots with strikes on their account

    • altomic on 13/11/2016 - 11:36

      you can "relist" by creating a new but yet identical listing.

      not by hitting the relist button.

  • HeWhoKnows on 13/11/2016 - 14:28
    +1

    Unpaid claim just gets your ebay fees back. Nothing more. Unfortunately this prick gets away with this. If you cancel the sale and he agrees its much quicker and you can relist immediately.

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