How long should I wait for payment?

jennyjelly

On Saturday I sold a small item to a buyer in Canada. It want for £10 plus £2.50 postage and I sent an invoice as soon as the auction ended. The buyer has FB of 170, 169 of these as a buyer and all saying excellent buyer, fast payer etc.

I haven't received payment yet, but I know it's still early. How long should I wait before sending an email to hurry her up? And how long should I wait until I accept that she will not be paying and do a NPB?

Hopefully it won't come to this but I just want to be ready for the worst!

Thanks all.

JJ

martindow

You can't open a NPB until four days have passed, so I would send a polite reminder after three or four days. You don't want the buyer to feel they are being hassled and provoke unpleasant feedback.

jennyjelly

Thanks you. As a buyer I'm very aware of how it feels to be reminded too soon when there might be a perfectly valid reason for being slow to pay. I had it in mind to send a gentle nudge tomorrow evening, do you think that is too soon?

2Sheds

I always send a 2nd invoice after 3/4 days, stating the item is packaged, addressed and ready to post, just waiting on payment.

Seems to work

martindow

I agree. it is important to word messages carefully as it is so easy for people to misinterpret emails as being rude or aggressive.

Also notice your buyer is Canadian. They are hundreds of times more sensible than many USA citizens who assume every price to be in US dollars. It is possible that once they realise pounds are more than Canadian dollars they are having second thoughts on their bid.

jennyjelly

I've just had this message from her:

Hello
I just wanted to let you know that I hahe been trying to pay this all day today. Seems paypal has taken this time to have me confirm my accounts. So I am waiting for the code to come back to me so I can finalize this proceedure, they tell me this will take 24 -36 hours.
Hope you are willing to wait. As soon as I am confirmed this the bill will be paid.
Sorry for the inconvience they couldn't have picked a better time.


Does this ring true? I've replied that I'm happy t wait a couple of days but if it will be any longer I'd like her to get back to me.