Ended sunday, hasn't paid yet

juno

I'm new to selling, and most of my buyers pay instantly by Paypal. However, I had one item end on Sunday, and they haven't paid yet. I want to send them an email to poke them into paying, but I don't know what to say. I've already sent them an invoice.

JPS

Hi juno

Send them this email taken from selling manager (fill in the *** where applicable):

You are the winning buyer for the *********. Thank you for your business.
Your payment for this item hasn't been received yet. If you haven't sent payment, please follow the instructions below.
Item title: *******
Web Address: **************
Item number: *******
Buyer User ID: ******
Seller User ID: *******
Your total is:
£****per item
£**** insurance
(required)
£**** postage/packaging

---

£**** = Total

Please send me your postal address and payment. The following payment methods are accepted: Personal Checks,PayPal

If you want to mail your payment, please send it and include a copy of this page to:

******
******
******

Again, thank you for your business.

Doug_Robertson

to be honest, its only thursday - i normally give people 7 days from end of auction and then a reminder mail and 5 days from there then re-list.
If they are sending a cheque, 2nd class, posted it monday night when they remembered, itll be there friday - don't fret too much

vernall

dunno about anyone else but when i win an item i'm keen to get the cheque in the post and get my item,but iv had buyers send payment 3 weeks later then send me an email the next day asking if ive posted their item yet LOL

VH

Give the buyer 7 days. Most people I deal with do pay immediately but I get around 1 in 10 who like to pay at their leisure, even via Paypal.

After 7 days I send a standard (polite) email like this:

"Hi,

Sorry to trouble you, I just thought I'd send you a quick reminder about the recent Ebay purchase you made from me - item number XXXXXXXX (Nokia Mobile phone).

I just wanted to check that you received the original invoice intact, I know emails from Ebay can get blocked by mail filters. Your item is currently packaged up for you, and ready to send.

If you have any problems with payment for whatever reason or any further questions, then please don't hesitate to contact me, I will be glad to help."

This quick reminder is usually enough. If no response after 5 days then file an NPB dispute. This is a further kick of the backside and will usually jolt them into paying.

But you are worrying too early on, chances are they're having PC trouble or just have not had time to log on and sort out payment.

spankymonkey_2

if you look in your selling manager on ebay there is a prefilled email you can send to your buyer. just look for the reminder.

opel2000

Personally I get a cheque off "within" 7 days, usually within the first 2 days of winning the auction.

There are a lot of people out there like myself who believe that there is too much information held on them by various companies, and when signing up for a Paypal account I found their privacy policy an absolute joke.
It seemed to me to be anything but private, and I wanted to tick an option box which would have dis-allowed them to distribute my personal information between any of their relalted companies. But no option for me to stop that from happening hence the trusty old cheque book and no Paypal account.

soolin

If the buyer has elected to pay by cheque this could take several days. If like me they have to find a cheque book (I barely ever use mine) then remember to buy a stamp and send the payment you are looking at at least 5 working days for it to arrive.

I find on my auctions paypal users pay instantly which I love, it means i can post out within a few hours and have the transaction done and finished. However I rarely get cheque payments any quicker than 7-12 days, which is another reason I hate cheques.

As has already been mentioned , cheque payers can be slow but are then very quick to want their item by return. I had one recently, took 10 days to pay then even before I got their cheque they e mailed asking me where their item was as they needed it urgently. I explained that I hadn't even got their cheque and got some whinging email back about how they only bought my item because most of the feedback left for me showed I shipped next day, they apparently wouldn't have bought an item if they had known (horrors of horrors) I waited to get their cheque first. I emailed very politely as soon as I got their cheque to say item was being sent same day and suggested if they needed something urgently in future thay might want to choose to use paypal or make a direct bank transfer (both of which I offered them). I then blocked them from bidding again on any of my id.s

Luckily they left a positive feedback for me when they received the item.

Soo

jstyles

Yep! I agree with all the comments above.

What I would add is that you may want to consider empathising with the buyer (I know, I know - I'm going all soft!!) to a certain degree - as hard as it may be.

Remember - a new buyer may not be so organised as all us lot. He may have gone away on holiday, dot a life away from his PC or even gone on a course at work. Perhaps the buying of this item just wasn't the centre of his world! In which case, give him a week.

That's not to say a gentle nudge is out of order - go right ahead and do that. Just word it nicely, as you have to bear in mind the recipient's possible frame of mind when he receives a 'stern' note.

Don't let this one transaction become the centre of your world either - regardless of the outcome. Learn by it for next time - perhaps consider updating your Ts & Cs to cover such an eventuality as this.

In all likelihodd, this transaction will turn out fine! Don't be put off. And always put yourself in the other person's shoes, be they sellers or buyers!

culpepper

I send a second invoice on the 4th day stating that I dont know wether they received the 1st invoice so here it is anyway.
Ive only had 1 buyer who took more than 4 days to pay via paypal,I pulled her details on day 6(when you do this they receive an email saying you have their phone number etc and giving them yours) and they paid up the next day (7 days from their winning bid) so I didnt even have to phone them in the end.

VH

soolin wrote:

As has already been mentioned , cheque payers can be slow but are then very quick to want their item by return.

I had one like this a few weeks ago. I only accept Paypal on my auctions but the buyer contacted me after 2 days and said they were having a problem with their Paypal account, and could they pay by cheque. I reluctantly agreed as they seemed very genuine, however, I said that I would not post the item until the cheque cleared.

About 3 days later the cheque arrived (on Friday morning) with a note saying that they needed the item urgently and they must have it by Saturday, the next day!! Cheek of it!!! They paid me extra money for 1st Class delivery so it would get there faster!

I paid the cheque into the bank Friday morning. Against my better judgement, I also posted the item out Friday morning by 1st Class, thinking that the cheque would probably be OK as it was less than a tenner.

That was over a week ago. The cheque has cleared, but I have no idea if the buyer actually got the item on time or not, as they have neither contacted me or left feedback!

I am now a bit worried, as I am half expecting negative feedback if it didn't arrive when they asked. So I have not left any feedback for them yet, and will not do so until they leave it for me. A bit of a daft standoff, but since I have done nothing wrong and even gone out of my way for them, I will wait for their comments first!

After this I will not be accepting any more cheques just to keep people happy.