I need an e-mail to send non-paying bidders!!

Hintza

I have just looked at the number of non paying bidders I currently have and need to word an e-mail threatening dreadful things (without breaking ebays rules or demanding money with menaces....much as I would like to with some)

I need it to be firm and point out the pitfalls that will befall the buyer if they don't cough up.

I already telephone those that are older than 10 days and get the usual..."the cheque is in the post"

What can I threaten that might actually have an affect??


Any ideas anyone?

angelcake

Is it really worth it? I think if I recieved an email such as this I would rather not bother ...you will get feedback reflecting this and will probably ruin your selling reputation! yes it is irritating and perhaps take steps like .......Only people with over a certain amount of feedback can bid etc! and state that you will receive a neg if you don't pay!

RACHIE77

I agree angelcake, maybe a more softly softly approach would encourage people to pay up, a reminder about your email address for paypal, your postal address for cheques etc etc... and also how much they owe you etc etc??

I would also agree that you could put something in the original listing re: non paying bidders (NPBs) and decide what your level of tollerance will be (i.e no bids from zero feedback members unless email first and/or payment within 10 days or a neg will be left etc etc ) and then you wont feel like you are in such a quandry when it comes to deciding what to do!!

have just looked at the number of non paying bidders I currently have

....Just curious but how many NPBs do you have (roughly!) are we talking lots and lots???

Rachie

soolin

I don't bother with any threats, nor do I have any mention in my listings about leaving negs for NPBs. After about day 8 I resend the invoice with a polite reminder that the amount remains unpaid.

On about day 10-11 I usually send a further reminder, or if it is a larger amount I might telephone the buyer. If I don't hear anything then I just start the NPB process and don't bother contacting the buyer again.

Having said that I actually haven't had a NPB for months now. I have had lots of newbie buyers though and all have paid nice and promptly.

Soo

Hintza

Hi all


I have done done the softly softly approach. I am talking about the ones that are over a fortnight old.

I have 26 older than a week.

And 6 older than a fortnight, I have spoken to most; two I reckon will pay. One probably gave a false telephone number. Which leaves 3 that need special attention.



Background:-

The auction is stated as PayPal only...that still doesn't stop some. I am happy to take other forms of payment but not keen to encourage it (as this would make the problem unmanageable)

I ban anyone with feedback <0 (most of my buyers 70%? are newbies with zero feedback so I have to allow them)

As far as negatives are concerned I am really past caring they are just a lottery. Too many are left by people who just don't think nor have the gumption to contact me to sort out the problem. I have always either refunded or replaced without quibble

The items I sell are commodity items so there is very little customer loyalty, price is king.

What annoys me most is the time chasing these things up takes 5% of the people take 70% of the time. I need to keep this manageable.

I phoned 10 over the weekend which was not fun and would like to avoid doing this in most cases.

I need an e-mail to send just before I file for FVF refund and non paying bidder strike to point out what is going to happen the effect it will have on their ebay account but primarily strong enough to get them to sit up and take note.

The only other option is just the standard e-mails followed by the NPB strike and a negative, but that leaves me out of pocket and encourages this type of behaviour which if allowed to continue will spread and affect more and more sellers.

angelcake

That is quite a lot and I can see why you are annoyed by it! I get annoyed especially when you have already labelled items up for posting as that wastes money! I had 10 transactions this week and 9 paid paypal whilst 1 said they are going to send a cheque!

I have sent a lovely email to people who haven't paid before which said something along the lines of "Please can you contact me as I am happy to communicate and be helpful to you if there is any problem with paying etc......perhaps you could have some extra time....!! This has worked in getting the sympathetic ones thinking I am a nice person ......who have contacted me and said please can I have another week as money is tight - and annoying as it is as they had bid! at least it is peace of mind that they are not just ignoring you. Other people have paid becuase I think they may have been embarassed I suggested they perhaps couldn't afford the item!

You have probably tried this but I definately feel the softly "Lick Bum" Approach works! rather then the harder threatening approach

Whatever you do good luck!

culpepper

wow that is a lot of NPB's
I would say something like please contact me with payment before (date you find acceptable inserted here),if I do not hear from you by this date,I will be filing a non paying bidder as it is the only way I can get my Final Value Fees returned to me(I still have to pay these even if you do not pay). This will leave a non paying bidder strike against your user name.

soolin

I think If you have done everything you can then just start the NPB process, that often gets the buyers attention!

Soo

Bargainbabe_2

I'm sorry, but NPB's cost money. Nicely nice approach is all well and good in the early days, but when it goes over 2 weeks and emails are endless, it does start to get to you. Especially when you can see they're still bidding on other auctions! No offence, but i ain't wasting even more money chasing the deadbeats by telephone!

Bargainbabe_2

ANYWAY! Back to the subject in hand here. Hintza, i have just the tool for you. Go here:

http://www.designer-bargains.com/email.htm#contact1

There are numerous email templates here. You obviously can't make ppl pay, but maybe after a few of these emails, they might!

soolin

I agree with bargain babe, some people are just not going to pay and it isn't worth my time and effort trying to persuade them to do so.

If they don't respond to a couple of reminders, plus a phone call for high cost items only, then just start the NPB process and move on. Don't forget that users can only have 3 NPB strikes before they lose their account, I think that is a more efficient deterrent than a negative.

The only other thing I have done in the past is to email once more just before I close the NPB process and reclaim my fees. In that email I just confirm that the item is no longer available for them to buy and Ebay will be repaying my fees in a day (or whatever) and will mark the buyers account accordingly. I'm not sure it made any difference though.

Soo