Why shouldn't Auction winners have to pay automatically?

Froggitt

mikey72 wrote: »

So we agree then, no silly ones like immediate payment, 10% by paypal, and you agree I have up to 4 days to pay you, and cash on collection means just that. I pay you cash when I collect.
You carry on listing on ebay, and I'll carry on bidding on these terms then.

Ive never said I insist on immediate payment.....however I suggested that ebay provide the option for sellers to list an auction item for automatic payment once the auction is over.

Quality buyer with a decent record.....of course I wouldnt insist on Paypal deposits or refunds. Newbies or dodgy paying records.....it often makes sense to incentivise their pickup.

Froggitt

RFW wrote: »

It isn't the problem with the system, it is the system. Ebay want their sellers to send as swiftly as possible, that's the point of the stars

However, ebay sellers are not the same as shops with fulfilment centres. How can I dispatch as swiftly as possible if Im out of the country? And no I often dont know Im out until a few days beforehand. Hence I say upto 3 days to dispatch, and if Im around, they get same day dispatch.

Crowqueen

I would have thought it was reasonably common sense (since everyone likes using that phrase) that if you get paid for something you send it out as quickly as possible - particularly if you are throwing your dummies out of the pram at the buyer to pay for it quickly.

Seems some people like to invoke common sense on their own side but not see why it might be common sense to impose some obligations on them to actually, you know, please their customers.

I don't mind paying promptly - I do it virtually all of the time - but I resent people who demand payment immediately but don't see why they should then post out quickly in response and feel upset that buyers have some right of reply.

It only seems to be eBay that engenders this attitude. Most other sites are far stricter about dispatch and far better at holding sellers to their obligations to buyers who are paying them. Granted, it's only eBay and eBay clones which have a disconnection between item closing out and buyer payment, but given this situation, it's very foolish to continue to sell on a site if it irks you so much.

fred7777

momimgay wrote: »

Surely wishing buyers to pay within one day of winning isn't an unfair thing?

Wishing them to pay isn't unfair but requiring them to pay automatically would cause problems for others.
For instance a lot of what I sell is cash on collection due to it's size and the cost of a courier.

If winners had to pay automatically then they would have to use paypal and that would open me up to the scam where a buyer pays via paypal, collects then claims the item hasn't been recieved and gets refunded.

Froggitt

My suggestion would be to allow sellers to specify which auctions they want automatic payment on, and the rest, its standard payment terms.

BillyThePuppet

Had several buyers not pay up at all, thus wasting time that I could've spent with the items relisted.

I think you should be able to give negative feedback if the buyer never pays so people know that a bidder is likely to waste your time.

hermum

BillyThePuppet wrote: »

Had several buyers not pay up at all, thus wasting time that I could've spent with the items relisted.

I think you should be able to give negative feedback if the buyer never pays so people know that a bidder is likely to waste your time.

If everyone goes through the NPB process, then it doesn't take long for bad bidders to block themselves from most listings.
Make sure you set your preferences tight, it doesn't stop the NPB but can help cut it down.

Crowqueen

There is no point in anyone warning anyone at all about a non-payer:

- the number of buyers is overwhelmingly large. Particularly now eBay hides bidders' identities to all but their sellers, you will never get to see most members - you will only ever see those who bid on an item that you are selling. So you will never see buyers with negs or false positives until they bid.

- if you sell on auction and if they bid before the last few minutes of those auctions, then you will get the chance to vet them.

- but if they snipe (bid in the closing seconds of the auction) or buy from a fixed price listing, then you can't ever respond until they are already a problem. It is futile anyone else leaving them a neg for non-payment because you still have to go through the NPB motions

- the strike system is one of the most effective seller tools on eBay and very rarely fails. There is always a first time but as I keep saying, if you can't handle that buyers have 4 days to pay, then I suggest you use a different site where payment is taken automatically.

All negs for non-payment would achieve are a moment of passive-aggressive catharsis for sellers (some of whom from this thread think that anyone who does not pay in ten seconds of auction end is a non-payer anyway). There's no practical benefit to anyone else, and like with most issues surrounding feedback anyway, it's highly subjective, so that someone's idea of a non-payer may be, for example, someone exercising a legal right to cancel the sale, or someone who turned up to a cash-on-collection item and was confronted with an item not as described, and so on.

Do the strikes, and be a little bit patient - after all, people posting here always expect their buyers to be patient, so for some people it is also a case of double standards from sellers who really can't care less. What goes around comes around - if you expect patience and understanding from buyers when you mess up, then you should be willing to extend that same courtesy to them.