Non-paying bidder after a month

Cottage_Economy

Could anyone please tell me what they think the options open to us on an item bought from us on the 28th December, cash on collection, which to date has not been picked up.

The buyer asked to pick on 12th Jan as he was working away until just before then. We said that was fine and sent him our address and contact details. The 12th came and went and no appearance. We emailed to find out what was going on and on 17th we had a reply from his 'wife' apologising saying he was away on business for much longer than expected, and she would contact him to see when he was coming to pick the item up. She said her husband is very reliable normally but unusual and unavoidable circumstances have been responsible this time and to check their feedback to see that they don't muck people around ( and yes it is good feedback and lots of it).

More emails from her followed thanking us for our patience and saying getting the item paid and picked up was a priority for her husband.

In the end, last Thursday evening we sent an email asking them for a pick up date as we have been charged the final value fees etc from ebay and would have to take steps to recover it from ebay as we could not be out of pocket (fvf was around £10) if they did not want the item.

No response.

We emailed several days later again.

No response.

Of course when we finally went to issue a non- paying bidder strike we were outside the time limit.

We've requested their details through ebay after debating whether to ring them, although we have emailed ebay explaining the situation to see if we can get the fees back. I doubt very much this transaction will complete, and truthfully whether we'll get any money back for fvf.

Now we just want to relist the item again, but am unsure whether we can until the matter is resolved?

sharnad

Do a Npb on them but then they could
Pay by paypal

Cottage_Economy

We have already tried and found out we are outside of the time limit for doing so.

Money_maker

It's pretty obvious they are not going to pay. Hindsight is a wonderful thing so chalk it down to experience and raise a NPB sooner next time. What they have told you by email may not necessarily the truth.

Relist and sell again.

Cottage_Economy

We often experience delays when we sell items like the one we have. They're model aircraft and can be very large so getting together the transportation to pick them up can take time. We've been in the position as buyers ourselves. However because the seller was so communicative up until about 20th it still looked good.

As you say moneymaker, chalk this one up to experience and relist it. If it cost £10 to learn a lesson, it's £10 well spent.

***Spoke too soon though. As I was writing this hubby told me about another buyer who bought a £600 item last Wednesday that he was selling for his mother, again cash on collection. Apparently he's in Poland at the moment but will be back around 20th so will arrange pick up after them. In light of the time-waster above, he's now been told it must be picked up and paid for by 22nd or it will be relisted. I've told hubby he must be tougher with buyers from now on.***

Just also found out that hubby has been *helping* people in his car club with obtaining bits and pieces for their classic cars and they have yet to pay him, some have been outstanding for months and owe several hundred pounds.

It looks like hubby's 'understanding' gland has been malfunctioning so I'm going to have to do some credit control over the next week.

Cottage_Economy

Just an bit of an update about the bidder in Poland I referred to above.

On being giving a deadline to pick up and pay for the item of 22nd Feb - so 23 days after the auction ended - or alternatively to pay for the item and then we store it for him until he can pick up, the buyer has come back and told us he doesn't have the money to pay for the item and doesn't know when he will. That if we can't wait for a while until he does then we should cancel the transaction.

So we cancelled the transaction yesterday morning and did a second chance offer.

Between then and this morning, the guy then bids on another one of our items!!

We cancelled his bids on that and blocked him as a bidder.

If the second chance offer falls through, we've decided to sell this particular item through the hobby clubs and specialist magazines instead. Hubby's late father had a lot of this equipment and it all must go, but maybe eBay isn't the place for it.

janb5

If you cancel a buyer`s bids can you then sell to another person or not. Wondering if the first person will complain when they see it is sold elsewhere?

Cottage_Economy

The capacity is there for a seller to cancel a buyer's bid if they want to and go on to sell to someone else who bids in the auction. If he kicks up a stink with ebay we will direct them to his failure to complete the transaction on our first item because he admitted he has no money to pay, and knew he still would not have the money three weeks after the auction. I don't know many sellers that would be happy to see him bid on a second expensive item of theirs just 24 hours later and give him the benefit of the doubt that he will complete.


Not sure what you meant by selling elsewhere, although I'm sure that's down to my poor explanations rather than a misunderstanding on your part ;-) The original item I posted about has had the transaction cancelled and they were the only bidder, so the item is free of obligation and ours to sell where we please. In the case of the auction still running, I'm not selling off ebay and not cancelling an auction, just the bid of someone who has let us down previously. In the case of the the third item which has been submitted for a second chance offer, if that falls through the item will not have sold through ebay as there were only two bidders, so that is free of obligation and can be subsequently sold wherever I wish, which will be specialist forums or magazines.

Cottage_Economy

The second chance offer on the £600 item is about to end and has not been taken up by the second bidder.

We're not entirely sure what happens now?

Are we automatically recredited with the FVFs that have been, or soon will be, taken out?

If not, what is the process for getting them back?

No_Eye_Deer

How did you cancel the transaction?

Did you send a cancellation request, or open a NPB?

.

Martini

Cottage_Economy wrote: »

....... and it all must go, but maybe eBay isn't the place for it.

Try Ebid ([URL=]http://uk.ebid.net/[/URL]) as Ebay are very expensive and could do with more competition!