I now remember why I stopped selling on ebay!

vacheron

Hi sacha28.

I think it's easy to forget that that just because a lot of buyers have smartphones with access to the internet 24/7 to receive instant push notifications from the ebay app, not all do.

A lot of ebay buyers are retired or can't / aren't allowed to access the internet from work, or conversely can only access the internet from work. Some only check their accounts once per day. Some may be away for a day or two, on night shift, have internet problems, or just be too busy to log on.

Also, not all buyers are aware of the auctions end date and time, and the proxy bidding system means that their winning bid may have been made days ago.

I would say that I wait more than 24 hours for payment in about 25% of my sales.
I certainly wouldn't bother the buyer even once until 3 or 4 days had passed and then just with an e-mailed invoice as a reminder.

campdave

Maybe ebay isn't for you if you feel you need to be so obsessive about it. Send an invoice, if they pay, they pay, if they don't, open a NPB.

Contains_Mild_Peril

Occasional late payments are part of selling on eBay. Most of my customers pay quickly, a few take more than a day, and a very small proportion don't pay at all, in which case I relist after NPB case is closed.
A message within 24 hours, after you've already sent an invoice, may seem somewhat impatient, and if you find this sort of thing "too stressful" then maybe eBay isn't really for you: it can get more stressful than that. Depending on the reasons for the delay, your customer may be feeling stressed out too (e.g. if they've been very busy, had computer problems etc), but if they bid a few days ago it's possible they just forgot and will pay when they get around to checking their emails or whatever.

fishybusiness

Sacha, let it be for a few days.

In my early days of ebay I used to get stressed about buyers...would they pay, would they not...

These days I leave it a few days and if no payment is forthcoming I send a nice email asking if they can get in touch to let me know when they are able to pay.

There are all sorts of reasons, some people say their bank is having problems, or they do not get paid until a certain day, I guess it does not really matter what the problem is, just making contact rather than resending an invoice usually works for genuine buyers.

prowla

Patience; people may have bid and gone to work, gone off for the weekend, lost their internet connection for a few days, forgotten their paypal password, want to pay after that month's credit card statement, anything.

I've bid on things whilst abroad, but would most likely wait until returning home before paying.

If you start hassling people after two days, then it's really too soon; when selling, I tend to leave it a week - that should give people the time they need. And using the automated case raising feature to kick in after 2 days, with a 4-day grace may not be sufficient for the other party to respond and/or for any post auction questions to be resolved.

One way you can guarantee instant payment is to put on a BIN which requires immediate payment and tells the buyer that the item is not secured until they have paid.

On the matter of messages, I would suggest that it is imperative to respond to buyers questions, but don't get too needy with sending them questions/reminders.

Goldiegirl

prowla wrote: »

I've bid on things whilst abroad, but would most likely wait until returning home before paying.

.

No doubt you send them a message to tell them there'll be a delay in paying, in the interests of good communication and politeness

sacha28

Ok so general feeling is that I've harassed, despite me explaining that I thought my paypal details were wrong.....hence the 2nd invoice. The reason I was checking 'all day', as in periodically throughout the day, is because, in the message attached to my invoice, I clearly stated that I would dispatch the item as soon as payment was received.

The day after I wasn't at work and could therefore get it posted that day. I work all day saturday and most of the week so getting to the post office during the week is much more difficult. The point of me checking was purely for quick dispatch, why is that a bad thing?

Anyway, still nothing. See what happens tomorrow

prowla

sacha28 wrote: »

Ok so general feeling is that I've harassed, despite me explaining that I thought my paypal details were wrong.....hence the 2nd invoice. The reason I was checking 'all day', as in periodically throughout the day, is because, in the message attached to my invoice, I clearly stated that I would dispatch the item as soon as payment was received.

The day after I wasn't at work and could therefore get it posted that day. I work all day saturday and most of the week so getting to the post office during the week is much more difficult. The point of me checking was purely for quick dispatch, why is that a bad thing?

Anyway, still nothing. See what happens tomorrow

But you'd checked and the details were correct, you said.

You generally get an email when something happens on a transaction, so you don't really need to be checking ebay all the time.

I wouldn't say I'd post something immediately, because (assuming you aren't a volume business seller, but rather are an individual) you should do it when it fits into your time (within reason).

Again, I'd just suggest lightening up a bit; there's no harm in that.

quidsy

I also agree that expecting payment within 24hrs is a bit much. I state payment expected within 2 days an I will post within 2 days of cleared payment. If no payment after 2 days they get 2nd invoice and note advising case if not paid in another 2 days. No need to post immediately either so dont put that much pressure on yourself. Ebay auto list 2 days postage after auction so just go with that.

sacha28

prowla wrote: »

But you'd checked and the details were correct, you said.

You generally get an email when something happens on a transaction, so you don't really need to be checking ebay all the time.

I wouldn't say I'd post something immediately, because (assuming you aren't a volume business seller, but rather are an individual) you should do it when it fits into your time (within reason).

Again, I'd just suggest lightening up a bit; there's no harm in that.

Ah, didn't realise that, thought you only got a message when sold/didn't sell or had a message!

Ok have learned my lesson.....will chill next time I sell something!!

I guess I was judging on my own standards, I wouldn't bid on something then take a few days to pay but I now realise this is normal practice

So auction ended thursday, if not paid tomorrow how long do you suggest I wait to send a message to request payment?