eBay offers want payment up-front

JetpackVelociraptor

Of the people who make offers on things I have for sale who don't pay immediately, I would say the majority never pay and never had any intention to do so. Some are recognisable as bought accounts belonging to one or two competitors who have bragged about doing this in the past. Others, I don't know. People who like to make their minds up after they agree to purchase, people who want to continue the price negotiations after the offer is accepted, and people who like to take their window shopping one step further? I don't understand it myself, I don't buy things I don't want but it definitely happens a lot.

In my experience the people who used to make cash offers have now resorted to actually looking up our details and either phoning or visiting the shop in person, which is definitely a better way of dealing with things.

tightauldgit

I've had a few people make or accept offers and not pay immediately but then come good - but if they haven't paid within 24 hours generally they're not paying. 

I wonder sometimes if accepting an offer straight off makes people think they've paid too much? But on the other hand quite often a counter offer just gets ignored and you lose the sale. 

Other than that I think it's just people buying stuff online seem to have a level of entitlement and selfishness that isn't really conducive to a nice smooth selling process. 

hermante

Other than the non-paying problem, sounds bad for sellers. If a buyer is asked to pay immediately, they know that the seller would have accepted the offer automatically under the old system. Doesn't this mean you can try again with a lower offer and see if it still asks for immediate payment?

Or does it always ask for immediate payment but not actually charge if the seller needs to confirm?

tightauldgit

hermante said:

Other than the non-paying problem, sounds bad for sellers. If a buyer is asked to pay immediately, they know that the seller would have accepted the offer automatically under the old system. Doesn't this mean you can try again with a lower offer and see if it still asks for immediate payment?

Or does it always ask for immediate payment but not actually charge if the seller needs to confirm?

I assume it means that any offer is pre-approved for payment so if the buyer accepts it will go through immediately but I haven't actually seen it myself yet. 

prowla

soolin said:

Oooh, I wonder if the pay immediately trial has spread to the UK?  The US sellers have been excited about a trial where buyers making offers have to pay immediately if they are accepted and I admit I was quite excited as well as I’m fed up with time wasters. 

I can understand the frustration as a buyer if you want to check an item if you are collecting, but it must be such a minuscule of people who are planning to collect but who might not buy that I honestly can’t see it is going to be a major problem. 

Debbie9009 said:

Having had quite a few time wasters making offers and then not paying, I love the idea of them paying immediately, sorry OP.

tightauldgit said:

Qwertybaz said:

This happened to me as well. I was making an offer on an item I was interested in and was prompted for payment details. I also backed out of the purchase. The item then failed to sell so I wonder how many times this is happening 

I wouldn't think it would be very common - an offer is (or should be) binding so if it's accepted you have an obligation to pay either way. There's no real reason I can think of not to pay immediately unless A. You weren't a serious bidder in the first place or B. You have an objection to giving Ebay your payment details and only use cash for everything

I suspect B is pretty tiny proportion of the Ebay user base.

As a seller it'll be great if Ebay are tightening up on timewasters sending offers and then disappearing. 

moonpenny said:

Qwertybaz said:

This happened to me as well. I was making an offer on an item I was interested in and was prompted for payment details. I also backed out of the purchase. The item then failed to sell so I wonder how many times this is happening 

Why would you even make an offer if you are unable to pay for it?

I will typically look to collect the more expensive items for cash and i would need to inspect it first.

I'm not comfortable with the "I'll make you an offer and hand over the money and you can decide whether to accept it" approach.

I can appreciate that sellers may see it as a plus, but it's not if it puts off potential buyers.

messia07

thanks for the heads up. i will not be making offers if i have to pay up front.

i did a quick search on the ebay forums and one complaint was it can apparently take upto 15days to get a refund if your offer is rejected. 

the only good thing ive read, is that this new option can be  turned off by the seller, if wanted.

soolin

I don’t know how the Uk system will work but we usually follow the US lead, In the US payment is only taken once offer is accepted, so there is no worry about funds being taken and held. I really don’t think that is unreasonable at all, you make an offer, it is accepted and you pay and only when payment is taken is item sold. this is exactly how it works on Vinted.

Why wouldn’t a buyer expect to pay if their offer was accepted? 

tightauldgit

prowla said:

soolin said:

Oooh, I wonder if the pay immediately trial has spread to the UK?  The US sellers have been excited about a trial where buyers making offers have to pay immediately if they are accepted and I admit I was quite excited as well as I’m fed up with time wasters. 

I can understand the frustration as a buyer if you want to check an item if you are collecting, but it must be such a minuscule of people who are planning to collect but who might not buy that I honestly can’t see it is going to be a major problem. 

Debbie9009 said:

Having had quite a few time wasters making offers and then not paying, I love the idea of them paying immediately, sorry OP.

tightauldgit said:

Qwertybaz said:

This happened to me as well. I was making an offer on an item I was interested in and was prompted for payment details. I also backed out of the purchase. The item then failed to sell so I wonder how many times this is happening 

I wouldn't think it would be very common - an offer is (or should be) binding so if it's accepted you have an obligation to pay either way. There's no real reason I can think of not to pay immediately unless A. You weren't a serious bidder in the first place or B. You have an objection to giving Ebay your payment details and only use cash for everything

I suspect B is pretty tiny proportion of the Ebay user base.

As a seller it'll be great if Ebay are tightening up on timewasters sending offers and then disappearing. 

moonpenny said:

Qwertybaz said:

This happened to me as well. I was making an offer on an item I was interested in and was prompted for payment details. I also backed out of the purchase. The item then failed to sell so I wonder how many times this is happening 

Why would you even make an offer if you are unable to pay for it?

I will typically look to collect the more expensive items for cash and i would need to inspect it first.

I'm not comfortable with the "I'll make you an offer and hand over the money and you can decide whether to accept it" approach.

I can appreciate that sellers may see it as a plus, but it's not if it puts off potential buyers.

I've got someone I consider a PITA to be trying this with me now - it shouldn't even be possible to do anymore as I am pointing out to them. In order to exchange details to arrange a collection you have to have paid for it first otherwise the seller gets hit with fees even if the buyer doesn't buy. 

The correct way to do it is to pay and then arrange to collect. If the item isn't right when you check it then you get a refund. 

Ebay is not Gumtree. 

tightauldgit

soolin said:

I don’t know how the Uk system will work but we usually follow the US lead, In the US payment is only taken once offer is accepted, so there is no worry about funds being taken and held. I really don’t think that is unreasonable at all, you make an offer, it is accepted and you pay and only when payment is taken is item sold. this is exactly how it works on Vinted.

Why wouldn’t a buyer expect to pay if their offer was accepted? 

I suspect there are a lot of people who treat Ebay like Gumtree and think an offer means 'I'll give you 50 quid for it if I look at it and like it' rather than 'i will buy this for 50 pounds here's my money if you accept the offer'

As I said people seem to think you can arrange collection/inspection before paying. 

jeffuk

I don't have offers enabled. When I do get an offer via ebay private message and I am prepared to accept that offer I reduce the price on the listing and notify the buyer. This keeps the listing live and may tempt another watcher to pull the trigger and purchase.