How to deal with slow, late and non eBay payers

By | May 15, 2010

As an eBay seller, you will have had your fair share of slow, late or non paying eBayers. We get them all the time. This article deals with how to deal with them.

The various forums attached to eBay are full of all kinds of flowery crap about how you should “wait for people” and generally sit around wondering if you are going to be paid. I don’t subscribe to those theories.

You are on ebay to sell stuff. If they “buy” it (win the bid) your next job is to get them to pay in a timely manner. That is often easier said than done.

The moment you “sell” something, eBay applies their greedy 10% [ish] fee to your account. You need to be paid quickly lest the buyer drags their feet, and you end up paying the selling fees, chasing them, hoping they will pay, relisting, etc etc….

We tend to differentiate between two types of sale value: Under £25 and over £25. If over £25 here is what we do. We make sure that the slow, late and non eBay payers article is linked on the item page so they have no excuse as to what you expect.

After 24 hours — send them a “payment reminder” from the eBay system.

After three days go to “Advanced Search” from any eBay page, then “Find Contact Information”. (You need to have 2 windows open to copy and paste the details from one page to the other — they make it hard on purpose). Then fill it in and you will get an email with their contact info on.

Call the punter up, introduce yourself, make some story about how you are “going away” and want to get all your sales mailed before you do. They are the only one of many who hasn’t paid despite reminders. Be polite. You want to help them to get their item quickly as you are going away. You care about your reputation blah blah……

Expect a bunch of excuses about dead dogs, sick relatives, volcanic ash, relatives bidding on their behalf, broken computers, changed passwords and all kinds of other crap. Laugh along and agree with them and make sure you end the call with a plan of when they will pay. This type usually pay within the hour then.

Some folks have non reachable numbers or permanent answer phone numbers lodged with eBay — assume these are serial non payers and revert to the sub £25 plan then.

How to deal with slow, late and non eBay payers

The sub £25 and/or after 4 days plan: After four days exactly you go to Open Unpaid Item Case / Cancel Transaction” from the item listing, select “The buyer has not paid for the item” [if the listing does not let you select that option wait until the time of day the sale ended has passed — it must be 4 days EXACTLY]. From the drop down menu select “Buyer is unresponsive”. Then “Submit”.

This starts an unpaid item claim. When the buyer logs on they get bells and whistles asking them to pay — nice. After four days of non payment then, you can end the claim and get your seller fees back. Then you have to relist and sell it all over again!

The benefit of this is that this is the only way you get your fees back. The added benefit is that the clown who didn’t pay then cannot leave you negative feedback after he has had a non payment strike. (Non paying clowns are likely to leave you negative feedback if you don’t follow an “unpaid item procedure” [UIP] knowing full well you cannot leave negative feedback for them under any circumstances).

In reality, most slowcoaches pay as soon as you file the Unpaid Item claim. Some wait until the very last moment before they get a non payment strike (I actually think it is sport for some of them).

Of course there will always be the minority that don’t pay. All you can do is write them up here or somewhere (as eBay don’t let you leave negative feedback for buyers — fair huh?). That way anyone who Googles their user name will find out they are a non-paying clown.

After you have gone through an unpaid item process, do not enter into any correspondence with the deadbeat. Just relist the item and be sure to add them to your blocked bidders list so they cant pull this gag on you again.

33 thoughts on “How to deal with slow, late and non eBay payers

  1. Mike

    One to add to everyone’s block list is “tepecikliyim“. This joker is based in Germany, has his feedback marked as “private” and simply doesn’t pay. No contact at all. His email is “tepecikli.cevriye@yahoo.de” and he just picked up a non payment strike from us.

    Name & Address: CEVRIYE CETINKAYA, PLAUENER STR 23, NÜRNBERG, 90491, GERMANY.

    Named and shamed!

  2. fred

    Bid, won……and did not pay with numerous excuses……..feedback score of 5 which is more like his IQ!
    I have a score of over 300 and 100% feedback and this is the worst ebayer I have come across in 6 years.
    He will now have a non payment strike.
    his details are pete_raw name Pietro Pravettoni from London

  3. Chris Angel

    I have a deadbeat buyer to report “dumle81357”. Sent an invoice, no response. Filled an ebay non pay case and she answered using multiple excuses like “Please be nice and cancel this” without giving a reason. She finally says she has no money, that she did when she bid but she does not have any now. I offered to cancel the transaction for mere listing costs of $10. Two weeks and I heard nothing so I emailed advising a payment deadline or my generous offer to settle for $10 (as opposed to $200 + shipping) would be revoked. She responded mostly with obsenities but also claimed she had paid and sent me a copy & paste of what she said was a paypal money transfer to me. Of course that too was a lie. I have reported her to ebay (useless) and Paypal who was not amused about the fraudulent Paypal transaction number. She is not very bright but is a persistent liar and acts like she thinks she is some goddess who can sweet talk any man at her will. She seems to think these goddess powers also work through email. Some of the words she used give her away as being at least in her late 40’s to early 60’s. She is a rapidly aging russian bimbo who can only operate by email because in person men who she has sought to exploit all her life now turn tail and run so to speak. Makes me think Natashia (she prefers it to her given name Irina Jefimova)is a way past her prime skank desperately clinging to memories of getting what she wanted with a wink or a smile.

  4. mike

    I am so sick of the dead beat non paying Ebayers they sicken me. Some of us have familys to feed and our normal 40 hr work week dosen’t cover it so we sale things on the side. I most definetly would like to bash a few non payers and I have only been doing since Dec 2010. They are as follows:ibanez41z,bayhorse.979,blanky4, and one scam artist to boot peaches1966.

  5. DrSeven

    what bothers me is not non-paying ebayers, it’s the one that it impossible to get a hold of.. I just want an explanation, an email, something!!!

  6. blueringers

    Sellers please be wary of danandkim1972; I advise that you block them from your preferences tab. They bid, won the item then refused to pay or communicate within the 7 days that I give my buyers to pay for an item. I find it amazing that they have 100% rating with eBay.

  7. FINDS

    These are all ebay silent non-payers
    hollyk1287
    katinthebox724
    weezieworld1969
    jimbo1971jim
    captain0cabinets
    ciesinski400
    liezlottt
    2011bablu
    ladyjaylorraine
    mysticalmagickcat
    nataliecaroline85
    klistango333
    angestar6
    waddi1605
    strawberry.ice.cream
    daniellevizor21
    madbham
    2010skharry
    8565francesco

    These are all very late ebay payers which were prompted to pay by filing an unpaid item case.
    renna_510
    magnolia562010
    parrdani2010

  8. ibanez41z

    IN RESPONSE TO MIKE ABOVE . i HAVE NEVER PURCHASED ANYTHING FROM YOU.IF YOU CHECK MY FEEDBACK ONE-BAY IT IS 100% I HAVE NEVER BEEN A DEADBEAT BUYER SO INSTEAD OF BASHING SOMEONE JUST TO DO IT WHY DO YOU NOT SHOW THE PROOF BEFORE YOU POST SUCH THINGS. I HAVE BEEN AN E-BAY BUYER AND SELL SINCE 2007 AND I HAVE PERFECT FEEDBACK THAT IS ALL I HAVE TO SAY ON THE MATTER. HERE IS THE LINK TO MY PAGE AND FEEDBACK. CHECK FOR YOURSELVES TY. http://feedback.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewFeedback2&userid=ibanez41z&ftab=AllFeedback

  9. Jables86

    Hello

    UK Sellers beware of jeffnjodi2009 – after 2 weeks of waiting no payment or correspondence and contact number provided was string of useless numbers!

    Absolute time wasters.

  10. Pat

    Non-paying non comunacative ebayers. Didn’t realise I couldn’t leave feedback if I wanted a final value credit.

    gandhiman72
    abraxxious007

  11. vengeancetune

    Ebay non payment is increasing with no action from Ebay to stop it.
    My non payers are:

    smokinvt

    2009boywonder

    angie_jayden_2009

    vh308ss

  12. Mike Jones

    The Guy is Spot on and it is Starting to hurt non paying bidders. I get at least 1 to 3 mails a week begging for me to relax my rule (all non paying bidders blocked) I refuse and tell them to go elsewhere I have started advertising this fact on my sales. Get your Fees back and block them Best and only policy. I have been selling on ebay for 12 years and asked them repeatedly to show unpaid strikes in feedback.

  13. Cathy

    Here’s another one for the list

    amandaguy3 – she is showing 100% positive, several of which are false negatives for non payment – well she is getting an unpaid strike from me!

  14. Helen

    Glad i read your post. Great help, dont sell much on ebay but have come across these non payers frequently. One girl strung me along for nearly a month. Saying she was coming to pay and collect on several occassions, giving me countless excuses why she hadnt turned up. Bad enough waiting in for deliveries or tradesmen, but for ebay purchasers as well, drove me mad. She never came and i eventually went through the ebay process to stop sale. Dont sell much now, am going back to advetising the local shop. Frustrating.

  15. Dom

    shaunyboi2

    non payment for a 99p item. i mean come on you got it for 99p!
    filed a claim with ebay. got my 10p back! deadbeat.

  16. Editor Post author

    non payment for a 99p item. i mean come on you got it for 99p!
    filed a claim with ebay. got my 10p back! deadbeat.

    That’s classic Dom! 😉

  17. Cindy

    Non payer: uk.alternative.stuff.
    Bought 14 items, gave them combined postage plus additional discount…but they never paid.

  18. Editor Post author

    We had a non payer this last week on a listing that clearly had a link to this topic. So he cant be surprised to find out he has ended up here.

    eBay name: 2011vito801

    Harry Newman
    22 The Fridays
    Gilberts Drove
    Eastboune
    East Sussex
    BN20 0DH.

    He cited the usual “Paypal problems” so we sent him a link to pay by Nochex with any UK credit/debit card. He didn’t bother as he had no intention of paying.

    Another hobby bidder who got a non payment strike.

    Time wasting bidders beware – if you don’t pay us, we WILL publish your name and address on here.

    If you have followed a link from an eBay listing to this article, and you don’t pay the seller, they are free to post your personal details here.

  19. Lorelai

    Only paid after opening unpaid case:
    hotlegs74
    mollivolus

  20. Keely

    Time waster, bid at very last minute to win item, unresponsive since. Unpaid item case ignored. Very frustrating!

    slosh_123

  21. Cindy

    NON Payers…total time wasters:
    babydrury76
    mini-dolls-antiques

  22. Marcus

    sege2072 = Deadbeat non-payment with with no comms whatsoever

    m.slaw.1985 = Polite chap who changed his mind as is mommy bought him one just like it earlier…!!

  23. cindy

    nemept3

    He reversed payment on Paypal the day items are dispatched. I lost my items and money. He is based in Portugal. Beware.

  24. Lorelai

    US based: dayl_bren

    New ebayer. Did not read sizing on listing, gave me immediate negative feedback and then won’t respond to messages and offer of refund.

  25. scott m

    I don’t deal with slow payers at all i put in my auctions i ship by 9 am so let say a auction of mine ends friday night and send a message saying i am getting ready to head out to ship it it monday morning they still not have sent payment i just will send back a message saying your auction is item is not going to get shipped and it was cancled i gave you plenty of time to pay and then the excuses start and i tell them i do deal with that sorry i give them the spefic time i ship and then that is it. we all work and have deadlines to meet if we don’t meet them we get repermanded i work for frito lay and we have 12 stops a day to do and if we don’t do that we get called into the mangers office and were repermanded sometimes docked in pay Ebay need to weed out the slow paying people

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