Increase in no-payers?

[sherlock07]

The problem with requiring immediate payment is that it can be detrimental to encouraging multiple item sales because it makes for complicated shipping charges on combined shipments.

As I understand the immediate payment system, the buyer gets a certain amount of time before they have to pay, so they have time to browse further, if they purchase anything else then the timer resets and so on

[Spot50]

I wonder how many people do use it - given all the fuss to get eBid to implement it.

Non-payers are just par for the course. As the old saying goes... If you can't take a joke then you shouldn't have joined up.

I don't understand the relevance of your referenced 'old saying'...how does committing to buy an item on an auction site bear any resemblance to 'taking a joke'?

[sidthelamp]

I don't understand the relevance of your referenced 'old saying'...how does committing to buy an item on an auction site bear any resemblance to 'taking a joke'?

i understand your frustration, unfortunately the law on distance selling says a buyer can change there mind ,its a myth there under any obligation, its also ambiguous and unfair on the seller if some one just buys without paying and no further contact, im afraid thats the way it is,

[astral276]

I don't understand the relevance of your referenced 'old saying'...how does committing to buy an item on an auction site bear any resemblance to 'taking a joke'?

Simply that having to suffer such people is, unfortunately, all part of the territory if you want to be a seller. If you cannot cope with them without getting overly upset then maybe selling is not your true calling.

While you could try to pursue a breach of contract the costs and time would be prohibitive. Plus very little consumer law is proven in court so the verdict may not turn out to be what you believe consumer law states. Easier to suck it up and move on and hope the next customer is better.

[emmily121]

Hmm, on most buying websites you can add to buy items then at the point of checkout remove any that you have changed your mind about, or clicked on by mistake, I wonder if some buyers think they can do that here. Maybe one answer would be to have a remove item option before paying.

[Spot50]

Simply that having to suffer such people is, unfortunately, all part of the territory if you want to be a seller. If you cannot cope with them without getting overly upset then maybe selling is not your true calling.

While you could try to pursue a breach of contract the costs and time would be prohibitive. Plus very little consumer law is proven in court so the verdict may not turn out to be what you believe consumer law states. Easier to suck it up and move on and hope the next customer is better.

Legally, your probably right and the cost in both money and time in addressing the problem is certainly not worth it for the value of the items I have for sale.

Maybe I'm just old fashioned but if I give my word or a commitment to someone I feel it has to be carried through for my integrity to be worth anything - to me, let alone anyone else. Those bits of paper (soon to be plastic) that we all carry around in our wallets/purses and we term money, are just that, if it wasn't for the term 'Promise' that appears on them - it's a system based on trust, that we all rely on to keep the society we've developed going. If I gave you a £5.00 note for an item and you then took that to the bank who in turn said, we've changed our mind and won't pay the value of £5.00 for that bit of paper with our 'promise to pay' on it then the whole thing collapses. An exaggeration you may think but just an example of how a commitment in commerce works and how fragile that system could be if no one took that commitment to honour seriously.

[Spot50]

Hmm, on most buying websites you can add to buy items then at the point of checkout remove any that you have changed your mind about, or clicked on by mistake, I wonder if some buyers think they can do that here. Maybe one answer would be to have a remove item option before paying.

The answer is simply, if you are only 'considering' an item you add it to your 'watch' list, if you decide to purchase later on you just convert to order.. even I, as an Old Fa*t who's a bit of a technophobe can understand that simple concept. If you DON'T WANT TO BUY an item DON'T press the buy button...simples

[Spot50]

Because they are a twit (sorry, wrong vowel in that last word). Some get pleasure and a feeling of power (in their sad and unpowerful life) imagining the angst they have inflicted on you - even though they don't actually know if you are that bothered.

You can set up Require Immediate Payment which (as far as I understand) doesn't complete the purchase attempt until payment is made. As you appear to be suffering non-payers it may be an option worth looking at.

Non-payers are not unique to eBid, these idiots are everywhere.

I'm not unreasonable, I allow 5 days for a payment to be made following a purchase (which I feel is fine for an auction bid win but strange for a 'buy it now' purchase) sending payment reminders for 4 days and warning of my action if payment is not received when I send the fifth and final reminder.
I really don't know the answer but just needed to vent my frustration due the last three sales being non-payers. obviously these clowns get blackballed - and boy is that list getting long after 5 years selling on this site but increasing at a pace this last year or so.

[astral276]

Maybe I'm just old fashioned but if I give my word or a commitment to someone I feel it has to be carried through for my integrity to be worth anything - to me, let alone anyone else.

I totally agree with you; don't go away with the impression that I am defending them in any way.

The only time I have bought something by accident was when I was researching the eBid buying process for my (now defunct) eBid Knowledge Base and somehow double clicked at the worst possible time resulting in me doing a Buy Now on a T-shirt from the US. I simply contacted the seller and explained my error and they were very understanding, but if they hadn't been willing to cancel I would have completed the transaction - my mistake my responsibility. I think I offered to pay for the item but them not send it to avoid the shipping costs which were far more than the item cost but they just said to forget about it.. Simple communication works wonders.

Sometimes non-payers will be down to mistakes/misunderstandings and the inability of some people to address it sensibly when it happens, but it is a sad fact that some people get a perverse pleasure in ****ing other people off. You win if you don't let them.

[Spot50]

Sometimes non-payers will be down to mistakes/misunderstandings and the inability of some people to address it sensibly when it happens, but it is a sad fact that some people get a perverse pleasure in ****ing other people off. You win if you don't let them.

We're all human and therefore capable of making mistakes but for goodness sakes why we can't just explain that rather than ignoring emails I don't know. Most people are reasonable and as in your case, will accept and arrange a cancellation.