How long are you supposed to wait for payment on ebay?

[gazzy90]

After many years of buying on ebay, I decided to finally start selling as well.

And my first buyer was a person with 0 feedback from Russia who had made an ebay account just this month  I thought "ok, I had 0 feedback once too" and waited. After a couple of days of no payment or communication, I decided to open an unpaid item case to make them pay. I also messaged them (and I had invoiced them on the 1st day as well). Still nothing! So finally today ebay allowed me to cancel the transaction and relist my item.

In the meantime I had 3 people buying my items and paying for them (yay!), but 1 more buyer who still hasn't paid after 2-3 days and 2 invoices.
So what do I do? How many days do you usually wait to get payment before opening a case? Ebay allows you to do it after 2 days, but isn't that a bit soon?

I must add that this buyer only has 6 feedback, so they're pretty new as well.
Why had my ebay selling started this way though?  And the worst thing is that both of these items (MH dolls) had many views and people watching them! So someone else could have buyed them instead 

[banditpony]

I give people about 4-5 days.  I am willing to give more time with communication. I state in my auction what I expect so it's clear. (If people read the description... Heeeeh. )

[kitkatvintage]

I have ebay's seller assistant set to start an non-paying bidder case after 2 days. Typically serious buyers pay within 24 hours of winning an auction. Once the non-paying bidder case starts, they still have 3 more days to pay.  There are too many people who bid & never pay, so I think starting the non-paying bidder case as soon as possible helps weed out those buyers.

[babylofty]

I give no more than 48 hours, honestly. I hate being messed around with, and if you haven't paid by then, you're not serious about the transaction.

[flying_narwhal]

I used to give buyers 5 days to pay. Now I have reduced that to 3. Like kitkatvintage mentioned, I've found that serious buyers typically pay within 24 hours. Between the 3 days I give and the extra few days you have to wait for an unpaid item case to close, it is a more than generous amount of time for buyers to pay.

I wouldn't recommend constantly sending buyers invoices though. I find that notifying buyers politely via eBay messages the day before payment is due is sufficient.

[silverdawn]

Greek auctions!   Do you have a link to them somewhere?

[gazzy90]

Greek auctions!   Do you have a link to them somewhere?

You mean my actions? There ya go!
http://www.ebay.com/sch/leney90/m.html?_nkw=&_armrs=1&_ipg=&_from=

[Tigerlilyx]

3 days for me!

[bluerose9978]

I usually wait 3 days and then file a nonpaying bidder case, which I close in 3 days if they haven't paid and add them to my blocked bidder list.

[LittleSpiffy]

I state in my auction that payment is due within 48hrs.

After 48hrs, I send and invoice asking the person to let me know if they need more time.  If I don't hear back, I open a NPB case at the 72 hr. mark.

[gazzy90]

Thanks for all the replies guys!
It seems that in my very short history of ebay selling, I already have my 2nd non payer I waited 3 days, sent them a 2nd invoice and message, and since they didn't get back to me, I opened an unpaid item case. And I honestly doubt they're going to pay!

So what happens after 3 days pass and you close the case? Ebay says they give you your fee back, but I haven't been charged any fees, as both listings were free.
And what happens to the non-paying buyer? Do they get a "penalty" or something? Cos ebay doesn't let you leave neg feedback, nor anything seems to change on the buyer's profile page! Can a seller keep bidding and not paying people?

Also, please tell me how to block my non paying buyers! 

[bluerose9978]

They give you your final value fee back. And yes you are charged that if your item sells whether you had listing fees or not.

To block bidders, go into your blocked bidder list (I just do a search for it in the trader help section).

And your bidder will get a nonpayment strike against them. If they have so many within a certain amount of time they will not be allowed to bid on most seller's auctions. I know mine are set to block bidders with nonpayment marks within a certain amount of time from bidding on my auctions.

[Ringlets]

I'm sorry you ran into non payers so soon after you started selling   TBH it has got worse lately- there seem to be more than ever and it is very annoying when you have a lot of other people interested in those items they bought too!
Personally I used to allow 7 days, then I reduced it to 5 ..now  the longest is 4 days before I open a case. I had it auto set to open a case after 4 days.  If someone is genuine , they have fantastic feedback etc then I *may* give them longer* *if* they contact me first. I state this in my listings. 
All non payers get blocked, I have my settings on so that no-one who has non paying bidder cases within 2 months can buy from me, also non payers get added to the thread stickied in here too.

[emery]

If you are selling anything with a Buy-It-Now or fixed price be sure to set it for "immediate payment required" so that they can not make the purchase without paying. Harder with auctions though since it's bidding and then you have to wait for payment. I normally sell most of my items at a set price with immediate payment so that I don't have to worry about non-paying for those but with rarer items auctions are much better and then you will have the chance of non-payers. Do take advantage of the second chance offer as you should be able to offer to the second highest bidder and maybe they will pay without you having to relist! Sorry you are dealing with flakes already when you are just starting out

[Galactica]

Ebay automatically sends the NPB reminder thing out- but I am a lot more flexible.  What I really want to know is if the person is actually going to pay eventually, or whether they bought the item on an impulse and have changed their mind. 

If they no longer want the item- I'd like to know up front before sending it out- since if you force someone to buy something they don't want or can't afford, the new ebay system lets them return your item for any reason and you then owe a refund and are out shipping costs...