Ebay bidder problem

[hathorcat]

Oh goodness! Ok how would you go about this one.


1) Item on ebay
2) Item has gone to a higher price than I expected [honestly a price I fully expected to yet again end up with a NPB]
3) Person who is the top bidder then sends me the below message

Dear hathorcat,


hey give me three weeks and i will pay you my paypal is down thanks gavin

4) I dont really want to wait 3 weeks for payment I am afraid - as whenever I have given this long all that happens is people dont pay
5) However the person has bid on the item before they even sent me this message and there is only 13 hours until the end of the auction...can I cancel the bid or does ebay policy allow me to ask them to cancel the bid?


Any advise appreciated!!

[tinrobo]

I have no idea, their policy doesn't say very much on the subject does it? :/ It's your listing though and you should be able to sell to who you want to, I wouldn't have thought that you'd get in trouble for cancelling a bid for that reason, sounds pretty reasonable and there's no specific rule saying you can't do that..?


I feel your pain though, so many NPBs recently!

[Maniah]

I would just tell them they have to pay within X days or a non paid item case will be opened. If they don't pay you can do a second chance offer to the next highest bidder right? And if it's a bidding war that drove the price up then the next highest may not be that bad. Of course if the price difference is that great then maybe it is worth waiting?

[Sarahlacewing]

I would let them know you are not willing to wait for that payment and give them the option of paying right away or offer to cancel the bid for them.  If the item ends before they can work it out then they can still send a cancel transaction request. 

http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/unwelcome-buying.html

Policy overview

As a seller, you can block buyers at any time before a listing ends, and you can cancel unwelcome bids. After you cancel a bid, the bidder can't place a new bid without your permission.

[Ringlets]

3 weeks?! and biddding without checking to see if its ok first..    no wonder you want to cancel this persons bid.
I would message them back and thank them for the message but say unfortunately you cant wait 3 weeks for the payment.  If they cancel their own bid,  or they agree to pay right away then thats fine, if not then you can always let the auction run with them bidding in the hope that someone else outbids them, or if they dont pay up quick enough you open an NPB case on them. Or there is another option - Ebay does allow you to cancel their bid. Click the link posted above by sarahlacewing, then scroll down to the bottom of the page to where it says "preventing unwelcome buying". Click that and it will show you a list where you will see the option to "cancel bids".  On the next screen you will need to enter the item number, the ID of the buyer whose bid you want to cancel, and then type in the reason for cancelling.  Click Cancel bid after entering the info and that should be done

[RockinPrettyBeats]

I would just tell them they have to pay within X days or a non paid item case will be opened. If they don't pay you can do a second chance offer to the next highest bidder right? And if it's a bidding war that drove the price up then the next highest may not be that bad. Of course if the price difference is that great then maybe it is worth waiting?

I second this.

I would just tell them to pay in 10 days. Tell them they can pay with a money order (not a check) if they wish. But three weeks is not going to happen.

Tell them if they don't pay in 4 days you will open a case and a strike will be given against them.

[hathorcat]

Thanks guys! Good to know I wasnt just being silly by not being willing to accept that kind of payment terms.

I decided to let the auction run rather than cancel the bid but did message the bidder prior to the auction end to state that I needed payment within 7 days rather than 21 days - if they wanted to cancel their bid that would be fine.

They did end the highest bid and I ll be sending them an invoice and another message reiterating the 7 days. If nothing in a week [which I strongly suspect will be the case] I ll open a NPB and then second chance the item - although I hate opening NPBs as I always worry about the feedback the buyer will leave if they do suddenly front up the money.

[RockinPrettyBeats]

I would open the case as soon as you can. Also, if the buyer never responds I would do the second chance offer sooner rather than later.

[RedheadedBeauty]

If they do end up paying you can always ask ebay to remove the feedback if it's not good. Just keep your messages to prove everything to ebay and I don't really see you having a problem. My biggest worry would be why is their paypal account down for three weeks? That sounds a bit odd to me. Hope you get your money in a timely manor.

[RockinPrettyBeats]

My biggest worry would be why is their paypal account down for three weeks? That sounds a bit odd to me.

Because it's a lie....

[RedheadedBeauty]

My biggest worry would be why is their paypal account down for three weeks? That sounds a bit odd to me.

Because it's a lie....

Haha I wasn't trying to be as blunt but that's exactly what I was thinking. That or they had their account placed on hold for not following someone's policies.

[hathorcat]

I think me and ebay are going to part the ways!    Some people are weird...whats odder is there is a BIN for the same item on ebay right now which is £10 cheaper than this auction finished!! Why doesnt he just go buy that! *shakes head at some ebay buyers* why must you torment me so.

_______________________________
Message to "buyer" both pre auction finish and after...

Hi

Unfortunately I am not willing to wait 3 weeks from the end of auction for payment - when offering this kind of payment period in the past I have found that payment is never forthcoming. I would allow a week no problem at all. If this is not going to be possible for you please go ahead and cancel your current bid.

Many Thanks

Cat
_______________________________
Message from sender this morning

i can pay you in less than two weeks just please hold on to it thanks gavin

[tootie_tails]

He does seem strange. What kind of feedback does he have? I mean he could be a genuine bidder just being a "strange" person, as in having some sort of condition..? Not sure what is the politically correct word.

I have a returning buyer just like that, same type of behaviour and same way of wording. She always pays for her items although sometimes a little late. She is really nice to chat with in emails too, just a little strange, so I have been wondering if she is 'special' in some way. I think of her as a valued customer and a good pony friend.

Slow payers are always worrying though  I hope he comes through for you!

By the way did you state a payment time in your auction description or did you leave that open?
I'm also a little curious what the item is, is it pony or non pony? I mean is this about someone who seems to be a collector so they could be bidding on other peoples ponies as well as we speak? or did they just make a random purchase.

[hathorcat]

@tootie - Its a Princess Cadence. He seems pleasant enough just unwilling to understand what I am saying - his feedback is all positive, its almost all ponies and mostly as a buyer but only around the 20 feedback level and only an ebay member since Nov of last year. I actually would allow him this time frame if I was certain he would pay but I seem to have constant NPBs on ebay and asking for this amount of time to pay just sits a little wrong - maybe if he had asked before bidding we could have come to a middle ground arrangement. Yes, I have the standard ebay selection for payment times which I think I have down as 5 days rather than the 7 I am happy with.

The problem is I need to give him the 7 days - I wouldnt feel fair otherwise; after which does ebay not permit another 7 to 10 days for the buyer to pay if I open a NPB? So no doubt by this time if he is legit he will be able to make payment and close out the NPB transaction. The whole thing comes down to...am I being unreasonable in not allowing someone 3 weeks to pay for a closed auction? I have emailed back and asked him to give me a payment date rather than the random "3 weeks/2 weeks".

I had another message I sent him before his most recent reply...

Hi

As per my previous message and the invoice just send - I am more than happy to allow a full 7 days for payment [until 2nd June] but I cant allow longer than this - I have had too many problems with buyers simply not making payment if I was to allow this long.

If this is still going to be a problem for you please let me know and then we can simply cancel the transaction.

Thank you

Cat

[hokuspokus]

Hmm, bit strange. Sounds like he's still trying to get more time. I think his communication to you is poor.