mogs0 - so long as you re-list/revise before it was set to be scheduled you'll qualify for free listing if it applies within the ebay T&C at the time you start it.
Crazybit - of course you can join in, the more the merrier:) This thread can go from static to busy in hours, so if you don't get your questions answered soon enough just keep asking! I've tried to answer your questions below:
- no communication at all about a toddler bed that was to be couriered. Ended up opening a non-payment dispute and having to relist.
A: State in your listing that you want it collected and paid for by XX date, send an invoice and a reminder of that info with full address and contact number info and if they've not contacted you by then you can open a NPB (non paying bidder) as you have done - that's what I do.
*Little communication about a collection, only for them to text me yesterday (7 days after the listing had finished) saying they will be here at 4. I replied saying I wont be home till 5, so will they please be able to collect after then. No reply. I text at 4.40 and said I would be home within ten minutes and had a reply saying 'car trouble, they will arrange pick up another time.' I really want rid of this item, how long should i leave it before saying sorry, but you've had more than 7 days, I will need to relist?
A: I would have opened NPB on day 4 (harsh me!) if I'd not already heard from them and got an arranged time for them to collect, so do it now, a message to them before you do it would be polite but putting an expected payment & collection deadline in the listing can help avoid this. Also, when you send the invoice include address and telephone numbers for the buyer and follow up with a message that says when you are/are not generally available for collections.
- A non-payment, non-communicator from 8 day's ago. The buyer is a newbie, with only 2 feedback so I sent them a nice message towards the end of the week asking them to pay, no reply, so have had to open a non-payer dispute again!
A: Try to see your ebay sales as a business and if you can live with not having payment before day 7/8/9 then that's when you open a dispute. Personally I'm with Fergoose (MN ebay aficionado) and I open a NPB dispute at the end of day 4 - that's the soonest ebay lets me do it and if they say that's OK then it's OK with me. TBH most people do pay within 4 or 5 days so don't feel remorseful about opening a NPB on day 4 - it's like a polite reminder from ebay to the buyer that it's now 4 days on and they still haven't paid and if they really want it they need to pay pronto - most buyers do within 24hrs IME.
So...just how long do you give to pay? Then how long after opening a non-payment dispute do you leave before closing the case and relisting?
A: I use the ebay guidelines, so I open a NPB dispute at the end of day 4 (that's the earliest I can) and close it 3 days later (day 7 from auction ending, again the earliest I can do so) if the buyer hasn't paid. It's really dependant upon how comfortable you are with the amount of time it takes people to pay or to wait for your money - if you're quite happy to give them 7 days to pay then do that and close it 3 days after day 7. It will make your life easier if you can reconcile yourself with a definite deadline, be it 4, 7 or 10 days after the auction has ended. I also put that info in my Sellers Payment Instructions on every listing, like this: "Please pay within 4 days - we lodge unpaid items with eBay at the end of day 4."
I realise you can't open a non-payer dispute for 4 days, but do you ever leave it longer?
A: Personally no, as above, I've used ebay guidelines and personally think that 4 days is long enough to pay for something OR to contact me if the buyer genuinely wants 'it'. My exceptions come about only because a buyer has contacted me before day 4 to ask for more time and with a specific payment date, otherwise for me it's day 4, and based solely on my own experience 99.9% of those NPB's pay within 24 hours of opening it :)