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Impatient seller - or is it me?

37 replies

soaccidentprone · 05/06/2014 22:44

I bid for an item on Tuesday afternoon for an item which finished on Tuesday evening (so 48 hours ago).

The seller messaged me this evening asking when I was going to pay. 30 minutes later the seller opened an unpaid item case against me. It did not state on the advert a timescale for payment.

Is it me, or is the seller being a little hasty about this?

I had, and have every intention of paying, but I have never had an unpaid case opened before!

I'm just amazed at how impatient the seller is.

OP posts:
Nanny0gg · 08/06/2014 13:39

If it was a 'real-life' auction you have to pay up then and there.

You shouldn't bid if you can't do that.

I did have a collection-only that asked if I minded waiting till the end of the week if she won the auction. At least she had the courtesy to ask.

Shonajay · 08/06/2014 15:11

Yes, if someone asks me beforehand I'm fine with it.

mickoz · 12/07/2014 19:35

I am a bit surprised of the consensus there. I guess it depends of the scene you are in.

I am a collector and it is not rare that I buy items over weeks from the same seller. I want to maximize my order so I can combine as much as possible (paying 3$ shipping on a 5$ items does not make sense). Most sellers seem to appreciate more business (more bidder is never bad).

And from time to time I do face impatient sellers. If for any reason a seller need or even want the money faster:

  • I think it is a good practice to say your time frame in your auction, 2 days is really a small time frame on eBay considering you can bid in advance, if you send an email, not everyone are in front of their computer, etc. I think if you do not mention anything, that 7 days is a minimum. After that, I would usually contact the seller to ask for extension or pay and ask him to hold my items to combine.
  • Message your buyer. It is not a war, it is a buyer/customer communication. But I have saw very rude people (and not necessary because of time). Some people that sell are far from the people that say "The buyer is always right" (which I am not agreeing), but they act like they do a favor to the buyer and show a lot of disrespect.

That being said, I think it is a minority of people I dealt with that have been like that, still they sometime ruin the experience showing attitude. It does not cost much to be respectful when you initiate a conversation. I saw people go banana without any contact or what, like I had to pay for the X non-paying bidders that pissed him off or anything (I have always paid for all my transaction, except a few one that ended bad or that I was away from computer, e.g., sick, but it was not like I was not going to pay).

Now, is it OK to ask to be paid in 2 days? Yes. Sellers can set their own rules for selling. However, I think either your seller is impatient, or either it is just his regular "process" (i.e., he does that with everyone).

But the part I think you can qualify as impatient, is that he message you then re-message you 30 minutes after. No matter if it is 2 days or 14 days, if you expect someone to always be in front of a computer and answer within 30, you are nuts and cannot think further than your nose. 24 hour is reasonable, but even then it is not very long (shit happen, or people are busy). I have saw someone who did this like 5 messages over hours, and expected me to answer fast.

Oh, and not everyone have their email hooked up on their phone. If you do, fine, but do not expect everyone to have it.

Another reason I pay up multiple days after auction is that I bid on a lot of items. Dozen a days, if not hundreds if there is more interesting thing. I then process my payment when I have time, which is usually the week-end. And no, I am not always 100% aware of everything I won 10 minutes after. If I was doing this for all the ites, it will be too much time consuming. Doing them in batch when I have more free time is more efficient.

Anyway, people are calibrated differently. That is OK. But do not expect everyone to be the same as YOU. So communication is key. There is a problem, you can talk to each other. The goal of the seller should be to sell and receive the money. The buyer then want to receive his items.

Personally, most of the time I do not care if shipping take time, etc. -- as long as I get the items for my collection, I won't go coocoo. So what apply to me, also apply to others.

Butterflyspring · 12/07/2014 20:04

what a long essay - am not reading all that. Patronising nonsense. If a buyer wants to combine and bid on other things of course they will wait - but the buyer needs to communicate with them before bidding.

Saying you don't have time to process payment is ridiculous - it takes seconds.

glammanana · 13/07/2014 00:08

My pages are set automatically for e-bay to open a case after 48hrs,you pay for the service within your fee's so why not use it ? Essay writer !! the mind boggles it takes seconds as stated.

nauticant · 13/07/2014 12:09

Like Butterflyspring, I got past the start of the essay and thought that I couldn't be arsed with an OP droning on "but THIS is why I'm RIGHT".

Accept you were wrong and move on OP.

TeaAddict235 · 13/07/2014 20:55

hey OP, I don't think that you were being slow. I often have buyers pay a fortnight after bidding, especially if they are from abroad. Like someone said earlier, not all people have emails on their phones and I for one am not glued to my phone salivating over a payment. I think that opening a case after 48 hours is inconsiderate. For example I gave birth unexpectedly early and won a bid while in a remote hospital that did not get reception - dilemma. I was then unexpectedly held in hospital for nearly a week. the kind seller could have gotten annoyed with me, but my DH wrote and explained it to them about a week after the birth. Bless the guy, he was totally okay with it.
Therefore not all sellers are impatient or arrogant money grabbers- lets be frank, that's what the impatience is about, seeing money tot up in their accounts.

Butterflyspring · 13/07/2014 20:59

ebay state you can open a case after 48 hours - not inconsiderate or money grabbing at all - the buyer has another 4 days to pay after that anyway which is more than enough.

You think a seller is an arrogant money grabber when a buyer doesn't pay and the seller is left with fees to pay??

TeaAddict235 · 13/07/2014 21:32

no butterfly, I'm saying that it is not necessary to open a case so soon just to 'make space' as someone put it. I've paid for items immediately numerous times only for the seller to take weeks to post or then write and tell me that something has come up. Just because you pay immediately doesn't mean that the item will arrive immediately.
what if the bid ends at 3am, are you expected to pay immediately? the seller might still take 2-4 days to post regardless, meanwhile PayPal is making interest on the funds.

Butterflyspring · 13/07/2014 21:42

well if I have sold something I want paying and to get it sent - and 48 hours is plenty - and another 4 days again on top of that. And if a seller says they take 48 hours to dispatch then that is what they will do - but they can't send if you don't pay! And why would you wait weeks for a seller to send something - crazy.

nauticant · 14/07/2014 07:57

what if the bid ends at 3am, are you expected to pay immediately?

You're saying that the only alternatively to paying within 48 hours is to pay immediately even if it's 3am. You seem to live in a peculiar binary world.

TeaAddict235 · 14/07/2014 14:41

yes nauticant, 101010101011111

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