eBay Etiquette • Collecting General • The Acaeum

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eBay Etiquette
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g026r
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 6:41 pm

So, question for people:

Bought some stuff on eBay about a week-and-a-half ago. Sent seller an invoice, no reply. Waited a few days and sent another invoice, no reply.

Repeat the above until a total of 4 invoices were sent over 10 days. Still no invoice or even a reply saying "I'm working on it." -- nothing.

Now, the question becomes: how long should I wait before leaving the seller a negative? Should I send a few more invoices or have I been patient enough already?

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

Badmike
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 6:51 pm

g026r wrote:So, question for people:

Bought some stuff on eBay about a week-and-a-half ago. Sent seller an invoice, no reply. Waited a few days and sent another invoice, no reply.

Repeat the above until a total of 4 invoices were sent over 10 days. Still no invoice or even a reply saying "I'm working on it." -- nothing.

Now, the question becomes: how long should I wait before leaving the seller a negative? Should I send a few more invoices or have I been patient enough already?

Is the seller still listing items? If not maybe something is up he has no control over..illness, death in the family, emergency. If he's been listing and doing business, I'd wait another week and then hit him.

Mike B.

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Gnat the Beggar
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 7:25 pm

OK
Perhaps I dont understand your post.
Why would you (the BUYER?) send the other guy (the SELLER?) ANY Invoices, much less four of them?
I have bought at least 500 items on E-Bay and I have yet to send out a single invoice to any seller.

On the other hand, as the seller.
I have sold FIVE listings on E-Bay and therefrom sent out 5 invoices (one invoice to each buyer) to the BUYERS.

Did you perhaps send a REQUEST for an invoice four times?

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gyg
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 7:45 pm

Aneoth wrote:
Did you perhaps send a REQUEST for an invoice four times?

That's what I thought you meant - in any case, do what Mike said - sometimes real life gets in the way of ebay. (And whilst irritating to not get an item after winning it, if you haven't paid up then what have you really got to lose, it's not as if the seller can neg you :lol:

)

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

Badmike
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 8:32 pm

gyg wrote:

That's what I thought you meant - in any case, do what Mike said - sometimes real life gets in the way of ebay. (And whilst irritating to not get an item after winning it, if you haven't paid up then what have you really got to lose, it's not as if the seller can neg you )

I mean, if my house burned down, catching up on my ebay buyers would be the last thing on my mind. If he's just a lazy muppet or whatever, then hammer the clown. But I'd be sure first.

Mike B.

"THE MORE YOU THINK ABOUT WHY i DONE WHAT i DONE THE MORE i LAUGH" Cougar
"The Acaeum hates fun" Sir Allen
"I had a collecting emergency" Nogrod
Co-founder of the North Texas RPG Con
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gyg
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 8:39 pm

Badmike wrote:
hammer the clown.

Gotta be a great idea in there for a kids board game :lol:

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

Busman
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Posted: Wed May 21, 2008 11:28 pm

10 days is nothing. Wait longer. Your listing will be on Ebay for 60 days. After 45 days you can contest it with Paypal, then you have another 20 days after that to escalate it for return of payment.

I recently bid on an item and the seller dropped off the face of the earth. (turns out he probably got arrested). I waited 1 month before I started my paypal contest, then another 14 days to escalate it. I left the neg feedback about 10 days after the escalation.

There's no hurry to leave the neg feedback. It can't be taken back once left. Keep emailing them. If you're like me, you'd much rather have the item at the price you bid than the headache of fighting to get your money back and not having the item.

sauromatian
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:43 am

If I'm reading the original post correctly, no money has been sent. Thus, it can't be remedied by by the seller returning anything. The seller has contractually agreed to sell an item to g026r, but has failed to collect payment.

Overall it sounds like a frustrating situation. Maybe the seller is unhappy with the amounts bid, so he's screwing you by failing to complete the sale. However, overcoming this obstacle could only make things worse. If he's a jerk regarding step 1, he'd likely be a jerk regarding packing, shipping, item matching description, etc. If you win this round, you're likely to regret it.

If you can't force him to take your money, you're still screwed. You can't go elsewhere to buy a different copy, as this seller may rematerialize at any time, demanding you pay for an item you no longer need.

gyg
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:39 am

sauromatian wrote:If you can't force him to take your money, you're still screwed. You can't go elsewhere to buy a different copy, as this seller may rematerialize at any time, demanding you pay for an item you no longer need.

True enough, but again, what's the worst that can happen. He can't neg you.If ebay get involved from his end because of his 'demands' for payment simply get in contact with ebay and tell them that cash was sent (or a cheque that was never cashed). In real terms ebay do not care about this in the slightest - their fees are as good as in the bank - if a deal is not done they don't lose a bean. (Let's face it they would probably not care if the item was relisted because they'll get their fees all over again!)

Just be patient and hope for the best.

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

gyg
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:45 am

In a similar vein.

A few years ago I brought a load of Traveller books for a fairly decent price, and, similar to g026r, I requested an invoice and waited, and waited..............and waited. After a couple of requests I gave up, and forgot all about it.

MUCH later (like 3 months IIRC) the lady involved contacted me out of the blue, apologised profusely, giving details of some family crisis (don't remember the details but I do remember thinking I was glad it wasn't me!), and asked if I was still interested.

I finally paid for the books, which arrived a couple of days later, with a couple of extras and a really nice letter, apologising once again

Like I said before, sometimes real life gets in the way.

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

gyg
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:48 am

Alternativerly you could go round their house, punch them, and take the stuff anyway!

You can never have too much of something you didn't need in the first place.

copycat
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 7:48 am

I've had something like this recently, with that "2nd print beta" DMG I bought. Turns out, in fact, it is a 6th print DMG. They will give me my money back, or they will know what hell is like.

Those who can, don't. Those who should not, do.

g026r
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Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 9:22 am

Aneoth wrote:Did you perhaps send a REQUEST for an invoice four times?

Yes, that's what I meant.

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

mbassoc2003
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:34 pm

What about from the other side of the fence. How long is it reasonable to awaite payment for your eBay auctions? I am currently outstanding some £440/$800 from a variety of buyers, and have already had to pay eBay their cut. So how long is reasonable? 7 days? 14 days? 21?

This week I've been mostly eating . . . The white ones with the little red flecks in them.

Mars
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 5:40 pm

I would think that unless they are paying by money order, 10-14 days with a reminder after 1 week is probably plenty of time.

g026r
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:50 pm

I generally send out the invoice as soon as I can, and send out at least one more a week later.

If after 14 days I haven't gotten payment or been contacted by the buyer, then I file a non-paying buyer dispute. Often that gets their attention -- and if it doesn't then you get your fees back.

"Reader, Carthegena was of the mind, that unto thoſe Three Things, which the Ancients held Impoſſible, there ſhould be added this Fourth ; To find a Book Printed without Errata's."

mdr003
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 9:01 pm

mbassoc2003 wrote:What about from the other side of the fence. How long is it reasonable to awaite payment for your eBay auctions? I am currently outstanding some £440/$800 from a variety of buyers, and have already had to pay eBay their cut. So how long is reasonable? 7 days? 14 days? 21?

My usual practice is to send out an invoice when the auction finishes. If I haven't received payment after 7 days, I send a polite reminder. If its still outstanding after another 7 days I open a payment not received dispute.

It's worked so far; I've only had to open a dispute a couple of times and they have always paid up before I've needed to escalate to a claim.

Having said that, if the buyer contacts me and asks for extra time, its no problem - as long as there is communication I'm pretty relaxed. Even if they want to back out of the purchase - I'd rather have a mutual cancellation than a drawn out claim and negative feedback.

Demand of them whither they should comme to devide the worlde with the Emperour? And as they answered, he tooke up his shirte behinde and shewed them his buttocks, sayenge unto them, drawe your Lyne throughe the middest of *this* place.

deimos3428
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 8:38 am

Aneoth wrote:I have bought at least 500 items on E-Bay and I have yet to send out a single invoice to any seller.

How you make any money on eBay at all is beyond me. I invoice each and every one of my sellers. (It's a numbers game, eventually somebody will pay up.)

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