Is there anything I can do about a non payer

EJCOLLECTIBLES · Posts: 3

Hi I am new here at Ecrater. So far I love it. I have one question though. I had guy place order on 31st invoice said was going to pay by personal check. I emailed him thanking him for order and that I saw that he was paying with personal check and that I would process his order as soon payment was recieved. Didnt here anything back I waited 5 days and emailed him back nofiy him I never got his check. Is there anything else I can do he never responded.

Lisa A

EtchingsandCollectibles · Posts: 396

A buyer is not a buyer until payment is received. You made the contact, the ball is in his court, so to speak. If 14 days after the sale, you have no contact or check.
We would consider it them a non-paying buyer and put the item up for sale again and the whole issue behind us.

eleganzajewels · Guest

It's frustrating getting those kinds, but not much you can do. Shoot, I give 'em 48 hours to contact me, after that, it's a nonsale and I just delete the order.

Always keep the email address, though, saved in a folder for future newsletters. Sometimes things happen, like hospital visits and other stuff, the nonbuyer may become a true buyer in the future.

thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat · Posts: 10159

Non-paying bidders are just part of selling on line. The worst thing they do is waste your time. I have 2 right now but they are the first in several months.

I always look at it like this--it's better than having a brick and mortar store and having to deal with theives and shop lifters.

my-little-e-shop-in-ukraine · Posts: 867

Hi,

I have had a non payer who decided to pay after receiving a very nice email from me which outlined the possible results, that in future even if offering a genuine credit card on line sellers may refuse to accept his orders and possible problems with future credit applications, if I reported him to the,

'ON LINE SHOPPERS NON PAYMENT AGENCY'

It worked for me Twisted Evil

ALikelyStory · Posts: 21

I'm sorry, but unless the buyer purchased the item from you on eBay, they are under no obligation to complete the transaction legally, or otherwise.

If you are buying something in a brick and mortar store, you are free to cancel the purchase even after it has been rung up. This happens all the time when customers find that the total is more than they anticipated, or they thought an item was on sale and it isn't. When asked to, the cashier will void the sale, or cancel some of the items without a peep.

Additionally, online stores like Amazon and Barnes and Noble will cancel a sale when requested (if it hasn't shipped).

To email the the buyers and try to insist they follow through on a sale when they've changed their mind is unprofessional.

ALikelyStory · Posts: 21

To further clarify, the only reason eBay has this policy is that they started out as an auction only site. Auctions are indeed legally binding. But during the course of making a standard purchase in a store, internet or otherwise, until the customer has paid, it's just a potential sale and nothing more.

Even a store that has a no return policy would not be able to apply it until the customer has paid for the merchandise.

Edited for spelling.

my-little-e-shop-in-ukraine · Posts: 867

Our time as sellers is valuable.

Those who are not genuine buyers who do not even reply to you after they have placed an order show no consideration or value of your time.

If I had a bricks and mortar shop and a buyer came in and wasted my time with not even a polite word or any consideration I would not let them visit my shop again. Not sure about the law in the US but in the Ukraine a shop owner has the right to refuse to sell to anyone he does not wish too.

ALikelyStory · Posts: 21

You can have whatever policy you want about who can shop in your store. What you should not do is email them and imply that you can file a complaint when you cannot. They are free to abandon their shopping cart and there is no penalty to their credit rating or otherwise.

It is the stated goal of some ecrater sellers to have ecrater become a marketplace, much as eBay is, not just a site to host their stores. To come and have customers browse ecrater, as opposed to finding their way to individual stores through internet searches.

If that should happen, then sellers will find themselves lumped together very much as we are on eBay. I bought something on eBay, and the seller was rude you hear people say, not I bought something at such-and-such a store on eBay but on eBay.

So, what each seller does could reflect on us all and I am concerned when I hear that sellers are being rude to customers. And I'm very troubled by sellers who don't know what they can legally hold the buyers to. You cannot legally force payment.

my-little-e-shop-in-ukraine · Posts: 867

THIS IS NOT EBAY.

I do not know where you get the idea that ecrater members want ecrater to become like an ebay marketplace

ALikelyStory · Posts: 21

I didn't say that anyone wants this site to become eBay, I said that some sellers want this to become a shopping destination the way eBay is. If it makes you fell better, substitute "Amazon" for "eBay".

But you are sidestepping the main issue. you said:

my-little-e-shop-in-ukraine · Posts: 867

As I see it, you and I have very different ideas on selling.

You see efee as a good example marketplace and that buyers are well within their rights to waste the time of sellers, without showing consideration or good manners.

I believe that genuine buyers who make a mistake write and tell sellers who understand and thank them for their time. Or at least I do. Time wasters should be named and shamed in my opinion and I happy to report them and their actions anywhere that I can.

I will not enter any further comment in this thread as an attack of 'English Good Manners' has set in and I have no interest in a long debate on the virtues of the 'ebay marketplace' I much prefer to spend my time promoting my stores and finding genuine buyers.

ALikelyStory · Posts: 21

thelivesandlovesofmaggiethecat · Posts: 10159

I have to side with ALikelyStory here. Threatening a nonpaying buyer with action you cannot take is unprofessional and could come back to bite your hiney. What if the buyer researches the non-existent organization on the internet? If it existed it would surely be there since it's about non-paying on-line buyers.

If someone was in my store and changed their mind, I don't want to alienate them. They know my store. They can tell their friends about the experience--good or bad. They might have seen other things they want in the future. Being a sore loser doesn't help you as seller at all.

As for the ecraterites who want ecrater to be more like eBay, there are quite a few who start threads in the community....if only we did this like eBay. You have to research the threads. They aren't entitled why can't we be more like eBay but that's the gist of their suggestion.

The fact is that most of us who came here from eBay did so when the fees became untenable. We put up with the system malfunctions, the constant threat of negative feedback, and the somewhat shady business practices of the "boss".

Threatening to report someone for non-payment reeks of eBay buyers threatening negative feedback if we don't reduce the price after the fact or give them a total refund for no reason, etc. It is unprofessional and frankly surprises me that it came from Ukraine.

Yes a note from the buyer would be nice (I certainly appreciate it when it happens) but our job is not to teach manners, it's to stock and maintain a shop, and if you've ever worked in a shop you know that much of an employee's time is taken up with time wasters. It goes with the territory. It's how people make up their minds to buy or not.

TexasTreasures · moderator Posts: 3467

I take the lazyman's approach to things like this. If they are not going to pay, then why should I let them waste more of my time? If I write them a 20 second email, then I have wasted 20 seconds of my valuable time on a customer who is not spending money with me.