Hi!

 

I opened a new eBay account in November, in order to start selling LEGO.

 

From having my first sale cancelled after I had handed the package over to the courier, by a soccer mom who didn't realize the item shipped from outside the US, to people who write to express their gratitude and say that their son loved the set, but don't leave any feedback.   

 

My feedback stands proudly at 0 (ahah!) and the whole experience has been somewhat bittersweet. 

 

Now I need some advice from more experienced sellers.

 

I've read the FAQs but I'm not sure which line to take.

 

I sold a 70010 Lion CHI Temple on Saturday afternoon, which I had got for 26

You can't open a case for 4 days anyways. I may give someone a little extra time if they respond to my messages or if they have higher feedback and I expect them to pay, but if it's a low feedback buyer and I need to get the item relisted I will open a case after 4 days.

Here is how I handle this.

I clearly state in my eBay Shop that I will expect payments within 7 days.
This information is also included (again) in the invoice.
If the 7 days pass without any payment, I send the buyer a mail - asking if there are any problems with the payment.

In 99% of the cases the buyers pay or at least apologize and explain their problem after that mail.
If someone does not answer at all, I open a case.

But you definetly need to get more positiv feedback to your account. Ever thought of selling a lot of small items (like Minifigs) to get more feedback!?

Regards,

Titus

Here is how I handle this.

I clearly state in my eBay Shop that I will expect payments within 7 days.

This information is also included (again) in the invoice.

If the 7 days pass without any payment, I send the buyer a mail - asking if there are any problems with the payment.

In 99% of the cases the buyers pay or at least apologize and explain their problem after that mail.

If someone does not answer at all, I open a case.

But you definetly need to get more positiv feedback to your account. Ever thought of selling a lot of small items (like Minifigs) to get more feedback!?

Regards,

Titus

 

Polybags are another great way to get a few sales under your belt - even so, I think I get feedback left maybe a third of the time, so be prepared to sell quite a few to get some positive FB points.  Good luck!

Clearly state or define your terms in your listing, such as how many days you will allow non-payment before opening a case, what your return policy is (and 'no returns' doesn't actually work, so don't bother with that), what countries you are willing to ship to, and then prepare to accept that a lot of buyers won't read said terms.  The advice to sell a lot of smaller items to build your seller feedback is good advice, and I'd add that you could make a few purchases with your 'seller' account to get some feedback on there, too.  Just make sure you leave feedback for the seller first, so they'll leave feedback for you.

to avoid these issues, i check the "require immediate payment when buyers use buy it now" box in my listing. by the way, is your avatar ron burgundy?!!

Most of the people i sell to that do not pay within the first 2 days will almost never pay. Usually they never respond either, so they make my life more difficult by needing to wait to open a dispute/re-list the item.

 

Personally i just send them a message telling them i would appreciate payment within X amount of time, and if not i will have to open a dispute. I try to side with them and say things like: "I understand making payment for an expensive item like this may be difficult, i can wait a bit if you need time to collect funds" or: "I'd really rather have you pay, but i am running a business here and i need to re-list this item ASAP if you do not intend to pay". If they do not intend to pay i'd rather them tell me so so i can re-list it, so i also may ask them if they want to cancel the transaction i will accept it.

 

After sounding "nice" to them a lot of the times they will respond with their issue knowing i am open to work it out with them, and i certainly am. There are those of course that will never respond, so that is frustrating

 

I feel your pain with the feedback thing, started selling back in 2007, and i remember how many sales it took to actually get decent feedback. Something like 50 sales = 20ish feedback ratings. Some just take a really long time to leave feedback, have some people leaving feedback from items sold months ago.

 

Hope i could be of some help!

Thank you everyone for sharing your valuable knowledge and experiences.

 

I think it's going to be an uphill battle but I think I'm prepared!

From my experience, you need to have some patience when you sell stuff online. Like someone above said, state in your invoice etc. the way you proceed.

 

I don't use eBay (I use another platform) and I for one explain the following:

1. Payment is expected within 10 days after the purchase

2. If no payment is received, a reminder e-mail will be sent allowing for 3 more days to pay

3. If no payment is received, negative feedback is left and a case is opened to get the fees back

 

Don't stress too much, 2 days isn't enough to open a case against someone, you gotta be reasonable a bit. 99% of the time I get paid and can take anywhere from 1 day to 15 days...some people forgot they bought something, some people place a bid and leave on holiday with no ebanking access...reasons are endless really!

From my experience, you need to have some patience when you sell stuff online. Like someone above said, state in your invoice etc. the way you proceed.

 

I don't use eBay (I use another platform) and I for one explain the following:

1. Payment is expected within 10 days after the purchase

2. If no payment is received, a reminder e-mail will be sent allowing for 3 more days to pay

3. If no payment is received, negative feedback is left and a case is opened to get the fees back

 

Don't stress too much, 2 days isn't enough to open a case against someone, you gotta be reasonable a bit. 99% of the time I get paid and can take anywhere from 1 day to 15 days...some people forgot they bought something, some people place a bid and leave on holiday with no ebanking access...reasons are endless really!

 

Yes, I see what you mean.

 

I think I'm pretty reasonable, being somewhat experienced in my local platform, which would be the equivalent of CL.

 

The reason I'm frustrated is that (apart from being used to insta-paying for stuff), being a new seller, I have such a low monthly limit that, at the moment, I can't even list multiples. I would like to sell a couple while they are OOS on LEGO Shop at Home.

 

Everything is amazing and nobody's happy!

 

That said, thanks for the advice!

Actually you can now file for unpaid items on ebay after 2 days.

 

And believe me, I file a lot of unpaid items. In my experience, about 40% of those that don't pay within 2 days never do.

You can set up to file your NPB cases automatically on ebay.  This will take a lot of stress out of your life as an ebay seller.    I've never found that wasting my time sending invoices to people has had much effect in getting people to pay.