opinions: What length of time to pay for ebay auctions?

jay0791

I am curious to what other ebay buyers think. What is an acceptable length of time a buyer has to pay for an ebay auction won?
I know seller wants the $ asap. Most of us also do some selling. When I do I rarely get excited before 2 weeks if someone has not paid.

I know ebay itself can open up a NPB claim. Does anyone know that time frame? Is the time frame determined by the seller?

I ask as today a seller opened up a npb case vs. me after just 4 days for a $15 card. Auction didn't state time payment was expected.

A few months ago a seller sent me a angry email after one day and said auctions were to be paid in one day.......I complied.
Then he took 3 weeks to even send the card.

Normally I pay within one day or two ....at worst a week if I am combining auctions.

What's everyone think on acceptable time frame?

Stingray

7 days is what I say in my auctions that they must pay for an item.

ThoseBackPages

i thought it was 7 days?

i like to pay for my wins on Sunday evenings

PSARich

I send a gentle reminder after 3 days and another reminder after 7 days. If they do not respond after 7 days I open an npb case. If they respond and say they need a little time...no problem. It is when a buyer ignors my reminders and doesn't communicate with me that I get a little unhappy. I understand that some buyers need to wait until pay day or need a little time...just please let me know and it will not be a problem.

A couple months ago I had a seller email me after two days and threaten a npb. I was out of town when the auction ended and didn't have time to check eBay until I returned home. I checked his feedback which consisted of around 12 so knew I bought from an inexperienced seller. I contacted him with the reason I hadn't paid yet and suggested he be a little gentler with his threats if he wanted to keep his customers. He actually thanked me and said he was new to eBay and didn't really know what a reasonable wait period was for payment.

CSUrunandstun

I was the seller you are referring to I believe. I guess I am used to paying immediately when I win an auction and I did not see the need for anyone to wait 4 days for a $15 auction. would have been nice if you would've mentioned to me that you needed more time rather than waste the boards time here. I would've had no problem with that. I only opened a claim only because you ignored my first gentle reminder after 3 days...sorry for the inconvenience...maybe I'm too impatient...

otwcards

I've always gone under the impression that you pay when you win. I realize that not everyone operates in this manner, but I pay for the item the day that it is won. The only exception being if a seller has additional items ending within a few days that I also have interest, in which case, I contact the seller and advise them accordingly.

I've never understood the point of some that prefer to wait to pay for an item just because they are allowed to pay for it later...

Stingray

I would say I usually pay the day of or one day after I win an auction, unless I know there is something else from the same seller that I might buy in a day or two. I sometimes send a buyer a reminder after 5 days that payment is expected within 7 days.

gopherfan

<< <i>I've always gone under the impression that you pay when you win. I realize that not everyone operates in this manner, but I pay for the item the day that it is won. The only exception being if a seller has additional items ending within a few days that I also have interest, in which case, I contact the seller and advise them accordingly.

I've never understood the point of some that prefer to wait to pay for an item just because they are allowed to pay for it later... >>



This^^^^^^

WalterSobchak

In my opinion, there is no acceptable reason (short of a sudden tragedy) for a buyer not to pay within 7 days of purchasing the item.

That said, as a seller, I give buyers 14-17 days before I really do anything. I don't even send the 'gentle reminder' message until day 10.

epatmythes

Personally, to me it's the 21st century and electronic payment is the primary method of payment... I stated 72 hours (3 days) in my auctions! Why should it take longer? With the exception of waiting a few days for other auctions to combine shipping, there is really no excuse. Buy what you can afford! Of course, I can't file NPB for 7 (maybe it's 4, haven't had to do it in awhile) days... but rest assured, my auctions state 72 hours... if payment isn't made in that time, no positive is given. If payment isn't there by day 7, NPB is immediately filed.

Perhaps I'm lucky, but I'd guess 90% or more of my sales have been paid within 48 hours. The other 10%, well, payment generally comes in within 24 hours of the NPB filing. Personally, I never buy anything I can't pay for within 24 hours... unless I'm waiting 2-3 days for their other auctions to get combined shipping, and I'll probably tell them such in the process.

Nearly 12 years on eBay, well over 2000 feedback, 100% positive... reading some of the horror stories on here, perhaps I'm one of the lucky ones. I set high expectations as a seller, but I back it up by holding myself equally responsible as a buyer. In my opinion, it's not that hard... I'll still do my best to provide stellar service, but to this day it baffles me when people don't (or can't) pay for items won in an extremely timely manner.

To answer the OP's original question... to me, 3 days should be more than enough.

ffishonn

I believe ebay would have something in their policy's about this, and if I remember right I think it's within 3 days. For me it seems reasonable to make payment within 3 days of winning the auction and as a seller I usually expect payment within 3 days. After 2 days I send a reminder. A week seems like a excessive amount of time. I mean come on how long dose it take to make a paypal payment 3 minutes?? If I hope to win additional item from the same seller I email them me intent. So their not left hanging. A week just seems like dragging your feet.

backbidder

As a heavy buyer on ebay, I appreciate the 7 day window that most sellers state in their listings. While I do try to pay within 4 days, with my work, travel, and personal schedule I cannot be on ebay all the time, nor can I control what days and hours auctions close. And since my employer has it blocked I cannot get to it at work or on my mobile devices (probably a good thing!). My personal commitment is to always pay within 7 days, and rarely, if ever, have I missed that it 12 years on ebay. If I lose some positives with my approach, oh well, they don't mean anything anyway as a buyer.

I do kind of chuckle a little when I occasionally get the 4-day NPB because ebay then allows another 4-days after that for the buyer to pay for a total of 8 days.

Griffins

Between laptops, cellphones and ipads there is no reason for a buyer not to pay within 24 hours, unless they are bidding without having the money at hand to pay.
I typically pay within a few minutes of getting the winning bid notice, at worst the next day. When selling I'd say 80% of the winners pays within a few minutes, the remainder within a day.
I have had a few people ask if they could take some time to pay if they win the item, and I'm always fine with that. It just should be stated before the auction is won or the BIN hit.

SDSportsFan

I normally pay within 24 hours.....48 at the most.

You have to remember, some people (like me for instance) do not have an ipad or cellphone. I have a desktop, and that's it. No cellphone, no ipad, no blackberry, none of the other newfangled gadgets that seem to be taking over the world. Also, some people set snipe bids via one of the snipe websites, and may not even realize within 24 hours, that they've won an auction. They and others, between work and family, probably don't even get on their computer every day.

All that being said, I think 3-4 days is a good rule-of-thumb to use in expecting payment to be sent, or at least for the buyer to contact the seller to request/arrange a longer timeframe.

Steve

rexvos

I always pay as soon as possible, there is no reason to hold payment unless you are not able to get to a computer.

Southsider

I usually send out invoices the night the auctions end or the following morning. From that point, I give buyers 3 days to respond, either by paying or letting me know that they will send payment at some point. If I have no response from the buyer at all after 3 days, I send a reminder invoice. If there is no response in the 48 hours after the reminder, I send another reminder. 48 hours later and approximately 1 week after the auction ends if the buyer has made zero contact with me (especially if it's a newbie bidder), I will open a NPB claim with ebay. A full week is more than enough time to either pay or to email someone to let them know you are waiting on something else before you can pay. Just some communication, that's all I ask.

Ianril

With the eBay app, I pay within minutes (usually seconds) of my winnings. I'm a sellers dream I guess?

70ToppsFanatic

<< <i>Two words: combined shipping

For other scenarios, 7-10 days is the norm ... from what I've seen. Opening a NPB claim after only 4 days may get you neutral or negative feedback - and is that worth it for $15?

As for claims go ... I send an invoice or combined invoice within 24 hours ... eBay sends an automatic reminder after 3 days I believe ... after 7 days I usually send a reminder that payment is due in 3 days ... on the 9th day (following when the invoice was sent) I send another gentle reminder that payment is due in 1 day. Then AFTER the 10th day, and only then, will I open a NPB.

Communication is key.

EDIT: I always pay within 7 days ... and usually much quicker depending on the seller and if they'll be listing more items soon ... in that case I'll usually email saying how I'd like to combine shipping. >>



I agree. With what some people are asking to ship even a single graded card, and given that people list multiple items
that end over several days I usually defer things up to 7 days if I am looking at other lots from the same seller.

jradke4

i pay as soon as i can in most cases. sometimes though i dont have the time to do it right away.

where is the thread about acceptable shipping from sellers.

i love it when i pay within a day of the auction ending and have to email the buyer a month later asking where the item is. doesnt happen often but still does. i think the new feedback has helped, i use to have slow shipping times quite a bit a few years ago. afterall with many PO's now open 24/7 with the automated ATM like postage machines there is no excuse for sellers not shipping on time.

stangrider

Living on the west coast my p.o. doesn't close till 5pm which is 8pm eastern. I ship everything same day with an exception here or there.