I would email them and ask if they still want them and tell them if you don't receive payment within 7 days you will relist them.

Marbree,
That is a problem with everything - not just seeds. I have sold both seeds and plants on both the Lily Auction - preferred - and Ebay. I am clear in my listing that payment is kindly expected within 7 or 10 days, but will hold auction totals if that person is still shopping on new listings. More often than not, I get the payment well within the time limit. If not, I send a friendly reminder because I too have forgotten to send a payment during an especially busy buying frenzy. I really don't think most bidders intend not to pay- just that they get busy and forget. If all else fails, notify Mike on the Lily Auction or put an unpaid stike on Ebay--that will usually get immediate attention. Mike is great about not allowing negative feedback in retaliation..and has worked very hard to keep everything going smoothly. Wish you luck
Shelly

I have done that, but then they send the money and aren't happy with me. And that's usually after a couple of reminders and waiting a couple of weeks.

Is there a way to get them to want to buy the stuff they bid on?

Shelly I didn't see your reply before the prior answer.

I am not getting any replies to e-mails, so I don't know what's happening on his end. I've sent a couple reminders, just no answer.

If it is a lily auction bidder.. MIke can usually provide a phone number.
Shelly

Marbree,
I have been selling seeds for four years on the Lily Auction and have only had two buyers ever not send payment. After two weeks without receiving payment, I send a reminder email. No one has ever been been unpleasant about the reminder. They usually have just forgotten. If they value the seeds, they will pay.
I find the more the seeds cost, the more likely I get a fast payment. I usually send extra seeds and bonuses I think they will like, and about 80% of my buyers leave feedback. I guess I've been lucky. Most of my seed buyers are super people. What you might do is state in the listing that bonus seeds will be sent if the payment is received within 10 days. That might give them an incentive to follow through with payment.

Debra

I'm the worst on the Lily Auction. I have a guilty flush in my cheeks just reading this thread. I procrastinate, and I forget. I get distracted and overwhelmed with some household event/events and then....nada. I *really* have appreciated the reminders that I've been sent, and the overall laid back vibe my sellers have had.

I seldom leave feedback, but not because I'm unhappy! I just don't have/take the time most often. A single mom with two teenage boys spends most of her spare time at the grocery! If I buy from a new seller, I take the time for their sake, but when someone already has hundreds/thousands of positive feedbacks I figure they can live without my spit in their ocean.

So, I'm wondering if you are overreading the lack of feedback as unhappiness. I bet most are just busy/disorganized like me--the kind of person who forgets what they won and then whether or not they paid for it. This kind of person doesn't leave feedback, cuz, like me, they just don't quite have their s@#! together. I figure I must frustrate normal people, but I'm not actively malicious so much as passively ineffective. Things that should be easy put a strain on my brain like you wouldn't believe--kinda an ADD thing. It's a trade off for me, cuz the flip side is things that should be difficult usually fascinate me and seem easy.

I e-mailed them and took the high road. I'm sure they have a good reason for the delay. I hope it works out.

Right now I am having the opposite problem. Two weeks ago I won a seed auction on the LA, paid for them immediately with Paypal and have received no type of communication from the seller and I have not received any seeds. I have sent an email to the seller with no response, but I notice this same seller has multiple auctions on the LA right now. Hope I have not been stiffed.

Ann

I try to pay as quickly as I can when I buy something on the LA. A time or two I misplaced my paper work and even paid sellers twice for the same item. I've been amazed at how honest those people were. They emailed me and told me that I paid them twice. I probably would not have caught the error for quite some time, if at all. I know how hard it can be to keep track of things when you are bidding on numerous auctions. I'd like to think that the people who are late on paying for their purchases got sidetracked or are dealing with pressing issues. Sending a reminder or calling if you can get a number would probably be the best way to deal with that. Hope you get your payment soon marbree.

Sorry, petalpatsy you won't like what I am going to say. People who are very quick to bid on something should be just as quick to send payment when they win. We all have lives and other things that take our attention. Nobody wants to hear somebody else talk about all of their problems and reasons why they can't pay for their obligations.

We all have problems and most of us make paying bills a priority. If you have time to sit and watch an auction, you certainly can make time to pay when you win. If not, please -PLEASE do us all a favor and don't bid. It puts a black mark on the auction and all of us who take it seriously.

I have noticed that those that use paypal usually pay right away, and those that pay by check or money order usually take longer, and I'm not talking about the amount of time it takes in the mail for it to get here.

On e-bay most people using paypal pay within a day or two, and most of them pay right after purchasing something if the postage is listed properly. It is almost 2 weeks for the ones that send money orders. I just had one that purchased a book, and I didn't hear from her for 3 weeks, after 2 weeks I invoiced her again, and sent a reminder the following day. After 3 weeks I filed an unpaid item report, and she finally paid through paypal using an e-check, it was 28 days from purchase to the day the Item shipped.

I seldom had a problem on the LA, I will begin selling seed there in January or February. I can count the deadbeats over the past 9 years on one hand and I have a couple of fingers left over. Things may have changed in the past year though.

I'm new to using LA so want to give you my perspective as a consumer. I hope it's valuable insight.

My experience is that the easier you make it for people to do the right thing, the quicker they will be at doing it.

As a normal part of my daily routines I quit writing checks several years ago. I pay all bills using online billpay, many with auto-pay options, or I use credit card. I then pay my cc off monthly in one single bill. I don't even bank in the same state where I live. I've taken this routine as a means of simplifying and also for peace of mind so that I DON'T forget to pay something- as someone else noted life is busy and it's easy to loose track.

I was surprised, then, when I went to LA and have not found anyone accepting credit cards even with paypal. Paypal has been the target of too much hacking & phishing schemes so, though I do keep one credit card listed with them, I will not list my bank accounts with them. With most sellers on LA, that means I have to find my checkbook or make a special trip to get a money order. Neither of which is convenient.

I personally would be happy to pay an extra handling charge for the convenience and peace of mind of being able to pay you IMMEDIATELY, via credit card....so why doesn't anyone on LA accept them?

Actually, it was an ebay bid that I was referring to.

Personally, I prefer to pay by money order. Sometimes I think I may not always get a bonus because of it. And I only bid when I have the money to cover it. Unless my car has suddenly broken, I can get a money order in the mailman's hand within 3 days of the auction close, and I try to get in the mail with 24 hours of the auction's close. I just really don't understand why someone would bid and not pay.

It's just as a seller, I have to check the e-mail and to continue checking it for their reply. And after a couple weeks, it really gets old, especially if it's an old e-mail I rarely use. No reply yesterday, no reply today, no reply everyday for two weeks since.

I don't mind sending a quick reminder, but an e-mail in reply to know what's happening would be nice.

And to be fair, I really don't know what issues my buyer is dealing with. I do agree that the daylily seed buyers are pretty decent people and I am going with that.

I was concerned about the bank account, so I opened a no fee checking account with a debit card at a bank where we have no other accounts, and it is the Paypal acount. I transfer the money from Paypal to that bank account, and use the debit card at stores or to withdraw money. I've been using it for 3 or 4 years, without any problems, I DO NOT LOG ON THROUGH ANY E-MAILS, that is when you have problems. Its the same as e-bay, I get phishing e-mails from both e-bay and paypal every week. I just report them and move on.

I have to agree with the sentiment that if you are selling or buying, you are making a commitment to another person that involves their resources, both time and money. A seller who has to send multiple emails and check on payment every day for 2 weeks is losing profit - a buyer who is chasing down a seller for shipment would have done better to buy from another at a higher price. I'm dealing with an Ebay seller right now who has not responded in over 30 days since auctions end. I can understand family emergencies and the like, but he continues to ship to others and post new listings so he gets a formal dispute in a couple of days.
These auctions are great for everybody - this is why they are so successful. But that is completely dependent on 2 things - buyers who provide good products and sellers who pay quickly and dependably. Without both of these in place, the whole thing erodes into something undesirable (and eventually it goes away :(.....). My current situation is the only one that I have experienced that did not have a viable miscommunication attached to it so I think most folks are on the up-and-up. I can imagine there are some who get in too deep, get too enthusiastic and cannot meet their obligations, or others who focus on the auction but delivery is less important. As a buyer, I would only expect a 2 or 3 day grace period for payment before a seller relisted an item. I also think communication is key - if I pay by check or MO, which is rare, I always advise the seller that I have sent payment so they are expecting it.
Zack

My husband and I buy and sell on eBay quite a bit, and we prefer to do business using PayPal... it's a lot quicker, simpler and most sellers accept, and even prefer, that type of payment. We have had no problems to date. When we sell an item, it's listed as PayPal only, payable within 3-5 days.

I always leave feedback... I consider it part of the auction... people rely on feedback for their scores! It's also the considerate thing to do at the end of the auction.

Once I place a bid on an item, I am entering a legally binding contract to purchase said item if I win... I do not bid frivolously, but spend time watching an item I may want for a few days before placing a bid on it, to be sure it's something I really want and am willing to pay for. As soon as the auction ends, I pay immediately through PayPal, sometimes even before being invoiced! This way, I never forget to pay. I usually prefer an item to be sent Priority Mail so I can track my packages.

We have a very high score as buyers/sellers... 100%... we haven't sold that many items, but we have bought quite a few... and to date, we've been very satisfied with how things have gone...

In a nutshell, the easier it is for buyers, the faster the payments are made... and as a seller, we expect payment within 3 or 5 days, and only accept PayPal... this seems to keep everything moving along quickly and easily...

Just my 2 cents! :-)

It's okay, carmen grower, because I agree with you. I'm flawless on Ebay, and when I hit the LA I had trouble organizing. I won 160 auction from 41 sellers in three months. I had running accounts with several sellers, and I bought a printer to print out my auctions won and mark ones paid. I still had trouble--cuz it's trouble to reprint and hand mark updates. Also, Mike lists the auctions won by the date the seller listed the auction. This threw me, cuz I'd win a long auction and it would slip in my lists a page or two back. I found this out because I had to email him once when my latest update disappeared into another dimension. I was checking my PalPal account history against emails and aucion wins, but I write so few checks I'd not even marked them down anyplace besides that list. I also paid somebody twice, and I just took a double order of seeds (happily.) It was a tad embarrassing to email my sellers and say 'I've lost list #4.3. I've made list #5 and now #5.1 but I don't know where my cutoff should have been. Can you check and tell me what I owe you?' It was sweet in the end, because a couple of them really felt my pain, and the muffled laughter could be heard through the internet

Then, near the end of this binge, amidst digging beds,soaking in bleach and superthrive, planting, and eating delivery pizza, I finally clicked on the big (but nevertheless overlooked) "S" button and realized it grouped all your auctions from one seller for easier record keeping. That would have been SO MUCH EASIER to keep up with!

Overall, it was a nightmare.

I am in the same position as Ann/Tinkerbell. I won two auctions just over two weeka ago and paid immediately by Paypal. I e-mailed the seller to confirm that she had received the payment and she replied that she had and thanks.

I've not heard anything since. I know it takes longer to the UK but she hasn't replied to my e-mail from a couple of days ago.

Nikki

Payment due within 7 days of auction close.

This helps for quick payment.

Simply use the bold and the without the quotation inside the to create the bolded large text. You could put it in red to emphasize it further.

Six days after the first email to my seller, I sent 3 more emails--1 through the Lily Auction through another of her auctions, and 2 from my inbox--one of which was a copy of the Paypal receipt. Still no communication. This seller has many, many feedbacks, all positive. I wondered if something had happened to the seller or family but then I have seen new auctions listed since I won my seed auction. I have a hard time believing that all of a sudden a good seller won't make something right. My problem is that I can't get the seller to respond. What should be my next action? Contact the Lily Auction or Paypal? How long should I give the seller to send my seeds? I do NOT want to leave negative feedback at this point since I do not know what the problem is.

It has been the holidays and some people take vacation or go out of town. If no response soon just email Mike the owner of the Lily Auction, he is good about helping people along.
As far as Ebay, just file an unpaid item strike and they will either pay or Ebay will refund your seller fees and you can resell the item.

Dot

Ann/Farmerbell (sorry- I realized I called you Tinkerbell earlier--oops!)

I wonder if we are having problems with the same seller. My seller also has a lot of positive feedback from numerous buyers, and has a lot of auctions listed at present which are due to finish very soon. Sounds like it could be the same person do you think?

Nikki

Nikki and Farmerbell - I had a problem with not recieving e-mail sent through the lily auction. For some reason, my internet provider blocked it. Those people were using the link from the auction to contact me --- was a fluke thing - happened for a few months - I tried something that Mike Longo told me to do while I was talking to him on the phone - couldn't tell you what that was now though..lol.. it fixed the problem. If he sees this post - he might shed more light on it. Try typing in their address yourself rather than using the link through the auction and see if that helps. Might be the answer -- especially if this person is still active on the auction and not responding to e-mail.
Shelly

Marbree, I agree with Jackarias that making it

VERY CLEAR when you expect payment does wonders about getting 99% swift payment.
But when my buyers take more than 3 days to contact me, I send emails directly AND through the LA or eBay email systems to remind them it's time to make arrangements for their new daylily or etc. At 11 days with no contact I get the website involved, which always works with those few holdouts that are too busy to finish their purchase ~ it's amazing how they suddenly find time to respond...

Feedback: my 2 cents is that if you are the seller, you leave feedback upon payment. If you are the buyer you leave feedback (or email the seller about any problem) as soon as you open your pkg. I believe it damages the integrity of the auction venues if you neglect to leave feedback. That system is there for a reason.

Paypal: I've had one problem, because i reponded to a "phishing" email a few years ago. Paypal took it upon themselves to call me as soon as the creep transfered 300 Euros from my bank account into his, at 3 AM Pacific time, because it was suspicious activity. It was easy to cancel that transaction & change the passwords on my accounts.
So I use Paypal with complete confidence, even though I'd prefer a check or MO as pymt to avoid the high fees they charge. As a buyer it saves me the cost of a stamp & the hassle of getting an envelope into the mail, so I offer that option to my buyers as well.
Good luck with your payments!

This buyer did finally send payment, and with a compelling reason for being late, but I'm not sure if I would have gotten paid if I hadn't given the date I planned to leave a non-paying bidder alert.

I do not have any problem with inquiring the status of payment.

It's just when I do offer a notice, I either

1. do not get any reply or

2. I get a reply that says they are going continue to delay payment, or

3. I get a reply that says they are too busy to make payment

I will put an expected payment date on any further auctions I might have.

But it's really hard to give someone a glowing reference when I've had to go to such trouble to get acknowledged or taken seriously.

I have had a two people pay soon after if not right away, out of 6 auctions, so I guess I am still learning how to work this out.

Hi Ann/Farmerbell,

have you had any luck on your seller on the LA yet? I finally got a reply stating that the seller had computer problems.

The seller in question knows that I haven't received the seeds and was supposed to be e-mailing me back a couple of days ago to let me know if the seeds could be replaced or if substitutes would be acceptable but I've had no message as yet, and I am getting annoyed at constantly having to e-mail about this.

I know it is Christmas and people are busy but the seller has had my payment for over a month now.

Any advice, anyone?

Nikki

I just received two checks on the 24th for seed auctions from the middle of october. Things happen. People get busy. I usually don't sweat it too much.

I've been stiffed a couple of times with plants where I received he check and the check was no good or else shipped the plant based upon the promise that the check was in the mail. I didn't pursue either too hard, though. Most folks are really nice and so I try not to get worked up too much over the occasional deadbeat. I own a regular retail nursery, and I've found over the years that it's better to concentrate on all the very nice people who shop at the nursery than get obsess about the occasional difficult customer.

Okay, okay. I can see myself here also, in the sellers eyes.

I buy plants on the LA, and I too am a person who does everything on my card rather than by check.

It is so easy to use paypal the same day I find I won the auction, and I often get comments like "WOW, fast pay."

On the other hand, if they don't take paypal, for me to try to get a check in the mail.... jikes, it can take me a couple of weeks! And I often have to give up and borrow a stamp and envelope from a neighbor who still doesn things by mail.

I am at the point that I now check to make sure the seller takes paypal or I don't bid, unless it's absolutely something I just haven't been able to locate anywhere else.

I've got the other problem.. I bought some seeds on the auction - seller wants payment within one week - which I did by pay pal.. ONLY to be told that his next shipment will be mailing on January 12th. That is two weeks away. Now to be fair - I did go back and read the auction listing - it said shipment within one MONTH of recieving payment.. which I didn't notice before since it is common practice to mail seeds within a few days for pay pal payments. Never thought to look but that is a lesson learned for me. I guess I am peeved because you want your payment fast - within a week - but don't consider that I might want my seeds fast too.. okay - must not have had enough coffee-- once the caffiene level is up - I will be fine.
Shelly

Here's a tip I learned with my rental home that could apply to getting auction payments (smaller scale I know).

I had renters who were consistently late making their monthly rent. My contract was written stating rent was due on the 1st but late payment penalties would take affect for payments received after the 15th. The check always arrived on the 15th. The next rent increase & update on the contract I left those dates alone but gave a $50 credit if payment was deposited to my account on or before the 1st. I bumped the base rent up enough so that giving the credit was no impact to my bottom line.

Plus, since they didn't use checking accounts and I am in a different state, part of their issue had been finding time to get a money order to send payment to me thru the mail. But I still bank local to them so I made arrangements for my bank to accept their payments deposited directly to my account (w/o disclosing my account info). Now they could stop to make payment on their way home from work or shopping.

They were never late again!

Lessons learned-
1. make it convenient to pay
2. make it more worth while to be on time.

I've seen a few sellers on the auction use bonus' for fast pay, others offering credit card payments. I'm sure there are other creative ways to offer rewards for being fast pay.

Of course technology problems always get in there with e:mail and such- maybe listing a good ole fashioned phone number and times you accept calls. For hobbyists who don't want to list their personal phone number on the net there are some tools like inexpensive online call forwarding services (example: accessline.com) that can be used to protect your personal number from view.