Did you specify a time by which you expected payment in your listing? (Some sellers state, for instance, that payment must be made within 3 days of the close of the auction.) Does eBay have any specific rules (or even guidelines) about paying promptly?

If the answer is no to both of those questions, I think I'd give it one more full week and then email the buyer one last time, telling them that if payment is not received by a certain time 3 days from your email, you deem them to have forfeited any right to purchase the item and you retain the right to re-list and sell the item to someone else. (Provided, of course, that eBay's rules don't prohibit you from doing this.)

So sorry that happened. I always pay immediately after I win an auction - just because I'm always in a rush to have the item sitting in my own two hands!

I've not been in that situation but I'd be inclined to give them a bit more time, too. So many unexpected things could have happened. I know it's easy enough for buyer to send an email keeping you informed, but when it's something really bad, it can abruptly bring day to day life to a screeching halt with only most urgent necessities being taken care of at home. (BTDT more times than I care to count with parental health crises.)

AJ's suggestion for follow up plan is a good one, imho.

A buyer usually pays within 4 days of winning an auction, but there's a lot going on in this country with floods, bad weather and a major oil spill. Perhaps your buyer is being impacted by this.

First thing I'd do is get the buyer's contact information...his address and phone number....and give him a call.

If you get no good explanation from him and he doesn't pay in a day or so then file an unpaid item dispute.
There's a procedure the buyer needs to follow within a specific time frame. He'll either pay or he won't. If he doesn't respond and pay, your listing fees will be refunded and you can list again.

If you relist before doing this your fees won't be refunded. And if he pays late and you can't send him the item he could file a dispute against you for not shipping him what he paid for.

Unless this item is a time sensitive sale, go through the proper steps and protect yourself.

Thanks for the input! I thought that I had used the standard shipping statement when I was listing my item but I didn't see it on my listing.

The buyer has 100% feedback(score is 103) with tons of "quick payment" so I am guessing that maybe something bad has happened to her (or him). I think I will give it a couple of more days and then go through the unpaid item dispute process.

Mona, how do I find out the buyer's contact information?

Thanks!
Necia

You need the auction number and his eBay ID. Good luck!

Here is a link that might be useful: contact member

You can file non-payment with Ebay 7 days after the auction ends. Ebay then attempts to contact the buyer to get payment. The buyer then has a certain amount of time to pay or otherwise resolve the auction with you, the seller. After that amount of time, if nothing is resolved, ebay will refund the fees and you can relist.

I don't remember the exact details but it's all written out there for you if you file a non payment complaint.

necia, what's the status? Did you get paid?

Still waiting! I requested the buyer's contact information on May 2 through Ebay and never rec'd anything. I don't know why. When I did that, I got a message stating that the buyer would be sent a message that I had requested their contact information and they would be given mine.

Yesterday, I started the process of resolving the auction by reporting that the buyer hadn't paid for the item. I have an "open case" on My Ebay. The buyer has 4 days to pay and if they don't I will "close" the case, be refunded my listing fee and can offer a second chance to another bidder. I may end up relisting the item if the other bidder doesn't want it!

What a mess!

Thanks for asking,
Necia

Goodness. You should have been sent an email(to the email address) you have on record with ebay that gave you his real name, address and phone number. Wonder why you didn't receive that info.

Sorry this happened to you.

Mona

Just wanted to give an update to my situation with the non-paying buyer. On Saturday, I received a message that they had paid! I was so relieved!

Thanks to all that helped me sort this out!

Happy this worked out well for you.

Me too! Ebay is pretty good. They kick losers off pretty quick. You just have to learn to navigate their system.