What's appropriate to say?

L

letsgoshopping

O.G.
Nov 27, 2007
490
3
#1
Ok- I recently sold a top on ebay and the lady hadn't paid after 5 days. I list in my auction that payment should be made within 3 days of the auction's close- I know ebay technically gives them 7 days but for some reason putting a time limit for payment seems to result in faster payments (most of the time). So anyway, I sent her what I considered to be a friendly payment reminder, which I normally do after 4 days (as sort of a half way point) to remind buyers and give them time to respond before the 7th day when I open the dispute if they haven't responded or paid yet. Here's something along the lines of the message I sent her:

"Hi! Just wondering if you needed a few more days for payment. I'd like to get the gorgeous top out to you as soon as possible! Please let me know if you need extra time and I'll be more than willing to work with you. Thanks!"

She sent me back an email on the 8th day (still hadn't paid, mind you) saying that she has 2 weeks to pay (not sure where she got that from) and she didn't appreciate my nasty email. She said she didn't want to do business with such a nasty seller and refused to pay. She responded to the dispute so I couldn't get my FVF back. Fine- I wrote her off as a problem buyer.

However, I just sold something else, and a different buyer didn't pay within 4 days, so I sent the same message again. She paid- but also mentioned she didn't appreciate my message. What am I doing wrong? How could I word it instead so people don't get offended? What do you ladies normally say? TIA!
 
#2
letsgoshopping said:
Ok- I recently sold a top on ebay and the lady hadn't paid after 5 days. I list in my auction that payment should be made within 3 days of the auction's close- I know ebay technically gives them 7 days but for some reason putting a time limit for payment seems to result in faster payments (most of the time). So anyway, I sent her what I considered to be a friendly payment reminder, which I normally do after 4 days (as sort of a half way point) to remind buyers and give them time to respond before the 7th day when I open the dispute if they haven't responded or paid yet. Here's something along the lines of the message I sent her:

"Hi! Just wondering if you needed a few more days for payment. I'd like to get the gorgeous top out to you as soon as possible! Please let me know if you need extra time and I'll be more than willing to work with you. Thanks!"

She sent me back an email on the 8th day (still hadn't paid, mind you) saying that she has 2 weeks to pay (not sure where she got that from) and she didn't appreciate my nasty email. She said she didn't want to do business with such a nasty seller and refused to pay. She responded to the dispute so I couldn't get my FVF back. Fine- I wrote her off as a problem buyer.

However, I just sold something else, and a different buyer didn't pay within 4 days, so I sent the same message again. She paid- but also mentioned she didn't appreciate my message. What am I doing wrong? How could I word it instead so people don't get offended? What do you ladies normally say? TIA!
Click to expand...

I have not had this problem yet, but in visiting this forum regularly, it seems that non-payment and non-contact are all-too-frequent of late. What I do is after the auction ends, I send a very nice congratulatory email, along with invoice noting shipping charges (since they will vary by region). If I did not hear back, I would wait the full 7 days, as allowed, and then send a friendly reminder, again congratulating winning the item. Maybe it was the way you worded it? Sometimes folks can be so sensitive, and emails don't allow for facial expressions or vocal inflection, so that may be why your response was misread. Just my 2 cents. Good luck on this one!
 
#3
I honestly don't see what got their panties in a bunch, I think you worded it fine. You were polite and said that you are willing to work with them...not really sure what you could change to make it any nicer!
 
#4
I don't think there's anything wrong with the way you worded it. Some people are just too touchy. If they're waiting 7+ days to pay, chances are they're problem buyers anyway. If they weren't and they honestly forgot, they'd probably be apologizing to you! The only thing I can suggest is to make sure you send an invoice after the auction ends (not sure if you already do this or not).
 
#5
IMO there's nothing wrong with your message requesting payment. Maybe they're trying to back out of the sale, or they just don't like being reminded that they've messed up.

It's very hard to tell as many people misinterpret the simplest of things online, and if they're hotheaded anyway, there's no real way to win.

Hopefully buyers like this will be few and far between in the future.
 
#7
I agree. I didn't see anything wrong with your message, if a seller sent me that I would reply back with an apology if anything. Atleast you emailed them and even offered extra time!
 
#8
Your emails to the buyers were extremely nice so you did absolutely nothing wrong. I really think they were embarrassed about taking so long to pay. The economy is pretty bad now and seem to be getting worse from what I gather reading the newspapers. So, I expect more sellers will unfortunately see more of this bad behavior. What a shame!
 
#9
I don't think you did anything wrong. Sometimes buyers bid on an item (or set up their snipe) and forget about them. I know I do. A gentle reminder email with the payment terms is perfectly appropriate. Usually, I include a statement that payment is due 5 days (or whatever) after the end of the auction unless the buyer has contacted me for alternate payment (like instead of paypal, they want to send a money order, which is fine, but just takes longer). Then, if I don't receive payment, I will relist or sell to the next highest bidder.
 
#10
I agree with everyone. Your emails were completely nice and polite. I don't understand how the person could have been offended by it. I send out "gentle reminder" emails like the one you wrote to buyers that haven't paid after my stated payment timeframe. I can't imagine that someone would get offended by them, but I guess some people are just overly sensitive.
 
#12
I think, perhaps, that you just won twice in a row in the "Ebay sucky buyers" lottery. I see nothing wrong with your post either, and if I had received something like that, I would be mortified because it would mean I'd forgotten to pay. I sure as heck wouldn't berate the seller for a gentle push like that- I'd be falling all over myself to apologize.
 
#14
you have stated and communicated politely to the buyers. i think it is just accidental you got two buyers -case in a row. be patient and hopefully your buyers pay within the next few days.:girlsigh:
 
#15
"She responded to the dispute so I couldn't get my FVF back. Fine- I wrote her off as a problem buyer."


Wanted to address this part of the post you can get your FVF back even though the one buyer responded to your dispute if you go to the dispute center you can check the option.. the seller has decided to end communication and is filing to get the FVF back...
 
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