Strange Unpaid Item Case

[trdhrdr007]

Sold an item on Sunday & have my account set up for eBay to open UPI case after 4 days. Was notified yesterday the case had been opened. Today I got 2 messages through the eBay system from the buyer. First simply said item was paid for. Second they offered to send a screen shot with item marked paid & want me to close the case. I've checked eBay & PayPal. No record of payment & the item is still sitting in the "items waiting for payment" section of my eBay.

Here's the strange part. Under the paid column there is a symbol I don't recognize. When I hover my mouse over it it shows "buyer has marked item paid". No idea what that means. Obviously I'm not sending anything without notification of payment through eBay or PayPal. Anyone seen this before?

 

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[jerseyben]

Sold an item on Sunday & have my account set up for eBay to open UPI case after 4 days. Was notified yesterday the case had been opened. Today I got 2 messages through the eBay system from the buyer. First simply said item was paid for. Second they offered to send a screen shot with item marked paid & want me to close the case. I've checked eBay & PayPal. No record of payment & the item is still sitting in the "items waiting for payment" section of my eBay.

Here's the strange part. Under the paid column there is a symbol I don't recognize. When I hover my mouse over it it shows "buyer has marked item paid". No idea what that means. Obviously I'm not sending anything without notification of payment through eBay or PayPal. Anyone seen this before?

UPI system is an automated designed to operate seamlessly. If it has not advanced forward on its own, then that would raise a red flag with me and I wouldnt do anything but continue to follow the normal automated process. Tell the buyer that your screen is indicating otherwise and tell them to contact ebay if they suspect there is a system error.

 

[NHBandit]

4 days in my opinion is unreasonable. There are still a few old school buyers who prefer to MAIL a postal money order or something to that effect rather than use virtual money. Did you ask them how they paid ? Get their contact info from Ebay & call them ? I do agree that you shouldn't send the item until the money is in your possession regardless of how it was sent.

 

[JustinNH]

I agree with Jerseyben.



4 days is more than enough time. I have around 1,000 transactions per year and for me personally 90% pay within hours and 100% of the time and if they do not pay after 2-3 days they either do not pay at all or pay after the case is opened.

Also--- Last I saw, you were not allowed to mail any payments- Very few instances where ebay OKs Money order payments.

 

[NHBandit]

I agree with Jerseyben.



4 days is more than enough time. I have around 1,000 transactions per year and for me personally 90% pay within hours and 100% of the time and if they do not pay after 2-3 days they either do not pay at all or pay after the case is opened.

Also--- Last I saw, you were not allowed to mail any payments- Very few instances where ebay OKs Money order payments.

I agree that mailing payment is against the new rules. It's also done fairly often. Anyway... the main point of my comments is that most misunderstandings with Ebay transactions can be quickly resolved simply by calling the other person. Their contact info is readily available if you have pending business with them. You know... the way things were done for many years prior to the internet.

 

[mjlalt]

I had one transaction recently that showed unpaid on ebay but it did show payment in paypal. I had another buyer that got a weird error on checkout but the transaction went through. It could be a glitches between ebay and paypal due to them splitting into two companies.
Double check Paypal and contact the buyer to ask how they paid.

 

[trdhrdr007]

I'm selling 40-60 items a month. Around 90% of the time people pay within 2 days. The rest pay within 4 days or immediately after a UPI case is opened. I've had 1 person in the last year ask for an extension the day after they purchased & another that asked me to cancel the transaction. Other than those 2 everyone else has paid.

I've double & triple checked eBay/PayPal. Neither one is showing payment. After they sent the 2 messages saying they paid I responded that possibly they had my item confused with another purchase or that payment was stuck somewhere in the system. They replied within 15 minutes " no, i paid & it shows i paid". I replied that it wasn't showing up as paid on my end & asked if they had paid with PayPal. They have not responded since.

 

[Oregon Viking]

"Buyer has marked item paid". Yes the buyer can. I had a problem like yours. The buyer eventually told me..you can mark it paid and you will not keep get invoices from eBay. It does not show up in your Paypal account, because the buyer has not actually paid, but "marked as paid"
The buyer then explained that it gives him an extra few days to actually pay.
Let's call it an eBay oops.

As far as money orders, I have had a few buyers ask before they bid. They said they did not want to link their bank account to Paypal. It has always worked for me, and when I cash the money order I ship.

 

[diggummup]

I agree that mailing payment is against the new rules. It's also done fairly often. Anyway... the main point of my comments is that most misunderstandings with Ebay transactions can be quickly resolved simply by calling the other person. Their contact info is readily available if you have pending business with them. You know... the way things were done for many years prior to the internet.

I don't think I would do that in this case. Something sounds off with this customer. Let eBay handle it. That's what they are there for. Standard protocol in this situation. Why stray? The first reply is the only reply necessary here.

May I ask, was this an expensive item?

 

[trdhrdr007]

This was a $19.99 item. I've responded through the eBay message system & that's all I'm going to do. Just thought it was strange that someone would think they could mark an item as paid & somehow that makes the UPI go away. I haven't heard from them since I asked if they paid through PayPal. Item still shows as awaiting payment.

 

[Drmad7]

You can mark item as "paid" as a buyer and you can mark an item as "shipped" as a seller. And neither has to be true. The OP is correct in simply responding through the system.

 

[mugsisme]

I've had that half mark symbol. Did they pay with a PayPal check? When they have no money in their account, pp sends a check, and it takes 3-5 days to clear.
Why not just call eBay and ask if they have any record of payment besides the buyer repeatedly claiming it with no proof.

 

[trdhrdr007]

Sunday they sent another message saying they would try to pay again. The UPI case closed without payment last night & they became the 6th person on my blocked bidder list.

Why not just call eBay and ask if they have any record of payment besides the buyer repeatedly claiming it with no proof.

Really don't see any reason to waste my time calling eBay. IMO if they had a record of payment it would show up on the site. Truth is I never saw this as being my problem. I only posted here about it because I thought it was strange. I will admit I probably could have called eBay in the amount of time I spent on this post.....but I still would have had to wait for the case to close before I got my fees back & could relist the item.

 

[JustinNH]

I've had that half mark symbol. Did they pay with a PayPal check? When they have no money in their account, pp sends a check, and it takes 3-5 days to clear.
Why not just call eBay and ask if they have any record of payment besides the buyer repeatedly claiming it with no proof.

I've had 4 or 5 people pay with e-checks and it took a while to clear but the UPI assistant never opened a case on them, so it must somehow know?
But then again, ebay is ebay and what happened for me may not be the same as others haha

 

[trdhrdr007]

I've also been paid by e-check through PayPal. It took a few days for funds to clear but never triggered an UPI case.

 

[diggummup]

An echeck will still trigger the "automated" unpaid item assistant, if you have it set on automatic. On your sold page where the $ sign is, if they paid with an e-check there will be a grey hour glass and when you move your mouse over it, it will state something to the effect of "Payment was initiated on June 30, 2015 and, is being processed through PayPal." E-checks are a big PITA.

 

[batcap]

Four days seems a little strict to me. But if eBay lets you set a 4-day limit, who am I to say?

 

[trdhrdr007]

Four days seems a little strict to me. But if eBay lets you set a 4-day limit, who am I to say?

Most people that comment on the 4 day time limit think it's too long. Once the UPI case is opened the buyer has an additional 5 days to pay without any penalty. I figure a total of 9 days is more than generous. If I buy something I pay immediately & don't really understand why anyone would commit to buy without being able to pay at the time of the purchase.

 

[Joe777Cool]

Most people that comment on the 4 day time limit think it's too long. Once the UPI case is opened the buyer has an additional 5 days to pay without any penalty. I figure a total of 9 days is more than generous. If I buy something I pay immediately & don't really understand why anyone would commit to buy without being able to pay at the time of the purchase.

Yup, I allow 48 hours. 90% pay within a few hours. 9% pay the next day. Occassionally something will sell on Saturday and they will pay on Monday. 99.5% of the time there is no issue.