eBay Commitment to Buy

[GasEngineer]

I am a private seller.

I received an offer on an item I am selling which I accepted. Price was £60 and I accepted an offer of £50.

The next day I get a cancellation request from eBay which I declined.

I then sent a payment request / invoice to the buyer and have had a reply message saying only "i not buy" (literally !).

I'm sure that when I have made offers on stuff on eBay a note pops up telling me that if the offer is accepted then I have "committed to buy".

I can't find anything on the eBay help pages other than them awarding non payers a "strike".

Does anyone know how/if eBay actually enforce the commitment they stress a buyer makes? If not then their "you have committed to buy" warning seems rather pointless.

[BlindedByTheLights]

I have had the same, they just get a non payment strike on their account and you get a repost for free ( and fee refund from the sale).

[Alex Z]

Other than put a black mark on their account, what do you think eBay could realistically do?
They aren’t going to take anyone to court for breach of contract, or send the boys round to have a word.

[GasEngineer]

Alex Z said:

Other than put a black mark on their account, what do you think eBay could realistically do?
They aren’t going to take anyone to court for breach of contract, or send the boys round to have a word.

That's my question really. What would / could eBay do?

[dundarach]

You're a fool to sell something on eBay that someone doesn't want to buy.

There's too many loopholes for them to riggle out of paying you, once you've sent it.

For £50 you're opening a world of being dicked around.

Just move on!

[GasEngineer]

Yes I get that.

It's more about it seeming that the so called "committment to buy" is meaningless.

[andburg]

depends on the item type

Cars for example, the winning bid is non-binding

[GasEngineer]

andburg said:

depends on the item type

Cars for example, the winning bid is non-binding

So it seems it is on all items even if the message tells a buyer that their bid/offer constitutes a committment to buy.

[Griffith4ever]

They cant force a payment , so there has to be SOME mechanism for punishment. The mark they get against their account is quite serious. I had one years ago on my account. Bid on a motorbike then changed my mind. My bad. Lots of sellers would not accept bids or even buy it now from me for a few years.

[GasEngineer]

Griffith4ever said:

They cant force a payment , so there has to be SOME mechanism for punishment. The mark they get against their account is quite serious. I had one years ago on my account. Bid on a motorbike then changed my mind. My bad. Lots of sellers would not accept bids or even buy it now from me for a few years.

i hadn't realised that sellers can see if a (potential) buyer has not paid before.

So in this case had the "buyer" refused to pay for items they had won in the past, would there be a warning showing that I could have seen before accepting the offer?

[akirk]

I placed an offer on a book on eBay last week, I had to go through the payment process (provisionally) before the offer was accepted by eBay…

The seller turned it down but provided a counter offer - when I accepted that I had nothing further to do ref payment eBay just took the money I had agreed

Edited by akirk on Thursday 9th November 11:11

[Tony_T]

Does anyone know what happens on an item where you have a final value fee promo and the buyer backs out? Can you relist with the same promo or are you screwed?

[GasEngineer]

Tony_T said:

Does anyone know what happens on an item where you have a final value fee promo and the buyer backs out? Can you relist with the same promo or are you screwed?

Screwed. This is the case with the item I listed above, one of the reasons that I declined the cancellation request.

[JQ]

GasEngineer said:

Griffith4ever said:

They cant force a payment , so there has to be SOME mechanism for punishment. The mark they get against their account is quite serious. I had one years ago on my account. Bid on a motorbike then changed my mind. My bad. Lots of sellers would not accept bids or even buy it now from me for a few years.

i hadn't realised that sellers can see if a (potential) buyer has not paid before.

So in this case had the "buyer" refused to pay for items they had won in the past, would there be a warning showing that I could have seen before accepting the offer?

It's not that, you set up your buyer preferences before selling. You can state no overseas buyers, no buyers with less than 10 feedbacks, no buyers with a black mark, etc - such buyers are then unable to bid on your items.

[bobtail4x4]

I have had the opposite
won an item auction, buyer refused to sell as "he thought it was worth more"
so set a reserve.
ebay did nothing

[megaphone]

GasEngineer said:

Tony_T said:

Does anyone know what happens on an item where you have a final value fee promo and the buyer backs out? Can you relist with the same promo or are you screwed?

Screwed. This is the case with the item I listed above, one of the reasons that I declined the cancellation request.

Promo offers come around every two weeks, just wait and re-list.

[Simpo Two]

I wouldn't lose sleep over it. Just leave appropriate feedback and relist it.

[ashleyman]

Worst bit of using eBay. The immediate payment also doesn’t work when using offers/counter offers.

I have had some final value fee promos wasted on non paying buyers refunded and some not.

[GasEngineer]

JQ said:

It's not that, you set up your buyer preferences before selling. You can state no overseas buyers, no buyers with less than 10 feedbacks, no buyers with a black mark, etc - such buyers are then unable to bid on your items.

Thanks JQ. I'll try that if I ever list anything again !

[JQ]

GasEngineer said:

JQ said:

It's not that, you set up your buyer preferences before selling. You can state no overseas buyers, no buyers with less than 10 feedbacks, no buyers with a black mark, etc - such buyers are then unable to bid on your items.

Thanks JQ. I'll try that if I ever list anything again !

Make them your default settings and it will apply them to all sales. Certainly seems to remove most of the idiots and the vast majority of my sales proceed without issue.