What to do if a buyer has not paid for the item

• How to send an invoice to a buyer
• How to cancel an unpaid order
• How to set up automatic cancellation of unpaid orders
• Reducing unpaid items

According to eBay rules, buyers must pay for the item within 4 days of purchasing or winning an auction. However, sometimes when selling on eBay, payment might not be received immediately. In these situations, you can remind them yourself by sending an invoice or you can cancel the order.

How to send an invoice to a buyer

If the user has not paid for the auction they won, eBay will remind them of the purchase after 4 days. You can also send an invoice to the buyer within 30 days of purchase.

1. Find the item under Sold items in My eBay.
2. Click on More actions.
3. Select Send invoice.

To find the invoice, your buyer should either:

• open My eBay > Purchase history > Unpaid items.

or:

• at the item page, click View order details to see the revised invoice amounts.

Learn more on how to send or revise invoices to buyers.

How to cancel an unpaid order

If, after receiving the invoice, the buyer has still not paid, you can cancel the order after 4 calendar days and up to 30 days after the order is placed. You can also make an offer to the next highest bidder in the Auction.

Use the Cancel order button and select the Buyer hasn't paid option from the drop-down menu. Your listing will be posted automatically, and the buyer's review will be removed.

How to set up automatic cancellation of unpaid orders

You can enable the setting in which orders not paid for 4 days in advance will be canceled automatically. Any reviews left by buyers of the unpaid item will also be removed.

In My eBay, select the Seller Account menu. Go to Selling Preferences and select Edit next to Preferences for items awaiting payment.

Turn on automatic cancellation of transactions with unpaid items. You can also set up listing republishing, if desired.

Here, if you wish, you can assign exceptions — enter the names of users whose orders will not be canceled automatically. These might be buyers you trust and are willing to provide deferred payments.

After completing the settings, click on the Save button.

You can also hide your listings from users who have already canceled unpaid purchases.

Reducing unpaid items

The long-standing challenges unpaid items have caused many of you and eBay team has been continuously working to make improvements for a better selling experience.

So steps have already been taken to reduce unpaid items for Buy It Now sales. When purchasing a Buy It Now item, buyers will be taken directly to check out, where they’re required to provide a payment method in order to secure the item.

eBay is also testing a new feature that requires buyers to add a payment method on file before making offers on Best Offer listings. After you accept the offer, eBay will collect payment from the buyer’s payment method automatically and buyers won’t have to return to eBay to complete the purchase.

You may expect fewer unpaid items from offers as eBay scales this program. However, they may continue to happen from time to time in some specific scenarios, such as offers with very high offer prices. eBay is also working on adapting this feature for seller-initiated offers and counteroffers.

You can control whether eligible buyers are asked for payment information for Best Offer listings. This can be done in Buyer Payment Requirements. eBay encourages you to remain opted in so that your items are paid for and orders are created quickly.

Some of our buyers like to request combined shipping when they make offers on multiple items from the same seller. eBay team is working on developing the right solution that addresses combined shipping without resulting in unpaid items.