One of the worst situations that I have come across as a seller on eBay is the person that just refuses to pay...THE NON-PAYING BIDDER. What do you do when you sell your item but the winner does not communicate, pay, or file a retraction? Did they die? Are they sick? Are they in the hospital? Did they forget? Wait a minute, their feedback shows that they have been actively trading with other sellers, so what's the deal?!

I have only had this happen to me a couple times, but it's frustrating so I decided to develop a letter to kindly approach the person without harrassing. I used it after the 30 day waiting limit was up, per eBay recommendations, to ensure that a payment sent through the postal system had time to arrive.  Feel free to use and change it as needed.....

Hello,

We have your ********* waiting to be shipped, however, we have not yet received payment. A gentle reminder was also sent, as we believe in keeping the human touch in our internet presence. As our Payment Policy defines in the auction listing, payment must be made within (7) days, or if you are sending payment by mail please notify us with a quick email.

That being said, I want to inform you that if we do not have payment by 00/00/00, we will have to open an unpaid item dispute with eBay. We do this instead of just leaving negative feedback and relisting our item, as we know that sometimes there are circumstances in everyone's life that may have prevented them from following through on payment. Please take advantage of this extended time and make payment now, or shoot us an email letting us know that payment was sent through the mail.

Thank you,
Andrea @ Farmstead Mercantile

Need this letter in another language for a non-paying international bidder? Use the free Babel Fish Translator (just Google it since I cannot provide the link here). Right-click copy this letter in English, choose language you need it in, and presto! You have a nice letter in the person's native tongue! No longer can they hide behind the language barrier!

I hope this helped you (if it did, would you mind voting "Yes" down below?) Oh, and if you have a minute, stroll through my store :o)

     Farmstead Mercantile