auto-pay on send-an-offer items

[mwirtz@btinternet.com]

Ebay now seem to require auto-pay on items that I wish to make an offer on ? Guess what Ebay I will not authorise auto pay on each item so therefore I will not send offers to sellers. Another good feature that you have runied - the excuse its to stop people who then dont pay for the item is garbage = you know who made the offer, you now who did not pay so suspend their account for a week or send them an email - you would rather make everyone auto-pay well I will just not bother making offers. 

[douglaspuglas]

It's something sellers can opt into to stop buyers making offers who have no intention of paying if the offer is accepted.

[mwirtz@btinternet.com]

Realy  I bet Ebay did not ask sellers they just implemented it across the board. So because a few did not pay everyone is being made to auto-pay - well I just will not make any offers. Why did they not implement it for buyers that have not paid 

[gallovidian]

It souns like you must have some pretty compelling reason for possibly not paying as soon as your offer is accepted. As this probably isn't clear to most of us, perhaps you might let us know what that might be.

One source of post-acceptance disputes is that buyers can add a note with the offer. I am going to use that soon, to explain that my offer is a pretty reasonable estimate of combined postage, which the listingts don't offer, on a number of photographs. But some buyers think they can use it to add extra conditions, such as free postage, or "only if you accept all the other offers I am making". They can't. An offer can change nothing but the price.

I can understand sellers preferring immediate payment to avoid that.

[douglaspuglas]

Ebay hasn't automatically enabled it.

Sellers have to tick a box in their buyer requirements to implement it.

Making offers and not paying can be a tactic used by dodgy sellers to get rid of competition as it removes the item from sale.

Plus it saves sellers waiting four days to cancel the non payment and give the buyer an unpaid item strike.

[treetopsminicottages]

I personally haven't met this new feature yet as I rarely make offers but in the past I have found  sellers with more than one item I am interested in. However, under this system surely there is no way to ask for combined postage even if agreed in advance? Having to pay, say £3.49 minimum for each item on postage could end up making it more expensive than the original BIN price! Like the OP I have my reservations on this new feature.

[douglaspuglas]

I think I've seen it once and it put me off making an offer.

I'm sure I read a post on here from someone who said they couldn't select an alternative delivery address, like click & collect, with the pre authorised payment thing. But it wasn't clear if the seller actually offered C&C.

[gallovidian]

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@treetopsminicottages wrote:

I personally haven't met this new feature yet as I rarely make offers but in the past I have found  sellers with more than one item I am interested in. However, under this system surely there is no way to ask for combined postage even if agreed in advance? Having to pay, say £3.49 minimum for each item on postage could end up making it more expensive than the original BIN price! Like the OP I have my reservations on this new feature.

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I haven't met it either, although I see there is a new thread in which an aggrieved buyer has become unguarded in his language.

You're  right. You can't make combined postage a condition of the offer. But you can put in an offer on the price which about amountsd to what the seller will save. You can put in a little note saying so, but it is only an explanation. It is unlikely to be accepted on dropshipped items from different places, or your mutually hostile sledgehammer and chandelier.

About an hour ago I intended to do just that with the six aerial pjptpgraphsd of my little town in the 1930s, from a seller in Australia - a s[;emdod project. Somebody has to do it!

There were complications. One was free slow postsge, which didn't matter to me, and another had no "Best Offer" invitation. So I bought those outright and made four offers, which were automatically accepted. I received no demand for anything, and sam nothing but the small and simple review screen as in the last.

[asleepingdragon]

I've just run into this on making a best offer.  What bothers me slightly is it says it is for best offers and auctions.  I always pay asap but sometimes I vary the card I use, with this automatic payment it appears eBay just takes the payment from the default card with no option to change.  I can understand automatic payments to stop non payers but since I've never ever been a non payer it seems a bit overkill to remove my choice of payment card through PayPal completely.

[asleepingdragon]

Can't edit so just adding that what bothers me even more is that when deleting the payment method eBay tells me this won't actually delete it as an automatic payment method and that I have to go into Personal Information and delete it there.  There isn't an option I can see for any payment removal in Personal Information tab so I've therefore after thinking about it gone into PayPal and cancelled it that way.  

[bennotbill]

On .com's forum there is talk of this also being applied to auctions. I hope they are mistaken as that would effectively kill off actions.

As the scenario would be, as you are about to put in a last minute bid up will pop a screen asking for your payment details. Oops too late............... It would also put an end to snipers as they stand currently.

[gallovidian]

A debiit or credit card in permanent use for managed payments could just as easily be fraudulently used if an unauthorised person got hold of the details. But millions go through a long eBaying career without having that happen. I can believe that eBay would keep card details lodged to make an offer, and not normally used at all, in an even more secure archive.

eBay are permantly engaged in trying to keep a balance between annoying people, and permitting fraud. Or allowing people to annoy people. They can't please all of people all of the time.  It is l

[asleepingdragon]

When I had to add it for a best offer this morning it definitely said for Best Offers and Auctions on the page and in the email they sent.

I've removed the payment method now even though removing the payment method in ebay said it didn't remove it as an automatic payment option.

After that I went to Paypal and cancelled it in Paypal.  I presume if you've used a credit/debit card there is no way to cancel this automatic payment option because you'll have given ebay continuous payment authority on your card.

A lot of online scams get their payments this way by continuous authority payments on debit/credit cards.  They're almost impossible to cancel unless it's cancelled from the sellers end.  That's why I never pay by card online unless I can use Paypal where I can log into Paypal and cancel from there.

[douglaspuglas]

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@asleepingdragon wrote:

When I had to add it for a best offer this morning it definitely said for Best Offers and Auctions on the page and in the email they sent

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Hopefully it just applies to auctions that also have the make offer button or auctions will not get bids.

[wazza_land]

I got opted-in when I made an offer yesterday - payment taken as soon as seller accepted. Then this morning I won an auction, but the seller also had some other items I wanted to make offers on. Didn't pay for the auction I won as wanted an invoice for combined shipping once offers accepted. But as each was accepted, payment was taken. So I've now had to pay for the aution and send the seller a message requesting a partial refund on postage. This new system is a bit of a pain...

[treetopsminicottages]

One query I have relating to this instant payment for offers now. 

Does it apply to offers received on watch lists?  If the seller has opted in to this new system will clicking  'accept' offer, or even 'make a counter offer' require a payment method be added  by the potential buyer before the transaction is completed?

[douglaspuglas]

I think the community team should be asked about this tomorrow on the weekly live chat at 2pm.

Though it will probably get a cut and paste unhelpful reply.

[patrickbegood]

Until Ebay refine this, you could message the seller first to ask if they will accept offers on the list of items you plan to buy which reflects the combined postage. If they're a normal civil person and you're also polite and provide details that might be a solution?

Eg "I want to buy items, numbers 1###, 2###, and 3###, but I can't see an option to combine shipping. I am planning to offer (amounts) and if this is acceptable, please let me know how to adjust the offers and the subsequent instant payments, in order to combine the shipping manually."

[Anonymous]

I agree if you offer on a number of items you would normally then wait for the postage to be combined before paying now it takes postage on each item which in my case a few days ago was £12 for 3 items for 1 kg of post. the same with auctions won you would normally then wait for combined postage invoice it's ridiculous 

How do I withdraw my authorisation to e bay to link my PayPal account to my eBay account to use it to collect payment from me for items I offer on or win at auction

[bennotbill]

There are a lot of questions over on .com about the auction side of this which has recently appeared over there. As it has more potential complications and drawbacks than the offers one. But like here with offers, it looks like it's being left to users to work things out.

I don't think we can depend on disappearing Dave and the vanished Wednesday chat for answers.