eBay Step-by-Step guide

My buyer didn't pay. What do I do now?

STEP 1: Contact Your Buyer

The first thing to do if you haven't been paid for an item you sold is to contact the buyer with a polite email or phone call. A polite email reminder is often all that's needed to get the buyer to pay. Sometimes buyers pay sellers later than they intended, due to unforeseen circumstances like illness or the loss of a purse.

If your buyer still doesn't pay, despite your reminders, eBay provides an online process for the buyer and seller to communicate with each other to try and resolve the situation.

STEP 2: Open a dispute through eBay - Between 7 and 45 days of transaction date

Option A - Open a dispute via eBay's Dispute Console

As the seller, you can report an Unpaid Item up to 45 days after the transaction date. (The transaction date is the day an auction-style listing ended or the day you buyer bought an item using Buy It Now.)

Normally you have to wait until at least 7 days after the transaction date to open a dispute. However, you can open a dispute straight away if:

- at the time of opening the dispute, the buyer is no longer a registered user of eBay, or
- the seller and buyer wish to withdraw mutually from the transaction

If your buyer is no longer a registered user, you'll receive a Final Value Fee credit.

Option B - Open dispute through mutual withdrawal

If you and the buyer both wish to withdraw from the transaction, you should open a dispute and choose the "Mutual Withdrawal" option. As long as the buyer does not respond to disagree with the mutual withdrawal, you'll be able to get a Final Value Fee credit.

STEP 3: Close the dispute via the Dispute Console - within 60 days of transaction date

Step 3a - Use eBay's Dispute console

Communicate with your buyer using the Dispute Console on the eBay website, not by email. This ensures that all communication relating to the dispute is kept in one place, and everyone involved has an identical and permanent record of the communication about the dispute.

Step 3b - Close the dispute

You can close the dispute at any time after the buyer has responded at least once, or if the buyer does not respond within 8 days of your last message.

PLEASE NOTE : You need to close the dispute within 60 days of the transaction date, or it will be closed automatically and you won't receive a Final Value Fee credit.

• If the buyer doesn't respond within 7 days of you opening the dispute, you can get a Final Value Fee credit. You'll also be eligible for a free re-list credit.
• If you opened the dispute as a "Mutual Withdrawal" and the buyer confirms their agreement, or if they don't respond within 7 days of you opening the dispute, you can get a Final Value Fee credit.
• If you have chosen to complete the transaction and both you and the buyer are satisfied with the outcome of the dispute, you will not be eligible for a Final Value Fee credit.