For those that rely on Ebay to make ends meet you know how frustrating it can be when your customers refuse to pay for the item they had bought. It seems that many fail to see that when you make a bid on Ebay you are essentially entering a binding contract to buy the item if you win or use Buy It Now option. However, every so often one will choose not to honor the contract, as this digital age makes it easier for people to disappear and "ghost you".
In these situations, I would often look up a collections agency in their area and kindly let them know that by bidding on Ebay you are entering a legally binding contract and if payment is not received within X amount of days, I will report their account to a collection agency in their city. You will see an entire change in demeanor from the bidder, in most cases the bidder will become more apologetic and comply to your terms.
Although, some may say this isn't an ethical thing to do, the method works and has worked for me when I was dealing with a dead beat buyer with no intention of paying, but this is purely about business. I am simply sharing some hacks that worked for me, as I solely rely on online commerce for my livelihood.
When you are listing items online it takes time, time on Photoshop enhancing photos, time writing clearly concise descriptions, time sourcing products and time equals money. As a seller on Ebay, we are often lacking protection and do not have the option to leave negative feedback as the platform seems to protect its buyers more, so sellers have to be more cautious and assertive in their transactions.
When the above method does not work, another option is to file a non-payment claim with Ebay and flag the bidder's account by blocking their account. The end result is they can no longer retaliate or bid on your items in the future.
With that being said, I am curious what tactics others have used on dead beat buyers.