GunBroker.com Non-Paying Bidder Overview

Non-Paying Bidder Overview

Related Information:

· New to Selling? · Fees
· Non-Paying Bidder Tracker

This page explains how to request a credit if a bidder wins your auction and does not pay you for the item.

As per our User Agreement, the winning bidder is required to complete the transaction with the seller. However, sometimes mitigating factors such as sudden illness, job layoffs, and communications problems occur which cause good buyers to be unable to complete a transaction. A non-paying bidder will receive a warning for his first offense, and his account will be automatically be suspended on the second offense within a 30-day period. Suspended accounts may be reopened at the sole discretion of the auction site after a review of the account's history and circumstances.

Steps to follow if you are a seller with a non-paying bidder:

Step	Explanation	Time Frame
1. Contact the Buyer	You are responsible for making your best effort to contact the buyer. Communication problems are the cause of a large number of failed transactions, so putting in a little extra effort will often make the difference between a successful transaction and a failed one. You can use Resolving Problems with the Buyer located in For Sellers to send the buyer a note through our mail server to rule out problems with your ISP. You can also use Resolving Problems with the Buyer located in For Sellers to request the buyer's phone contact info if you are unable to contact him via email.	Generally within 3-4 calendar days for best results.
2. Send a Payment Reminder	Optional, but strongly recommended. This sends a note to the buyer politely reminding the buyer that payment has not been received. The Non-Paying Bidder Alert is logged into our database and serves as proof that you attempted to get in touch with the buyer in the event the buyer later disputes the Non-Paying Bidder Credit.	Between 4 days and 30 days after your listing closes.
3. Send a Non-Paying Bidder Alert (required)	You can file the Non-Paying Bidder Alert if the buyer refuses to respond or if you do not believe that you will receive payment. Your buyer will be instructed to pay you and will be informed of the consequences if payment is not sent. The Non-Paying Bidder Alert should only be sent after you have exhausted all other avenues for contacting the buyer and have given him a resonable amount of time to send payment. If you jump the gun on sending the Non-Paying Bidder Alert you may irritate the buyer and drive him away. You must complete a Non-Paying Bidder Alert Form on time to be able to Request a Credit for the transaction. The Non-Paying Bidder Alert is logged into our database and serves as proof that you attempted to get in touch with the buyer in the event the buyer later disputes the Non-Paying Bidder Credit.	Between 7 days and 45 days after your listing closes.
4. Relist your Item	If you intend to relist the item do so before you Request a Credit. If you do not relist the item before requesting a credit you will receive a credit for the Final Value Fee but not for any optional services (Showcase, Featured, Boldface titles, etc.) you used on the listing. For Dutch auctions, the fees for optional services will only be credited if the item is relisted and all winning bidders fail to complete the transaction.
5. Request a Credit (required)	You must send a Non-Paying Bidder Alert as per step 3 above and wait 10 days from the date it is sent before Requesting a Credit. This gives the buyer a reasonable amount of time to remit payment. Your credit will be issued to your account after manual review, which typically takes a few business days. By manually reviewing Non-Paying Bidders Credits we are able to immediately take action against any bidder who has accumulated multiple NPB Reports.	At least 10 days after sending the Non-Paying Bidder Alert and no more than 60 days after your listing closes.

If the buyer paid after your filed an alert or requested a credit you can remove the warning and reverse the credit. You can use the Non-Paying Bidder Report Cancellation page to remove the warning and reverse the credit if one was issued.

Special note to Buyers: If you are a winning bidder and you have received a Non-Paying Bidder Warning and you believe that the warning is unfair, you can dispute the warning by using our Non-Paying Bidder Dispute page.

Special note to eBay™ users about Dutch auctions: Our site works differently than eBay™ in that each Dutch bidder is treated separately. You can request credit on the buyers individually instead of doing so once per auction as required by eBay™.