Reducing unpaid items on eBay

One of the biggest frustrations that sellers have told us about is around unpaid items. With this in mind, we’re constantly refining and improving the experience so you can get paid on time. Learn about the latest refinements we’re making to help reduce unpaid items, from improvements to Best Offer scenarios where payments fail to the counteroffer process.

In most Best Offer scenarios, buyers are required to have a payment method on file before submitting their offer, so it can be charged if the seller accepts the offer. On rare occasions, the payment method may fail, leaving the item unpaid. To address this issue, we’ve made the following changes:

• If the payment method is declined, buyers will receive a notice prompting them to return to eBay to complete the payment
• The item will remain available for purchase until the payment is successfully complete and you’ll be able to accept other offers

An unpaid item scenario may also occur after a buyer accepts a seller’s offer or counteroffer. We’ve changed the process so that:

• The buyer will only be able to accept the offer and secure their item once they’ve completed the payment

• The item will remain available in the seller’s inventory for other potential buyers until it’s paid for