One more Ebay rant

...and then I'll stop. I'm not wanting just to rant, actually--I'm also wondering about the experiences of the other Ebayers out there, and if they've ever had anything like this happen:

I sold a skirt last Wednesday, April 5th. I found when I was packing up the item that it was a Gap skirt, and not J. Crew as I'd advertised. I sent the winner an email apologizing profusely and telling her that she was under no obligation to buy the skirt, but that if she did want it anyway I'd take off $1 for the error (it had sold for $5.50). I also sent an invoice with the discount applied.

Three days passed and I'd heard nothing, so I sent another email saying, "Just wanted to make sure you got my other messages about the skirt," and restated that she was under no obligation, but to just let me know what she'd like to do. The next day I got an email back, saying, "Oh sorry, I thought I responded. Yes, I do want the skirt, and will be paying by PayPal." She also gave her mailing address. I wrote back to thank her, and to ask her to let me know if she needed me to resend the invoice. (Hint, hint.)

I should mention that this woman had stellar feedback ("Lightning fast payer!" "Faster than the speed of sound!") so I was a little surprised, but not yet irritated, that things were going as they were.

Three more days pass. By last Wednesday evening I'd gotten pretty fed-up, and poking around on the Ebay site I found that I could file an unpaid claim after 7 days. However, I decide to try contacting her once again before resorting to that measure. I sent another message and asked, "Could you please let me know when you'll be paying for the skirt? The auction closed a week ago and I've only heard from you once. Thanks." I meant to imply that if she was having some kind of issue, she might have communicated that to me.

Yesterday morning I received notice that she'd paid, and this sarcastic reply: "Oh, I'm so sorry, I've been doing this for years, and never had anyone expect me to check in with them more than once. It's paid now. Sorry if you worried about it. Have a nice day!"

I felt like writing back and saying, "I've also been doing this for years and never had anyone take so long to pay," or leaving her nasty feedback. Instead, I decided that if I couldn't say anything nice, I wouldn't say anything at all. Her package went out yesterday, packed in lavender-scented paper.

Honestly I can't see how she thought taking 7 days to pay (and then only with a reminder) was reasonable. I figure people are selling stuff because 1) they need the money, or 2) they're trying to declutter, and they have better things to do than wait around for me to pay. I try to pay within 24 hours of winning an auction, and I think Ebay recommends that a buyer pay within 3 days. Most of my buyers have paid immediately; one took about 3 days. I just don't see why it should take any longer than that unless someone is having computer or other issues, and in that case, they should try as hard as possible to contact the seller (and then apologize). But what I want to hear from others is how they'd feel about someone taking that long to pay. If I'm being unreasonable, well, please enlighten me as to what the norm is.

No matter what--if she leaves me nasty feedback, the gloves are coming off.