The Non Paying Buyer

Well, I'm still doing a pretty good job of staying out of the forums, but as I lurked over the weekend, I ran across a very familiar topic. A term that I imagine makes sense only to those who frequent the etsy forum, the non buying buyer. Although I'm fairly certain that the term qualifies as an oxymoron, it is thrown around consistently. It refers to a customer that completes the buying process for an item, but then fails to click through to paypal to send payment for it. While I have had a few slow paying buyers, I've only experienced this phenomenon once. It seems that many other sellers attract these events like tuna attracts cats, because they seem to always be complaining about them. What, I wonder, makes some people marks for these uncertain shoppers?

I wish I had an answer to that question, but what I do have is a little perspective. When I worked in retail, we would hold items for customers. The items were taken off the shelf, labeled for the customer and held for three days. Most customers came back within the time frame and purchased the items, but many would not only not come back within the time frame, but would actually return weeks later and ask if it was still on hold for them. If the buyer came back, waiting a couple of days for a certain sale was no big deal and we generally did not lose any sales from those who did not buy their item either. The process of holding an item only hurt us when it was the last in stock of a hot selling item. This is the only way a non paying buyer can hurt you. If the item they purchased is the only one of your best selling item or a one of a kind item that someone inquires about right after the false sale. Be honest, how often are either of those the case.

A lot of people blame the non paying buyer problem on a confusing checkout process, but I think it's much more likely that they are the same kind of people who like to put things on hold and never come back to buy them. They don't see the seller as a person inconvenienced by their inaction. They see you as a shopping cart that still has something sitting in it, that they may return to or not. Instead of letting these events bother you, I suggest treating these unpaid purchases as held items. When a time limit you're comfortable with has expired, simply cancel the sale and put the item back on the shelf. Sure it's disappointing, but it's not the end of the world. I've been lucky that my slow paying buyers all made their payment before I felt the need to cancel the sale. I certainly hope I don't start smelling like tuna anytime soon, but if I do, I shall try to take it in stride.