I hate to say it, but given the numerous non-paying bidders I've had over the years, I would say about 50% of the time a 'family member had passed', 'cancer diagnosis', 'severe car accident', 'death of girlfriend', the list goes on and on. This only comes after invoices, messages asking for payment, and warning of receiving an unpaid item strike. Now, there is no way of knowing what is the truth and what isn't, but I must admit I just sigh when I receive these messages. And then send a cancellation request.
Yeah follow the eBay procedure. Open a non paying bidder when it becomes available. I think they have so much time to pay before you can start the process. As long as you do things by procedure, I would think that eBay would remove any retalitory feedback. Don't forget to block the bidder.
