What would you do?

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I would respond and say the payment has not come through, and until it does, you can still sell to another party.

 

I suspect he is playing a game. I would tell him you are relisting the coin until his deposit comes through. And if you want the EBay coin, bid on it regardless.

 

If you are having problems getting the first installment what is going to happen with the others? You will most likely have to continue to ask for money (even more so now during the holidays). Since coins show up on EBay, Heritage, GC, FUN, etc I don't think that is as much of an issue here.

If it were me, I would be bidding on that EBay coin (if it is a good one). I have no problem holding doubles of good coins.

 

If he's a good customer, I would make sure that he still wants the coin and let him know that the deposit never came through. Maybe just let him know that you have other interested parties.

 

How about a phone call?

Electronic communication often lacks the nuance that an actual verbal conversation provides.

 

I always made it a point to give established customers the benefit of the doubt, and overall it worked very well for me. In fact, the worst results came from when, against my better judgment, I broke my own rule. However, I also practiced the old "fool me once" saying, meaning if games were indeed played, the next time the answer was no.

I agree that this certainly sounds suspicious, but if he indeed purchased the (I assume) ebay coin, he's not going to have the payments option as allowed by you. Without knowing the details, perhaps this isn't an issue, but is worth keeping in mind. His lack of contact could also be easily explained; I couldn't begin to tell you how many times in my life finding the time to make a call or send a simple email was a monumental task, but this, of course, was the exception and not the norm. It's your business to run as you see fit, but from what little we know of the overall situation, I would email (or call) and in a non-confrontational zero blame/suspicion way, politely press for a response, perhaps using the payment issue, but also remind him you're a business, have other customers (possibly) interested, and that you need confirmation one way or the other by X day (I would make it before the end of the other listing). Let him respectfully know that if there's no contact, the coin goes up for grabs.

 

ditto, and relist it.

 

I am d*mn sick of eBay sellers placing their items on eBay at a low price without reserve. For example: I bid on a kilo of antique sterling silver. The starting bid was $.99 with no reserve. My bid was the winning bid at $.99 and of. Course no other bids. I paid with PayPal and day or so later item shipped icon appeared. Weeks later no shipment received so I filed a resolution complaint with eBay. The seller then refunded my purchase price. I have had this happen with multiple sellers and I know what they are doing. They are illegally bypassing eBay's reserve price auction to save a "buck" and hoping to get a high sales price. EBay seems to let them get away with it even though they are not following the rules. They should "eat" their loss or play fair and place a fair price or use reserve auction. p.s: The silver was placed back on eBay same same.

 

I am always suspicious of any EBay auction where 99 cents is the starting bid for a coin of worth.. Action is often slow until the end when, suddenly, a single bidder keeps driving the price up. I suspect that in some of these cases, a shadow bidder is doing his thing for the seller.

 

Until you receive the deposit the coin isn't on hold.

 

Not all sellers who use 99c starting bids are unethical. One of my good friends, Shane aka Kryptonitecomics, uses them regularly.

Chris

 

No other bids on a 99-cent Kilo of silver? Good heavens!

 

Give him a deadline, like about 2 hours after your message. After that, all bets off.

 

I've been selling on Ebay since 1999 and learned years ago that the 0.99 start is better for ultimate results than higher starting prices. Most intelligent sellers do this.

 

I would send the buyer an email so it's in writing. Remind him the coin is on hold for him and his payment has not arrived, as per his email to you and set a deadline for payment. Remind yourself that you do not know what is happening on his end. It's all speculation on your part. A friendly reminder is a good thing and smart business. Letting him know his payment has not been received is also good business and setting a deadline gives him notice of your intentions since he has broken the contract. Best wishes.

 

I can only speak as a buyer as I'm not much of a seller. If it were me, I'd have sent you an e-mail of apology thanking you for holding the coin for me and stating that something came up and I can no longer purchase your coin........or.......I'd have sent you the first installment.

The buyer indicates that he sent you the money via paypal. Heck, even I know the money shows up in a few minutes.

 

The buyer is an old customer.
But do you really want a customer like that?