Cute Ceramic Piggy Bank by ArtMindNon-paying buyers (NPBs) are a bit of an issue on Etsy. It can be rather frustrating to get excited about making a sale and then end up having to cancel the order because payment never comes through.
Fortunately, there are a few things you can do to reduce your NPB rate.
1) Contact the customer
It can be a good idea to contact the customer if you haven't received payment within a few days. They may not realise that they haven't paid yet- the etsy checkout process can be confusing for some buyers, and sometimes there are bugs. If your buyer is new to etsy, sending a polite email (rather than convo) can be a good way of contacting them- many buyers who are not experienced etsy users do not check their convos and may not see your message.
2) Assist with the payment process
When contacting your buyer, it might be helpful to provide them with instructions on how to pay in case they are having difficulty with that aspect. This link walks buyers through the different stages of checkout.
3) Send a PayPal invoice
Another thing you can do is to send your buyer a PayPal invoice directly. To do this, sign into your PayPal account and click on the 'request money' link, then fill out the required details. This can be a good approach if buyers are having trouble making payment or if they need a reminder.
If you don't hear back from the buyer after trying these things, you can cancel the transaction from within 'your etsy' so that you get your etsy fees back.
One important thing to note- the etsy system isn't perfect, so sometimes orders have actually been paid for but are not marked by etsy as 'payment received'. It's always a good idea to check your PayPal account in case payment has actually been made.
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Excellent suggestions! I find sending that link is extremely helpful for some folks.
ReplyDeleteThe first time I purchased from Etsy I went through the Paypal system and made payment but for some reason it didn't process it. The next time it went through but didn't charge me the shipping portion of the bill. So it is important to contact the buyer, because systems fail for whatever reason and it isn't always the customer's fault. I also agree that first time users may not be aware of the process involved in paying for their purchase.
ReplyDeleteThanks for these helpful tips. I will be setting up my own Etsy account soon and I find it so generous that people post these helpful tips so that others can learn from previous mistakes instead of having to stumble through the process themselves. Thanks Again!
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