It’s my experience and may be that of others too that buyers bid and then don’t pay in spite of reminders or just come back and say after a few days to say that they bid by “mistake”. All this while the artwork loses a chance of selling to others as it will be marked as “sold” which I think is unfair on the artists . As long as the supply is in excess of demand as in the case of artworks this probably will continue to happen.
But I propose is that the winning bidder need not be given 4 days time to get flagged.They may not be checking their emails like the desperate artists but in these days of smartphones it’s so easy to get to one’s emails without the need to go to one’s PC. Therefore my suggestion is that they be given only 24 hours time to pay ( 24 hours from the close of the auction). If not paid, DPW can program for auto cancel of the bid and release the artwork for sale again.
If this condition is made, the buyers will also expedite and remember to pay immediately, if they so much want that piece of art. If they miss out, let them bid again, if they are really serious about the art. Giving 4 days of time, then flag for friendly reminder etc is amounting to demeaning artists and their artworks. Buyers may be few, but they need not be encouraged to treat artists very casually is my strong feeling. I hope David will understand what I am trying to tell, give us artists the much needed dignity. I wonder if my fellow artists feel so too?
After 4 days you have the option of flagging but it’s not automatic. I would like the freedom to flag/not flag a buyer which I haven’t had to do yet. 24 hours is simply not enough time to give someone to complete their sale in the business of life.
Based on the feedback, which is always appreciated, I have changed the four day waiting period from being mandatory to being suggested.
I do want to encourage all members to not hesitate to flag slow or nonpaying bidders. While members should first send a personal email to the bidder, flagging a bidder is not harsh, at all. Instead, it has proven to be a very effective way to politely let the bidder know they have won an auction. Most importantly, if the bidder doesn’t follow through, flagging them prevents them from bidding again in our auctions.
Thank you David, for acting proactively on my grievance and only suggesting a waiting period of the earlier mandatory 4 days. Now this gives the option to the artists when to flag. And the serious buyers will act quickly instead of procrastinating.
David, Thank you very much for changing the flagging option to suggested! I have had success in the past with flagging buyers since it just seems to give them a little nudge to complete the transaction. I think there are too many buyers that take their time completing transactions. I agree with Asha that since most people have mobile devices to check their emails on their phones, that it’s not really a good excuse anymore.
Asha, I totally agree with you about this. I think the time for non-paying or late-paying bidders is over with all the devices available to easily check email now.
It doesn’t mean the problem of non-paying bidders is over, but I think the flagging adjustment helps.
Well after having a pretty good string of buyers paying relatively on time, I just got two different bidders who won their auctions but are not paying.
I have sent the re-notify emails through DPW and got no responses at all from either one of them. I found both of them on facebook and one of them is one of my facebook friends…probably not for long though.
Also, both of them claim to be artists. Why would an artist stiff another artist?
I flagged one of them, even waiting the 4 days, (I actually waited 5 days). Still no response at all. Just total silence.
Now I know that not everyone is attached to their computers all the time but like we talked about before here, there are other devices now that help you keep in contact.
This is really frustrating. Now I’m going to have to relist 2 paintings that they wasted my time with.
Yes, it is very frustrating. Especially if we lost out on days when people visit dpw website to buy art. May be we can put it down in the auction details that once 4 days are over after the end of auction, flagging and relisting will take place immediately. Now I have made auction days to only 3. Besides waiting for the auction to end and then another 4 days is truly frustrating.
I just checked back - I started on DPW in 2011 and I have sold over 100 paintings on DPW. In all that time, I only had 2 people that were non-payers. And in both instances, they contacted David to explain why. I’m not sure why you are seeing so many of them. Could it be the lower prices are enticing buyers who are impulse buying & then changing their minds? Or is it a sign of the times, just not sure. I’m surprised that one is an artist. I wouldn’t stiff anyone, let alone another artist. So sorry you are going through this again.
David, I have a question about a flagged buyer. Recently I had an unresponsive buyer and after a couple of reminders and 5 days I had him flagged. Several days later I got an email from him saying that he thought he had paid and that there must have been some confusion with his PayPal/email addresses. So I sent him a PayPal/Payme link and the buyer has now paid. Do I need to do something to unflag this buyer?
Thanks
Jane
Hi @janer perhaps you should email support about this and also the public can see the email address of your customer, perhaps you can edit this post to remove it?