Unpaid Item Disputes

In this section:

Options in the Unpaid Item Process

Unpaid Item Dispute Diagram

Opening/Creating an Unpaid Item Dispute

Adding a Comment to an Unpaid Item Dispute

Closing an Unpaid Item Dispute

Getting Details About a Dispute

Reversing a Closed Unpaid Item Dispute

Testing Unpaid Item Disputes in the Sandbox

Notifications Related to the Unpaid Item Process

DisputeState and DisputeActivity for Unpaid Items

Implications of Various Values of DisputeActivity

In most cases, eBay auctions work great for both buyers and sellers. However, there are times when the buyer and seller have a disagreement after the buyer has committed to purchase (and a transaction has been created) but the buyer has not yet paid. The seller has been charged a Final Value Fee for the transaction.

eBay provides an online process (the "Unpaid Item Process") via which a buyer and seller can communicate to address such situations. API calls are available for some aspects of this process.

A seller can open an Unpaid Item dispute, under certain conditions. The seller may hope for the buyer to pay, or the seller may hope to relist the item and receive a credit for the Final Value Fee, etc.

Issues that may trigger a seller to open an Unpaid Item dispute:

Payment issues:
The buyer does not pay during the first seven days after the transaction was created.
The buyer refuses to pay.
The buyer's check does not clear or the credit card transaction is declined.
The buyer wants to use a payment method the seller doesn't accept.
The seller does not receive payment for some other reason.
Miscellaneous:
The buyer is no longer a registered eBay user.
The buyer wants shipment to an unconfirmed address.
The buyer and seller are unable to resolve a disagreement over terms.
The buyer returned the item for a refund.
The buyer made a mistake and no longer wants the item.

See also Item Not Received Disputes.

User-Contributed Notes