Filing an Unpaid Item Dispute

The way you notify eBay about a deadbeat bidder is to file an Unpaid Item Dispute. You have to file this form (and wait the requisite amount of time) before you can request a final value fee credit on the auction in question.

An Unpaid Item Dispute must be filed between 7 and 45 days after your auction ends. You file the dispute by going to eBay's Security & Resolution Center (pages.ebay.com/securitycenter/), shown in Figure 24.1. Check the Unpaid Item option, then click the Report Problem button. When the Report an Unpaid Item Dispute page appears, enter the auction's item number, click the Continue button, and follow the onscreen instructions.

Figure 24.1. Begin the dispute process in eBay's Security & Resolution Center.