Unless you are paying shipping costs, it is sometimes difficult to collect from bidders with totals of $5 or less. In these tough cases you may want to work out a mutual agreement to drop the bids.

If someone drops off the face of the net (it is rare, but it has happened), there's not a lot you can do. Make an honest attempt to contact the bidder by e-mail or by phone, and inform them that you will not be able to send them the items they bid on until you receive the money. If a month passes and nothing has worked, give it a wash and try again in the next auction, or see if another bidder is interested.

Usually if someone hasn't paid, they will let you know and offer an apology. Don't ever threaten someone, especially if they insist that the check is in the mail. Mail sometimes gets lost (usually to the wrong address), or sometimes people forget to use a stamp and it takes an extra week to straighten things out.

Don't post defamations to the newgroup.

8 Jan 96 [TSL]