See whether requiring immediate payment still beats unpaid checkouts.
Immediate payment is not the same decision as an offer to
watchers, a coupon, or local pickup. An offer and a coupon
change the price. Pickup is a no-show after they committed
to a meetup. Here the listing stays at Buy It Now; only
who can start a checkout changes.
The listing and the checkout rule
Immediate vs later checkout
$—
extra kept by requiring immediate payment versus later checkout
Later checkout after sell-through
Immediate payment after sell-through
If a later checkout starts
If they pay now
Unpaid leftover (relist + time)
Unpaid rate that still ties later
Immediate sell-through that still ties later
Packed leftover gap
Monthly gap vs later
Same SKU, two ways to take the checkout
Path
Unpaid share
Close rate
Time on unpaid
If checkout starts
Expected after sell-through
vs later
The unpaid rate, both close rates, relist fee, and case minutes are inputs — not eBay’s unpaid-item policy.
What this checks
Clothing, card, and small-goods sellers search “should I
require immediate payment on eBay” because unpaid-item
cases sit in Seller Hub for days and the listing setting
looks free. Immediate payment looks like protection. It
also turns away buyers who pay after they bid or after
they get home, and that conversion hit can cost more than
the unpaid cases you avoided.
On the defaults — $40 item, $6 shipping charged, 13.6%
final value fee, $0.40 fixed, $12 cost, $5 outbound, $1 pack,
$5 return label, 10% returns, 8% unpaid, 55% later-pay
sell-through, 45% immediate-pay sell-through, $0.35 relist,
20 minutes at $18, forty listings — allowing later checkout
expects $8.88 and requiring immediate payment expects $8.15.
Immediate payment keeps $0.73 less on this decision and
−$29.39 across forty listings. Unpaid checkouts have to
reach about 13.5%, or immediate payment has to convert
about 49.1%, before those paths match. If a checkout
starts, leftover on the later mix is $16.15 versus $18.11
when they pay now — $1.96 more — because an unpaid case
never buys a label and keeps the item. That unpaid case
still costs $6.35 ($0.35 relist plus $6.00 of time).
Matching conversion already flips. Keep the same listing
and hold later-pay sell-through at 45%. Immediate payment
still expects $8.15; later checkout expects $7.27 — $0.88
less. A 20% unpaid rate expects $7.27 even at a 55%
later-pay lift. A 50% immediate-pay sell-through flips
require-now ahead ($9.05 vs $8.88). The unpaid cases you
thought you avoided did not cover the checkouts you never
started.
Immediate payment stops unpaid checkouts. It also turns away buyers who will not pay now. On the calculator defaults ($40 item, $6 shipping charged, 13.6% final value fee, $12 cost, $5 outbound, $1 pack, 10% returns, 8% unpaid, 55% later-pay sell-through, 45% immediate-pay sell-through, $0.35 relist, 20 minutes at $18) allowing later checkout expects $8.88 and requiring immediate payment expects $8.15. Immediate payment keeps $0.73 less after sell-through. On leftover — if a checkout starts — later mix leaves $16.15 and immediate payment leaves $18.11, $1.96 more, because unpaid cases never ship. Unpaid checkouts have to reach about 13.5%, or immediate payment has to convert about 49.1%, before those paths match. That is arithmetic on your inputs, not advice to flip the listing setting.
When does requiring immediate payment beat unpaid checkouts?
When unpaid cases eat more leftover than the conversion hit returns. On the same $40 listing, matching the 45% immediate sell-through already loses on later checkout ($7.27 vs $8.15). A 20% unpaid rate expects $7.27 against $8.15 immediate even at a 55% later-pay lift. A 50% immediate-pay sell-through flips require-now ahead ($9.05 vs $8.88).
Is immediate payment the same as local pickup or a seller coupon?
No. Local pickup is a no-show after they committed to a meetup. A seller coupon changes the price for redeemers. A seller-initiated offer is a private sent price. Immediate payment keeps the listed price and changes who can start a checkout.