If the time has passed with nothing agreed and nothing reported, the order closes and three things happen:
- The store keeps its fee — usually 7%, 20% for items that spoil, and never more than 20%.
- The rest is refunded to you.
- You get a strike. Three inside ninety days and you cannot bid for a while.
Metzee takes no commission on that fee. It goes to the store, because they held an item, turned other buyers away for it, and were stood up.
Can it still be extended?
Before the time runs out: yes, easily. A store can give more time whenever it chooses — it can never give less than you agreed to. One message is usually enough.
After it has run out: ask anyway. The order has closed and the fee applies, but a seller who likes the sound of you may relist it for you or arrange a courier. You have nothing to lose by asking politely, and a lot of these end that way.
What you should have done, for next time
Message the store before the deadline. That single action is the whole difference, and it works because extending costs the seller nothing.
The three things that work before the clock runs out:
- Ask for more time. Usually granted.
- Ask for a courier price. Paying it turns the order into a normal delivery to your address.
- Report that you came and it was shut, if that is what happened — the clock stops and a dispute opens, and if it was the store's fault you get a full refund and no strike. I went to collect and it was not ready
About the strike
One is survivable. Strikes age out — the window is ninety days from each, not from your first — so a single missed collection is a bad fortnight rather than a mark against you. Three is the threshold. What happens if I don't pay
If the store cancelled instead
Then you get everything back and there is no fee. A store that cannot hand over what you paid for does not keep a share of it.
Why the fee exists
It is not a penalty for lateness. It is the cost of a held item: the seller refused other buyers, kept it aside, and was there when you were not.
Sellers set it themselves within the cap, and a seller who sets it low is making a judgement that goodwill is worth more than the recovery — which is worth noticing when you choose who to buy from.
The one that is harsher
Items that spoil carry 20% rather than the usual figure, and you agreed to that before bidding — the app shows it plainly. A cake that was not collected is a cake nobody can sell. Can I sell food on Metzee?
More: what happens if I don't collect, what if I am a little late collecting, how to collect an order.