Ebay should give sellers option to approve buyers

[grapplingmonkey]

How nice would it be to have the right to approve buyers, lets say your selling expensive items you can add to listing that buyer must be approved. Someone wants to buy it we then have the right to approve the buyer? Ebay could take it one step further and give us info on buyer how many returns, how many patial refunds, length of time on ebay, purchase history ect. I get why ebay needs to protect buyers but us as sellers are left in the dark.  I cant think of any good reason to keep us in the dark about potential buyers history.  I would be willing to sell more expensive stuff if I had this option

[night*shade]

Dealing with buyers who don't play by the rules is very frustrating.

Now imagine going into your local grocery store, you shop around, but before you can check out the manager asks to see your driver's license, a copy of your credit report, recent bank statement and positive references from three other grocery stores. Once approved you may continue going through checkout. (And you regret picking up ice cream!)

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There are ways to to help alleviate/lesson the problems and protect yourself.

• Require immediate payment.
• Take pictures as if there is no description.
• Describe items as if there's no pictures.
• Use item specifics.
• Theft happens.  (I hate that, but it's the way it is)
• Take pictures of serial numbers, and include it in your listings.
• If you can, attach a tag that states you can't accept returns if its missing, do it. (It might stop some people, but won't protect you with eBay or Paypal)

If a lessor buyer tries to get something for free, continue to protect yourself. Unfortunately a situation can get ugly based on the actions of the seller.

• Always be pleasant or professional while communicating with your buyer.
• Avoid getting defensive. Don't take any bait.
• Keep communication short and to the point.
• Ignore angry accusations.
• If they continue to message you, repeat yourself on resolving the situation.
• Don't assume that a buyer is trying to scam  just because they are not happy. It's that assumption that causes a lot of problems. Buyers are not the seller's enemy.

I do almost all my shopping online, for everything. I've been selling on eBay since the 90's and have experienced all the changes here.  Between that and dealing with other online commerce sites,  I can't see eBay ever going back to the way it was regarding buyers. Sellers have to protect themselves to the best of their ability,  proceed in a businesslike matter, and decide if selling (certain items) on eBay is right for them.

Happy selling!

[grapplingmonkey]

That's very good advise , Ebay is a great tool for selling stuff and i feel in general they do a great job for making it fair for buyers and sellers. 

I still think if a seller wants to list higher end items we should be able to vet buyers with stats from ebay and have the option to approve buyer.  I mean options so if you want to sell high end items and don't want to approve buyers you don't have too.

I think there is opportunity for ebay to pick up more business , as a customer I have a choice for high end items drop them off at auction house they are sold as is, 15% fees then paid and with check or I list on ebay myself and take into account risks which I really cant minimize with paypal etc. 

[ooak-tammy]

At an auction house, buyers have the ability to personally examine the article, on the net, there is no ability to examine the article. Buyers have to trust a seller to be their hands and eyes---there has to be some protection for the buyer.