How Many non-pays can a buyer have?

[pep]

I recently came accros a buyer that had 18 items she did not pay for. Why is she still here and how many get you removed?

[downunder-61]

The only reason you could possibly know how many NPB that buyer has is if the sellers were foolish enough to not open a case against them and rather waste time and energy giving them another green dot with a negative comment.

When sellers do this they are causing harm to us all - even if the buyer reports it, the green dot remains and the comment is removed as False negative is against policy and reportable.

If a buyer hasn’t paid within 4 days, on the 5th day you can go to your Seller Hub to cancel the transaction using the “Buyer hasn't paid” reason and this gives the buyer a strike and you can relist. In future to have eBay automatically cancel your transactions due to non-payment:

Go here:   https://www.ebay.com/Cancel/Preference/UnpaidPurchase         

So 2 strikes in a 12 month period any buyer will be blocked from sellers who have their blanket blocks set correctly.                            

[reallynicestamps]

EBay does not tell anyone what they consider "too many" UID strikes a buyer can accumulate before closing down the account.

We do see,from time to time, buyers posting that they can no longer use the Money Back Guarantee process and further questioning or research shows a pattern of Unpaid Items, including false positives from sellers who preferred public revenge to private Seller Protection.

Personally, I wish eBay would just lose the whole FB system, which is a throwback to the 20th century when internet commerce was exciting and scary instead of how we buy toilet paper.

Replacement could be emphasis on Product Reviews (for new products only) and Dispute Resolution. Both of these already exist.

[fashunu4eeuh]

EBay does not divulge under what circumstances a buyer’s account is limited or restricted from buying. Below is a link to the Buyer Limits and Restrictions policy.

To help combat non-payers, eBay has Buyer Requirements designed to block serial offenders. This is done through the BR settings eBay provides to sellers. Each seller sets the blocks according to his own risk tolerance. Below is a link with more info.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?id=...

https://www.ebay.com/help/buying/buying-limits-restrictions/buying-limits-restrictions?id=4012#:~:te....

[soh.maryl]

So you discovered, through reading this buyer's feedback received from sellers, that s/he is a serial non-payer.  She is still here because apparently there were 18 sellers who chose to do the wrong thing.

Before you go any further, are you aware that sellers aren't allowed to leave negative FB for buyers.  That buyer should have contacted eBay and got that FB removed.  The seller(s) who left negatives would have had defects.

Leaving that FB did nothing to stop or slow down this buyer.  If those sellers had taken the appropriate action, opened unpaid cases, the buyer would have had a strike.  Two strikes and most smart sellers have set their requirements not to deal with the deadbeat buyer.  So, if just two of those sellers had done the right thing, then 16 other sellers wouldn't have had that problem.

See what I mean? 

[pep]

Years ago it was three strikes and you were out. Now it is a free for all. Sad !

[bearswatching]

I seriously doubt there is a limit. EBay considers all buyers to be golden. Same with bid retractions, the sky’s the limit.

[soh.maryl]

Actually, as mentioned in my other post, the seller can cancel after 4 days of nonpayment.

eBay refunds FVF, buyer has a strike and seller is free to relist.

When/if a buyer has two strikes in twelve months, most smart sellers have set their requirements so that they do not have to deal with that seller.

Not exactly a free-for-all.

PS:  Have been here since at least the early 2000s and I do not recall a time when it was "three strikes and you were out".  

[soh.maryl]

So, as mentioned in several posts here, you don't believe that the two strikes rule applies? Why not?

[pep]

First  it was a rule in the 90’s. Also sorry I disagree. If you can still buy from unsuspecting sellers and not pay for 18 items I sure call that a free for all !

[pep]

I told you she had not paid for at least 18 items. Why is she still here???

[b86fiero]

By using Buy It Now pricing you won't ever have to deal with non-paying buyers.

Many of us long time sellers stopped listing auction format years ago because of non-paying buyers.  We use it only for highly sought after, low competition items. 

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@pep wrote:

Years ago it was three strikes and you were out. Now it is a free for all. Sad !

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The "3 strikes and you're out" policy statement disappeared from the Help pages shortly after eBay introduced the option to block bidders/buyers based on their nonpayment strike history.  Sellers who have set up all of their listings as fixed price with Immediate Payment Required don't care how many strikes or unpaid items a buyer has on their record.

[luckythewinner]

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@pep wrote:

I recently came accros a buyer that had 18 items she did not pay for. Why is she still here and how many get you removed?

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Generally speaking, nonpayment does not get a buyer removed. IT gives them nonpayment strikes, which sellers can use to block those buyers if they choose to.

And even if or when a buyer does get removed for nonpayment, eBay has nothing in place that would stop him from creating a new account and continuing as before.

[dryophelia]

@pep  

eBay does not go by feedback received IF/when they take sanctions against a buyer. These sellers leaving comments about non-paying buyers might as well have printed it out and posted it on the light poles of downtown Topeka. 

By leaving it to the sellers to proactively block bidders who other sellers have taken the time to issue a strike, eBay has washed their hands of it. 

Eighteen occasions that this person never paid. If only TWO of those sellers had followed through with the unpaid item cancelation process. 

On the other hand, maybe along the way two sellers have issued strikes, but you don’t have your Buyer Requirements set properly yet.