eBay

jrkirk · ‎03-20-2022

Just spent hours responding to a new buyer, who apparently has 23 of my items in his shopping cart, negotiating on price and shipping terms, who then says he/she wants to wait to buy until April 8th (today is March 19/20). I count 14 different questions from this 'buyer', and hours spent responding, but in the end, zero sales. This raises questions, such as, can someone else buy while these items are in buyers shopping carts? How long do items remain in buyers shopping cart? What are the terms for items which remain in shopping carts? I sent offers on all of these items, and buyer then wants to further negotiate terms on shipping, etc, and eBay then refuses my attempts to send any further offers. Does eBay screen these buyers at all? Or can anyone ask seller a question? Such a waste of my time.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-20-2022

Yes, it's a waste of your time. Any potential buyer can send you any silly question, or dozens of them.

Yes, an item can be purchased by another member while it's in a member's cart.

In my experience, potential buyers who are difficult, demanding, or just stupid before they purchase will just get worse if they become actual buyers. I would put this member on my blocked bidder list, to avoid the many potential headaches. In fact, I would have done so after far far fewer than 14 questions; maybe 3 or 4.

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderBlockLogin

inhawaii · ‎03-20-2022

The shopping cart question ... the last I checked it was 2 weeks.

You can ignore/not respond to the questions.

You can also block the buyer.

Your decision.

Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations

jrkirk · ‎03-20-2022

They seem sincere, and I have tried to be curteous and respectful............and sales are not easy to come by right now..........but I am close to using the BBL. It would be helpful if eBay would screen these questions, or limit them to just some rather small number per buyer.........perhaps 5-6, with a programmed response like 'max number of questions reached'.

albertabrightalberta · ‎03-20-2022

I'd block this person, but want to let you know that you can also set your preferences to block buyers from purchasing more than a specified number of items within a certain timeframe and you can set the feedback score in your limits.

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

jrkirk · ‎03-20-2022

Thanks to all who responded with helpful suggestions.

s.scharmu0 · ‎03-20-2022

Well now here is my story. Yes people do place items in carts sometimes lots. This happened on a different venue to me. 75 bags of beads were in there cart. I get so tired of sending offers cause most of the time it never works out. I figured out the lowest I could go & sent the offer. They wrote me back thanking me & stated they wanted 150 total but the cart would only hold 75 at a time. I thought oh my really. I asked them to tag me on each bag they wanted. I made them a special bundle way below my cost & they bought them. Sometimes people do really want your items even if you think they are playing with you. The next month they bought another large special bundle from me. I was so tickled I did not blow them off!

stainlessenginecovers · ‎03-20-2022

If items are in a 'cart', they are still available for anyone else to see & buy.

There is a limit of 'messages' that can be sent, but I don't know what the magic number is

eBay does not 'screen' buyers; just like any B&M Store does NOT. How would you even do that?

A test?

On a Scale of 1 to 5, 5 being 'strongly agree', 1 being 'strongly disagree'

1st Question: Are you an idiot?

2) are you a moron?

3)are you demanding, relentless?

4.) are you rude?

sextons-sweet-deals · ‎03-20-2022

if you're getting that many questions from the same buyer, I would just block them. Not worth your time! Just seems they are setting you up for open case complaints.

Buyer wants you to wait until April to pay! NOT!

Don't deal with anyone like this. It will not end good!

soh.maryl · ‎03-20-2022

". . . and you can set the feedback score in your limits."

How can you do that?

inhawaii · ‎03-20-2022

In the B&M store that I work full time in...

Some customers will come in and grab something and pay for it immediately without any questions.

Others will require the help of a salesperson and can sometimes ask questions for over an hour.

Our store record time spent with a potential customer is about 2 hours.

It takes all kinds.

Papa Was A Rolling Stone - The Temptations

albertabrightalberta · ‎03-20-2022

@soh.maryl wrote:
". . . and you can set the feedback score in your limits."
How can you do that?

It's on the buyer requirements page where you can limit newbies and low feedback buyers on the number of items they can buy within the 10-day timeframe.

Limiting the number of items:

Number of items person can buy

Limiting the feedback score of multiple item buyers:

Limiting the feedback score of multiple item buyers

albertabrightalberta
Volunteer Community Mentor

aprilmoviebuf2000 · ‎03-20-2022

Your last sentence says it all..."Such a waste of my time."

My mantra is, I don't need a pen pal, and I don't offer a layaway plan.

Sometimes potential buyers do ask legit questions, and I always answer honestly and respectfully. When it comes to price negotiation though, I use the reply with offer feature within the message, and make it clear that this is the lowest I can go, and that the item will be available for purchase by someone else until they accept/agree to purchase. I also make it clear they then have x number of days to pay before I cancel the order due to nonpayment.

Some buyers truly don't know how it works, or they think it's fun to string a seller along. I used to take the bait, but personally I don't play that game anymore.

duffy4444 · ‎03-20-2022

@jrkirk wrote:
They seem sincere, and I have tried to be curteous and respectful............and sales are not easy to come by right now..........but I am close to using the BBL. It would be helpful if eBay would screen these questions, or limit them to just some rather small number per buyer.........perhaps 5-6, with a programmed response like 'max number of questions reached'.

Being courteous and respectful is great for customer service. But in this case, a lot of time is being wasted for nothing. And you have been worn down for no sale so far.

Are you in the business of sales, or allowing layaways for a couple of weeks? If a buyer is serious, he/she should have the resources to complete a sale and pay for it if they want it badly enough.

This has the marks of trouble ahead with this "buyer". When this happens to me, I reach my limit after 2 or 3 emails, and end up blocking the bidder. Plus, no layaways! I'd rather wait for sales to other buyers who don't raise a bunch of red flags.

It's up to you, if you want to risk further problems down the road with this person - like shipping or return hassles, INAD or SNAD claims, possible INR scam, further erosion of your courteous and respectfulness in order for the buyer to get a further partial refund, negative feedback, and a waste of lots of time with potentially further emails back and forth.

Is it worth it to you? Are you so hungry for sales that you skip over wisdom in selling and a potential lost sale that turns you being a layaway service that could be cancelled by a buyer at any time?

Cheers, Duffy