SICK and TIRED of fake accounts and bidders!!

[nells250]

I have been on Ebay since 1999 and I am SO SICK AND TIRED of people being able to set up fake accounts and win items, usually my higher priced ones!  

In this past week, I have sold two vintage car radios and BOTH were "won" by brand new accounts with similar screen names.  The first time I sent a nice note through Ebay asking if they were a real person.  They actually answered (a rarity) and they claimed it was their alternate account.  It has been 4 days and the item has not been paid for.

The item won last night has the same name only with a different bunch of numbers after it.  THAT account was created yesterday.

I AM SICK of this stuff!  I am also highly annoyed at all of the people through the years who have, instead of helping here, instead post things to users like me stuff like "how do you know they are fake?" etc, as if we haven't been having this problem for YEARS.

I have screen shots showing the user names, dates, etc.  In fact, I noticed one screen shows incorrect sale dates which is on Ebay itself (not having correct sale info).  

It's bad enough I was just whacked $7 for selling something for $33!!!   Sellers should be getting some SECURITY for the fees they are charged!

[worldwide_ship]

I feel your pain. I sell electronics and 30% of the winners never paid auctions. I just do "buy it now" with instant payment required now. I haven't run an auction in years. 

One of the great things about ebay is you can go to completed listings and see what items are selling for. I look at the completed listings first before I sell anything so see if it's worth my time even listing it. Then I set it at a competitive price and it sells. 

[12345jamesstamps]

When I do auctions for 7 days I look at those bidders on a daily basis. You can see if bidders are new and have no feedback. You can block a bidder before the last day of the 7 days so that bidder cannot bid anymore.

When I see a bidder with 0 feedback and bidding high I can block that bidder from bidding anymore before auction ends. You have to keep an eye on auctions everyday to see any irregularity of bidders. 

I never had a bidder complain if I blocked them from future bidding. Just my thoughts and opinions and I agree with you about other users here saying "how do you know they are fake?".

Sellers spend a lot of time setting up these auctions and then not getting a payment and then have to re-list them again. And telling the seller just cancel sale after 4 days doesn't really help when a seller is trying to make a little money quickly.

[femmefan1946]

Why would you ask if the customer was a real person?

They've been billed by eBay and have 96 hours to pay.

If there is no payment for 96 hours you can file an Unpaid Item Claim and the deadbeat gets a Strike.

You can opt to Block customers with Strikes through your Seller Preferences/Buyer Requirements.

And you still have the item in hand to sell to a paying customer.

Better.

List at Fixed Price/Immediate Payment Required  and the listing stays up until someone actually pays.

[taydawg7]

its really bad.  I have sold the same sports card 3  times to fake bidders.  Even worse I blocked Philippines in the auction and it still allowed a sale to a fake bidder from Philippines.  

[inhawaii]

If they were fake bidders, how would they be able to win the card 3 times?

Sounds like  REAL bidders  to me.

[taydawg7]

they have multiple accounts (typically private).  In fact now up to 5 times on the same card.  They have a ring going on a player Trae Young of the hawks (shill bidding and then non-paying).  Its very easy to create new ebay accounts (no real ID); so I am not sure what you are arguing

[taydawg7]

this is not a helpful comment.  for example; in collectible cards, running an auction is based on trends of the sport and player; if you run a 10 day auction during a peak you might achieve solid sales price; but imagine its a fake/troll account; and the player gets injured, now your sale is lost and the value drops maybe to zero...

[*trekkie]

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

List at Fixed Price/Immediate Payment Required and the listing stays up until someone actually pays.

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This is how I am set up, but the same thing happens. Buyer with 0 feedback buys item, never pays. Go through the whole Unpaid Item route & cancel sale. I block buyer. Same buyer comes back with new account & buys same item again and I go through the whole situation again! One item held in limbo for 2 weeks, and no sale at the end! This was a trend for a while, but it thankfully stopped. Hopefully, it hasn't come back once again!

[*trekkie]

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@inhawaii wrote:

If they were fake bidders, how would they be able to win the card 3 times?

Sounds like  REAL bidders  to me.

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They keep opening new accounts. Different eBay bidder name, slightly different account name, same address. Happened to me a few times with BIN items. Buyer never pays, I block them, same person comes back with different account and does the same thing all over again!

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@*trekkie wrote:

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@femmefan1946 wrote:

List at Fixed Price/Immediate Payment Required and the listing stays up until someone actually pays.

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This is how I am set up, but the same thing happens. Buyer with 0 feedback buys item, never pays. ...

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You apparently do NOT have your listings set up as recommended: Fixed price format, with immediate payment required.

[taydawg7]

another crazy thing; is I recently blocked a region (Philippines); since a big portion of non payers from here; and ebay still allows the bidding to come through (with international Philippines buyers)

[*trekkie]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

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This is how I am set up, but the same thing happens. Buyer with 0 feedback buys item, never pays. ...

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You apparently do NOT have your listings set up as recommended: Fixed price format, with immediate payment required.

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Ah, right. Forgot about the new immediate payment setup. I haven't had to deal with unpaid items for a year. Probably why it was implemented, to stop the buyers from leaving us in unpaid limbo. Probably also the reason why sales have dropped. Now you have to provide a payment method before & not after the completed sale. Also, now you are immediately charged when using Best Offer & the seller accepts the price.

[nobody*s_perfect]

Immediate payment for auctions and best offers is indeed new, but the basic IPR requirement for fixed price listings has been available for many years.

[inhawaii]

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@*trekkie wrote:

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@inhawaii wrote:

If they were fake bidders, how would they be able to win the card 3 times?

Sounds like  REAL bidders  to me.

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They keep opening new accounts. Different eBay bidder name, slightly different account name, same address. Happened to me a few times with BIN items. Buyer never pays, I block them, same person comes back with different account and does the same thing all over again!

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Those aren't "fake" bidders.

Those are real bidders.