Fake auction winners screw up price metrics!

Question

I've had two items that repeatedly are bid on at the last minute probably by bots or scammers and then the "person" never pays. (Yes, I've tried requiring payment on the buy now options but this is not that case.) So, I have to wait the requisite four days and then cancel the order. While this is annoying, that is not the reason for my post.

I just tried relisting one of the items and I noticed that the recommended starting bid price that the system generates is based on my two previous cancelled sales!

I hope eBay is doing something to prevent this bot/scammer incursion because, apart from just being annoying, it's screwing up the data they use!

mr_lincoln · Answer

Hi @stonycurtis

What I did on my last Unpaid auction item was I used the Sell Similar function on the Unpaid auction and Relisted that way. That way I did not lose too much time waiting for the Buyer to pay ... which they never did. I don't badger Buyers with a bunch of messages ... most of my Auctions end on Weekends so if unpaid Sunday evening I send one message letting them know I have a regular Monday AM shipping run from weekend sales and purchases completed Sunday evening will ship out at that time.