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Feedback for Unpaid Item
A buyer recently won an auction and did not pay for the item. How do I leave negative feedback for the buyer? According to his past feedback, this guy is a deadbeat to many eBay sellers and hasn't paid for several items over several months. I'd like to add my name to the list of people he has not paid and make sure others don't allow him to bid on their auctions as well.
8 comments
woodland_gnome
·3 years agoDid you look at his/her Feedback Profile while his/her bid was pending? The ILLEGAL* negative comments on positive feedback did not cause YOU to cancel the bid. I suspect a negative rating if it was allowed would not have either. Sellers have little chance to peruse the feedback of buyers beforehand (except in evaluating a Best Offer or if s/he places a bid far enough in advance to give the seller time to do so).
As mentioned already a seller risks non-payers unless s/he solely sells Buy It Now with Immediate Payment Required. Unless you are willing to go that route the best you can do is set your Buyer Requirements to the strictest level (2 or more unpaid cancellations in the past 12 months) and do your part by waiting out the 4 days and cancel for non-payment and encouraging your seller friends to do the same.
*Not only is it against eBay rules, but it is strong circumstantial evidence that that seller did NOT go through the proper unpaid item process since neither buyer nor seller can leave feedback after the transaction is cancelled for non-payment. It is theoretically possible for the seller to leave the feedback first and then cancel but it is far more likely that s/he cancelled for some other reason (either getting a defect him/herself or lying about the reason) because s/he was too impatient to wait out the four days. AND the buyer could easily get those illegal comments removed (but the positive rating would remain) by contacting Customer Service in any situation.
lady_madonna
Mentor3 years ago@mike91net
Sellers have not been able to leave negative feedback for buyers for about 15 years. Leaving negative feedback for non-paying buyers did not remedy the situation and sometimes buyers would leave a negative feedback in retaliation.
If it's been more than 4 calendar days since the listing ended, on day 5 you can cancel the order by selecting the Cancel order button in your seller hub and choosing Buyer hasn't paid in the drop down menu.
All unpaid items are recorded on a buyer's account. Buyers who have excessive unpaid items, or canceled transactions, may have limits imposed, or lose their buying privileges.
Place the member on your Blocked Buyer List
https://pages.ebay.com/services/buyandsell/biddermanagement.html
Set your Buyer Requirements to block bidders/buyers with 2 or more strikes on their account:
https://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences
mike91net
OP3 years agoOk, so let me get this straight. A deadbeat customer is allowed to continuously bid on items, never pay for them, and receive zero negative feedback because of the fear of retaliation from the seller. Yet, eBay software engineers can somehow program their system so unsuspecting sellers will have no idea that a deadbeat is bidding on their item, but not block a buyer from giving negative feedback to the seller when he/she doesn't pay.
Does that sound about right?
lady_madonna
Mentor3 years ago@mike91net
I think you missed a part of my previous post: All unpaid items are recorded on a buyer's account. Buyers who have excessive unpaid items, or canceled transactions, may have limits imposed, or lose their buying privileges.
Software engineers cannot predict that a buyer will not pay for their purchase.
If a buyer does not pay, any feedback they leave for the seller can be removed by Ebay.
mike91net
OP3 years agoYes, I caught it, but it's difficult to comprehend that veiled policy when my specific buyer has failed to follow through with 14 unpaid transactions over the past 6 months...and is still bidding away? To be clear, this hard number of 14 is based on the written feedback given to the buyer when 14 different sellers still had the opportunity to post feedback noting that the sale was unsuccessful...and 14 unpaid transactions is only what I can see. Imagine how many other sellers (like myself) who cannot publicly post feedback indicating the buyer failed to pay for the item because they conveniently canceled the transaction (and they didn't, the system did)? Then poof, the ability to post any feedback has now mysteriously gone away.
What is the super secret magic number in the sky that flags in the system to signal a deadbeat buyer and immediately suspends their account? 15? 50? 100? Isn't 'excessive' a relative term in someone else's eyes? Sure would love to have a peek under the tent and find that number out.
Of course, engineers cannot predict when a buyer will not pay, but engineers can code software so that when a buyer doesn't pay, then the buyer cannot place any feedback on the seller but the seller is able to capture valuable feedback regarding non-payment. Why should a deadbeat buyer be allowed to record feedback from a transaction they never paid for anyway? It just seems eBay is trying to manage non-payment issues from a corporate standpoint and is not allowing sellers to have any say about deadbeat buyers. Or am I missing a step that allows me the opportunity to capture a heads-up data point for my fellow eBay sellers?
eBay sellers fiercely protect their feedback in an attempt to make sure they satisfy their customer's needs...in every way, shape, and form. That's the minimum expectation from eBay corporate. If a seller can post feedback (positive and negative) about their buyer after a "normal" sale, then shouldn't a seller be allowed to post the same level of feedback about the buyer once non-payment occurs?
I'm truly not upset at you, and actually, I appreciate your valuable input, but I'm just trying to understand the reasoning behind not allowing a seller the opportunity to record honest feedback about their experience with a deadbeat buyer. This could potentially help clean up a lot of NPBs throughout the eBay community.
Just my .02
lady_madonna
Mentor3 years ago@mike91net
As I already remarked, leaving negative feedback for non-paying buyers was never a solution to the problem of non-paying buyers. It will NOT "help clean up a lot of NPBs throughout the eBay community." All sellers need to follow proper Ebay protocol in cancelling the transactions after 4 days due to "buyer didn't pay". If every single one of those 14 sellers that were not paid by the buyer did that, I guarantee you that the buyer would no longer be able to buy on Ebay.
And WHY, oh WHY, did the sellers feel the need to leave POSITIVE feedback for the non-paying buyer? It makes no sense, even if they did state the buyer didn't pay. That just baffles me. 😕
Think about this....let's say it was possible for you to leave negative feedback for the non-paying buyer. Then what? The buyer probably laughs it off, and on to the next seller. Very few sellers will look at a bidder's/buyer's feedback until they have not received payment. There is nothing the seller can do if the buyer clicks on Buy It Now. Then the seller is stuck waiting for a payment that may not ever appear.
Just some thoughts, thank you for the conversation.
mike91net
OP3 years agoI totally get what you are saying but, I guarantee you that the buyer would no longer be able to buy on Ebay is untrue. This person who did not pay for 14 previous auctions bid on my auction and was still a non-payer. How did he slip through the cracks, who knows?
So let's say that I manually canceled the transaction before the end of the four days. Can the buyer then place negative feedback on me for canceling before the end of the 4 days? Right now, I give the buyer the entire four days to pay for their item because that's what it states in eBay policy. Canceling prior to the end of the payment period now puts my feedback rating in jeopardy, correct?
How do eBay sellers protect themselves from NPBs? How do we report them so they cannot jeopardize our feedback ratings? I believe the only reason that positive feedback is left is that presently, this is the only way sellers know how to report them as NPBs.
lady_madonna
Mentor3 years agoHi again @mike91net
"I totally get what you are saying but, I guarantee you that the buyer would no longer be able to buy on Ebay is untrue. This person who did not pay for 14 previous auctions bid on my auction and was still a non-payer. How did he slip through the cracks, who knows? "
Probably because not all of the unpaid sellers cancelled the transaction due to "buyer didn't pay". That is the ONLY way to inform Ebay of the non-paying buyer, and the buyer will automatically receive an unpaid item strike on their account. No seller reporting = no strike.
So let's say that I manually canceled the transaction before the end of the four days. Can the buyer then place negative feedback on me for canceling before the end of the 4 days? Right now, I give the buyer the entire four days to pay for their item because that's what it states in eBay policy. Canceling prior to the end of the payment period now puts my feedback rating in jeopardy, correct?"
Yes, the buyer can leave negative feedback if you cancel before the end of the four days.
"How do eBay sellers protect themselves from NPBs?
No way to guarantee complete immunity from NPB's unless you list as "Immediate Payment Required" but it would help to make sure you choose your buyer requirements to block bidders/buyers with 2 or more Unpaid Item Strikes on their Ebay account in the past 12 months:
https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements
How do we report them so they cannot jeopardize our feedback ratings?
In addition to following correct protocol re: cancelling due to buyer didn't pay, you can report the buyer here: https://spd.ebay.com/RBASellerHub
I believe the only reason that positive feedback is left is that presently, this is the only way sellers know how to report them as NPBs. "
Leaving positive feedback for a NPB is NOT the way to report, as the powers-that-be at Ebay will not see it. Only other members will see the feedback, Ebay itself won't. The ONLY way for Ebay to track NPB's is if sellers cancel transactions after 4 days due to non-payment. That way the NPB is placed on Ebay's "radar".
Good luck!