suspicious buyers

Question

I am seeing highly suspect "buyers" (3 so far this spring) . No photo. No feedback (or very old feedback). They ordered again under a slightly different name and I cancelled the order. today I got another suspect order, which I cancelled. Is ebay being hit by scammers?

inceptions · Answer

Hi @herbalmaid

None of those things should make you suspicious of the buyer, much less "highly" suspicious.

I hope this will set your mind at ease:

Most buyers don't add an avatar.
Many buyers don't buy for a while and then come back and start using eBay again (I have several buyers who come back every few years and buy something from me, and I'm the only seller they've ever bought from).
When you see the same buyer ordering under different user IDs, that is not only allowed, but may just indicate that they are using guest checkout. When a buyer checks out as a guest, eBay assigns an ID. Each time they make a purchase, they are assigned a similar but different ID by eBay.

This next point will NOT set your mind at ease...

Each time you choose not to complete a sale (as required) and cancel an order, you will receive a defect on your seller record. Too many of those will harm your rating and possible prevent you from selling in the future. When a buyer pays, you must ship the item within your stated handling time.