Can I block a buyer for being annoying?
A buyer who has purchased multiple items from me is quite difficult to deal with. She has never left any kind of feedback for me but I'm afraid if I block her, she will leave negative feedback. Is that possible?
24 comments
exracers
OP11 months agoThank you everyone! I truly appreciate your input. I'm going to wait 60 days and then block her. I won't list anything for awhile anyway because school starts next week and I'll be up to my armpits in other stuff.
This buyer usually buys things that have been relisted so I'm not losing tons of money. I haven't sold in a long time so my assessment of the market was off when I started again.
The suggestions were terrific and knowing I had tried almost all of them made me feel like I wasn't giving up but being worn down---which someone also suggested.
Ignore the messages=she escalates
One word answers=she replies "counteroffer" multiple times
Tar pitting (Reply more slowly to every question): I'm going to try that if she starts in again.
She really is a bully and her last message accused me of being a bully by refusing to give her the deals she so richly deserves because she has a LOT of money and will buy more stuff. (there's logic... more stuff at half the price...)
I'll see you again in November! 🙂
pickapaper
·11 months ago@exracers
I know you said you told her not to message you but she continued to do so anyway.
The only other thing I can think of, if you still want to sell to her, is just give her one word replies to her questions. I wouldn't be this short with a new customer but since you have already done business with her, one word replies would suffice. Can you combine shipping? No. Can you give me a discount? No. Can you reduce the price? No.
She actually is a type of bully, hoping to wear you down by bombarding you with questions, hoping you will just give up and give her what she wants (to make her stop annoying you). Whatever you decide to do, will be the right choice for you.
johnrj1226
·11 months agoIt takes all kinds to make the world go around..... BUT leaving FB by the buyer and /or seller is strictly an optional exercise - some do some don't. Life is still good.
You can block anyone you want if you want if it makes you feel good but you will loose a customer/buyer.
chapeau-noir
·11 months agoBy not selling to avoid her and worrying so much about a red donut, you're basically putting her in charge of you. Don't do that.
iamalwaysright
·11 months agoIt is against eBay policy for a buyer to leave a negative feedback about something that is not related to the specific transaction it is linked to. For example, buyer makes two orders from you, A and B. Buyer can leave a negative for feedback A because item A is defective. But they cannot leave a negative for feedback B because item A is defective and item B is just fine.
Ideally you would be protected. But as we know that a buyer can be malicious and easily find the loophole just to give you negatives. @exracers your buyer cannot leave a negative stating you blocked them (because blocking them is totally not part of the linked transaction). But they can just lie and leave you a negative saying something vague like “item is badâ€. So the answer to the question in your post is yes and no.
Now the answer to the question in your title “Can I block a buyer for being annoying?†Is most definitely yes. You can block a buyer for any reason you want as you don’t have to provide one when you block them. If you wanted to, you can even block a buyer for having a stupid username.
tobaccocardyahoo
·11 months agoIs this a buyer who bids on competitive auctions or a bottom feeder who buys items which sell on 1 or 2 bids?
If this is a bottom feeder, the solution may be more use of Buy It Now for items which are not going to have a real auction.
I have always found that auctions which should not be auctions draw some high maintenance buyers, and I do not want them.
You might never hear from this buyer again if you can adjust the way you list. Not as good a solution as blocking the buyer in some ways, but better business in others.
simba6
·11 months agoThe time limit to leave feedback is 60 day. Better go past that to be sure. After that they can't leave feedback for those purchases. On the other hand, she is a buyer.................
jonathanbrightlight
·11 months agoYou do not have to have a good reason to block a buyer. You do not need a reason at all, in fact. You have to weigh if losing their potential future purchases is a better outcome than continuing to put up with their behavior. From what I’ve read so far, I’d probably block them too, and I’m slow to block people.
The Blocked Buyer List is really the only protection that you have that does not have any criteria for you to use it or consequences if anyone disagrees with your use of it, except that as noted, a blocked buyer who has a recent purchase with you could leave negative feedback. Sometimes that’s a price well worth paying.
doc-holmes
·11 months agoYou can block a buyer because you think their avatar is stupid if you want to.
redlinear
·11 months agoCan you ship this next day so I can have it tomorrow (It's freakin 5:05 here!)
And, can you change the address to "this address" (no).
"then my nice explanation answer"
Okay then, can you ship tomorrow and make sure I have by Friday?
I hope I've not used all 5,000 blocks yet...LOL
chapeau-noir
·11 months agoI would have blocked long since and i rarely block anybody. Transactions with beggars have never worked out for me. They are never satisfied- basically, they're manipulators. Forget about the feedback.
meme6253
·11 months agoSo it sounds like she is a repeat customer, & has never left you bad feedback, So why block her??, Be thankful she keeps coming back & buying from you., Take the win & be annoyed!
mamacassidy
·11 months agoI can definitely understand where you're coming from. I had a similar situation a few years ago where a buyer kept buying multiple items, then immediately messaging me after she paid, asking questions about sizing and material (all of which was clearly shown in the listings). Then she would request to cancel 1 or 2 of the items she purchased.
She repeated this process about every 2-3 weeks. Over the course of 3 months, she purchased and actually kept roughly $100 worth of merchandise (after all the others she cancelled).
I realized the time and energy and hassle of dealing with her wasn't worth the money, so I blocked her.
Yes, she left negative feedback once she realized I had blocked her. Because of the wording she used, I was able to have that feedback removed.
I guess you have to decide how difficult/ annoying the buyer is and then decide if it's worth the risk. I was certainly glad to get rid of the one that was driving me crazy, lol.
12345jamesstamps
·11 months agoI wouldn't block someone who makes a purchase(s).
Maybe after the 60 days I would...but not during the 60 day period.
'never left any kind of feedback'...and that doesn't mean anything.
'quite difficult to deal with'....We sellers wish all buyers were normal and easy to deal with but there are always a few out there who annoy us.
onefootflipper
·11 months agoI have a block list in the 4 figures (built up over many years and multiple accounts managed) and the only thing that EVER came of it was someone registering another account and sending me a message calling me fat.
powell-collectibles
·11 months agoPersonally, I wouldn’t block a buyer for being annoying, but that’s you right. And, yes, buyer can leave negative feedback for you as a retaliation – doesn’t make it right, but that’s the way that it is. Buyers have 60 days to leave feedback – so you could just wait until a long period has elapsed between orders, then block the buyer. Of course, the nuclear option is just stop selling for 60 days so that you can be sure that the buyer doesn’t order anything from you. Then, you can block him Without any fear of negative feedback.
But, you might be worrying about nothing. If you block the buyer, he won’t be able to buy from you – and he might not figure out why.
soh.maryl
·11 months agoIn order for a buyer to leave FB for the OP, wouldn't there have to be a recent transaction for him to attach the FB to? Although I suppose he could make a purchase just in order to be able to leave negative feedback.
Since the OP has 100% positive FB, wondering what the "annoying" is. I agree, in these times of rather slim pickings, would not be so eager to jettison a paying buyer although I suppose on the seller's level of tolerance.
exracers
OP11 months agoThe "annoying" is peppering me with messages about my listings. Will I sell it to her at half of my opening bid, will I give her free shipping, will I make her a deal, will I combine shipping... rapid fire messages, the same message for everything I list as I'm listing. One night, she sent me 34 messages in about 45 minutes. I asked her to just stop messaging me and then her messages all started with, "I know you don't like talking to me but..." If something doesn't sell, I relist. She will bombard me with messages telling me that it didn't sell (I know...), that no one is interested therefore I should sell it to her at half of what I am asking (auctions, not BIN). When I say no, she tells me I'm rude and need to make deals with customers. When I told her I'd rather keep an item than sell it at the price she was offering, she said, "Fine. Then, I'll bid." She bid, she won and then didn't pay until about 10 minutes before the autopay would have kicked in at 7 days. It's been a long summer of this and I'm taking a break from selling because I don't want to deal with her.
12345jamesstamps
·11 months agoThe problem seems to be answering her emails...stop that.
Try 'ghosting' her.
Send a like email...'I am currently out of the office'.
powell-collectibles
·11 months ago34. Messages in 45 minutes – yes, I had blocked two, if this was par for the chorus from this buyer. I think that expired doesn’t really know how to find feedback – or care. I think you’re pretty safe. But, it is your risk to take.
estate_echoes
·11 months ago34 messages in 45 minutes? I think anyone telling you to not block has not read this...
I would look at their feedback left for sellers.... if there is a lot of negs and neutrals you have a more than annoyance reason to block.
But you dont need a reason to block.
a_c_green
·11 months ago@exracers : Okay, first of all, I probably would have welded her into my BBL back around message #10, and never seen the next 24 messages at all.
However, if you think the income is worth the aggravation (okay, maybe not from her) and you just want to manage things a bit, you could try our old Tech Support trick we called "tarpitting" to deal with difficult customers that we were technically (contractually) required to deal with no matter what.
The first question of the day from the Problem Customer (PC) would be handled right away at our usual speed. Any followup question would also be handled right away, because of course sometimes the first answer can need a little more refining or explanation.
But after that, we move on to other things for a while. The PC might get their next question(s) answered in an hour or two. When yet another message rolls in, that's allowed to sit a bit longer: 2-3 hours tops. Every subsequent reply of ours will take longer than the one before, through to the end of the day. Next morning, we reset the clock and start our time-delay all over, generally beginning with a summary answer to whatever our PC had piled up in the In box since yesterday.
Management was fine with this because we did support the PC, but in a manner that allowed us to get other work done at the same time (including of course serving other contract customers who weren't half as annoying).
albertabrightalberta
·11 months agoFor that type of annoying, I'd block.
soh.maryl
·11 months agoThat's beyond "annoying". She needs to be blocked. Watch for her to open a new account and continue down this path.