Learning to spot potential problem buyers is your greatest tool for surviving as an ebay seller
Summary: bolensparts-360 shares their experience with identifying potential problem buyers, describing a recent situation where they blocked a buyer who requested proof of authenticity. Concerns arose due to the buyer's history of leaving negative reviews. kensgiftshop and mam98031 argue that a request for verification doesn't necessarily indicate a problem buyer, while others emphasize the importance of vigilance. Additional perspectives suggest some buyers seek reassurance due to past negative experiences, and some sellers may prematurely block buyers based on assumptions.
We have done this since 2013 and have seen alot over the years , the one thing we have gotten a pretty good sense of is potential problem buyers . We just had one ask us to provide proof that the item we are selling new in the box is authentic , I guess the listing photo of the actual original part in the box is not enough and with us being here since 2013 we wouldn't be here if we were selling knockoff crap so the red flags went up , I check this buyers feedbacks left for others and just about every other one was negative towards the seller , Needless to say hes now blocked which has likely saved us a costly return and neg feeback !
mam98031
·3 weeks agoIt is hard to spot a bad buyer, but just sometimes sellers are looking so hard for them that the ASSUME too much and block a perfectly good buyer that simply asked a question because they felt they needed an answer.
We sometimes forget that these buyers are spending their hard earned money and sending it off to a complete stranger in the hopes that they will honor the commitment they made and send them the product they ordered in the condition it should be in. So sometimes these buyers just like a little reassurance and that really is part of our jobs here.
That is not to say that a similar message by actually represent a problematic buyer, but most times it is likely an innocent question. For me, I would have waited, now if there was a second message questioning stuff, I would need to take a hard look at what they said exactly and make a determination from my years of experience as well.
bolensparts-360
OP3 weeks agoAll I needed to see was he leaves negative feedback for over 70% of the stuff he buys .
mam98031
·3 weeks agoThat is a VERY good reason to do it.
de_bay
·3 weeks ago · EditedAs a buyer I have asked for pictures of the actual item to be shipped as the Posted pictures don't match the description. When these kind of problems are pointed out to eBay eBay doesn't care. This degrades the entire shopping experience on eBay. In one case I was blocked by the seller because the seller was misrepresenting what they were selling. (False information)
tools*
·3 weeks agoSomeone like that should be shopping in retail stores and paying full price.
sportsfindsandmore
·3 weeks agoWhen I even suspect, some call it profiling, I block them without hesitation.
tobaccocardyahoo
·3 weeks agoSome categories spawn distrustful buyers.
He could be a PITA or a crook or a buyer who has dealt with some of your competition.
If he has been scrooged in the past you may have helped him out the door.
kensgiftshop
·3 weeks ago"being here since 2013 we wouldn't be here if we were selling knockoff crap"
Look at how long some sellers from China have been here.
A buyer asking if an item is legit, I don't see that as a problem buyer.
sin-n-dex
·3 weeks agoI don't see that as a problem buyer, but every other feedback being a negative certainly is. To avoid causing myself stress I don't go and look at buyer's feedback (or left for others) unless I have a problem for real. I'm short on time in my day to day life, I only pay attention and assess the situation in certain circumstances (like when that guy bought $3000 worth of coins from my store, that I certainly paid attention to). A week or two ago another buyer bought $1400 in items, on one transaction (so signature required). After checking how many FB they have and the length of their time on this site, I ceased to worry any further about the transaction (which went off without a hitch).
ten_o_nine
·3 weeks agoYou can only spot them if they ask a question or make an offer.
inhawaii
·3 weeks agoI have the uncanny ability to be able to spot them just by their username.