One buyer scam that would stop pronto if ebay allowed sellers to give negs.
The one I'm talking about is returning an item that is not the original item the seller sent.
Return an item in worse condition than the one sent so the crooked buyer upgrades his collection for free or return an empty box or a box full of rocks.
If sellers were allowed to give negs to warn other sellers this practice would stop instantly.
Ebay might allow seller protection but who wants to deal with this terrible waste of time.
27 comments
sammiea1460
·1 year agoAaah, the good ole days. When buyers and sellers could engage in wild public name calling.
"You are a (fill in the blank) thief, liar, piece of "garbage", con artist, scammer..."
Still goes on but this behavior is generally from a small number of buyers. Buyers on ebay have very strong protections so there is no need for the childish name calling. And the rest of us are on the sidelines not knowing who to believe.
For all of ebay's micromanaging, why they tolerate this is beyond me. If I mentioned your political affiliation, race, religion, disabilities, gender, etc. they would be all over me.
ten_o_nine
·1 year agoIf sellers were allowed to give negs to warn other sellers this practice would stop instantly.
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I don't think giving sellers the ability to leave negative feedback for buyers would solve the problem, as scammers can easily create new accounts. it could unfairly harm honest buyers who encounter hostile sellers. Many sellers already react poorly to return requests, which could lead to a toxic environment that drives away legitimate customers. eBay's priority should be fostering a fair and respectful community for both buyers and sellers.
hartungcards
·1 year agoYou lost me at, "One buyer scam that would stop pronto."
youn2240
·1 year agoI feel you but you're wrong. I've seen enough on this forum alone to know that there is a high enough percentage of sellers that are actually criminally insane that this would be abused quickly and drive lots of legit customers away. I just give em feedback when after I print a label and don't think about it anymore and it just keeps working out. I think I get something like 1 or 2 returns or refunds a year.
ladybugmls
·1 year agoTotally agree. Don’t know why OP assumes only buyers are unscrupulous or dishonest. A portion of sellers would absolutely leave retaliatory feedback, even if it was undeserved.
mam98031
·1 year agoAbsolutely correct and part of the reason Ebay took away the ability to leave negative or neutrals on buyers.
We have too many dishonest sellers on the site. More work needs to be done by Ebay to weed them out. One thing will help if buyers report those sellers anytime they have some issue with the seller not performing they job correctly.
https://www.ebay.com/help/action?topicid=4022
powell-collectibles
·1 year agoSome sellers are just frustrated with how little eBay does to counter unscrupulous buyers. I don't have a huge desire to have the ability to leave negative feedback, but I get it that some sellers want that ability as one of the few things that they can do to a lousy buyer. I don't think that false positives do much (but they might, if sellers look at feedback when considering offers or reviewing bids), but understood that eBay sitting on their hands with bad buyers drives some to engage in goofy behavior.
Sure, sellers have "protections," but it seems like a buyer has to be so far beyond bad to even get on eBay's radar. Sure, eBay can use AI to find a needle in a haystack issue with my listing, but they don't recognize that a buyer with 495 refunds out of his last 500 orders might be scammer that shouldn't be on eBay?
onefootflipper
·1 year agoIn this case it seems that the original poster wants to leave retaliation feedback for the 2 negatives he got for abandoning his seller account when he was in the hospital.
While I know the seller felt that was out of his control one still needs to have a plan in place for any business if you become unable to perform your duties. In this case having a cell phone or even one trusted person they could call to take care of it would have headed off his problems.
I absolutely understand the hospital thing, having been put into a coma to stop the spread of the infection that ultimately took my leg off. However I also had pre-existing arrangements with someone to end my listings if I ever became incapacitated.
mam98031
·1 year agoA Plan B is essential for EVERY seller that is running current listings of any kind.
inhawaii
·1 year agoNice catch.
I agree with you.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoAnd you have direct, recent personal experience!
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoThe OP will be back in a couple weeks complaining about something else.
Unavailable member
·1 year agoI’m not sure where your thought process is.
What makes you think a buyer who a is scammer, will care about getting negative feedback from sellers? All that buyer will do is create a new account to continue unscrupulous buying habits.
mam98031
·1 year agoI don't think it would. Unless the seller is just running auctions, there is no ability to even look at feedback of the buyer before there is an actual purchase. Most sellers running auctions are not likely to do this on a regular basis.
For sellers that use fixed price listings, they would only have the opportunity to look at the buyer's feedback AFTER a purchase has been made. Again most sellers don't have the time to do that or wouldn't do it even if they have time. Besides, after the purchase the seller would have to file a Cancellation for the transaction. And they would need to claim a seller reason which is OOS or damaged. Then they get a Defect on their Dashboard. Selecting a buyer reason would be incorrect and Ebay is cracking down on sellers that misuse the Cancellation process.
I realize for a single seller leaving negative feedback on a buyer may seem reasonable. But for the bigger picture, the site overall, it is a very bad idea. It would drive GOOD buyers away from the site. Because history shows this to be true and some seller simply post negative feedback on buyers that do not deserve it or is retaliatory in nature. The history of this site shows this to be true. And it is why you won't be able to find a site similar to Ebay that allows this. It is simply very bad for Business for those of us that sell on a regular basis.
onefootflipper
·1 year agoYou must not have been around for the first decade of ebay when they allowed that.
Leaving a negative for a buyer would nearly 100 percent of the time get you a negative as well.
Every single time you left a negative for a buyer you ran the risk of some unhinged individual deciding to take revenge on you for the negative.
kensgiftshop
·1 year agoThat wouldn't stop it.
They would just open new accounts.
slippinjimmy
·1 year agoFrom 1995 to 2008 eBay allowed sellers to neg buyers, a can assure you that "box of rocks" returns were much more rampant then they they are now.
Leaving negs would accomplish nothing, if it bothered a buyer they could simply start a new account which could be done in less than a minute.
You were active on eBay back them.....did negs for buyers do anything for you at that time other than make you (falsely) feel like you had accomplished something?
gone.c-33
·1 year agoAnd what would stop sellers from negging buyers who rightfully returned actual SNAD items?
I would be all for buyers to get a bad mark for non payment processed by eBay that can verify that no payment within the time allotted has been made but that’s verifiable.
Feedback regarding the condition of an item is not.
tobaccocardyahoo
·1 year agoA seller who chooses to cancel based on reading a buyers FB will be punished by EBay.
A seller who sells high risk items and cancels frequently because they do not trust the buyer can pay a heavy price if they reach Below Standard Seller Level.
Your position will just create another trap for frightened sellers to fall into.
pennpicker
·1 year agoOr a buyer on eBay's radar for being a thief might be required to send any future returns to a third party that could verify what is being returned.
soh.maryl
·1 year agoSounds like a not bad idea at the outset. But think about the logistics as well as the fact that it would require an unknown number of additions to eBay's employee roster, so don't see that happening.
pennpicker
·1 year agoJust thinking out loud. Not every price point would benefit. All the posts from newbies sending out expensive phones or computers and getting shafted would benefit. Do it like the jewelry authentication with sellers sending to eBay's clearing house and forcing returns to the same instead of blindly taking the buyer's word. Make it a premium service for other commodities, adding an extra layer of protection. Trusted buyers could bypass or decline.
jonathanbrightlight
·1 year agoHow much extra do you want to pay for that service? Because it wouldn’t be free, and it would probably not be charged per return, it would just drive up fees overall.
pennpicker
·1 year agoAs a baseline, such a service could be compared against my local or NYC brick and mortar auction houses with an online presence where costs average 28-30% for buyer premiums and a 6% seller commission. Seller commissions for run-of-the-mill stuff can vary between 25-35%. Going that route offers thousands of more views, no returns and no fees on shipping or taxes. And contrary to many opinions on this board, the live auctions (at least for antiques/art) are doing extremely well right now. Especially so at some of the better regional auction houses that are getting big NYC house results.
What are the jewelry or sneaker sellers charged for their participation? Is it a percentage or a flat rate? Are returns sent directly to the seller or back to eBay? What price for peace of mind when the only other option is eBay siding with buyers because no one knows what truly transpires in a transaction that has gone sideways?
pennpicker
·1 year agoThe fee would look something like the warranty options offered at the time of purchase as an add-on for buyer security, but in this case would be an option for the seller to select based on their own risk assessment.
doc-holmes
·1 year agoEbay would lose money on those buyers of that was the case. They'd just ban them.
stainlessenginecovers
·1 year agoA busy seller has feedback (positive) automated so they don't have to spend time doing it. Happens the moment a buyer buys...so this would not do a thing.
Most sellers don't look at buyer feedback once a buyer buys, and those that do, could not do anything if it were full of negs except cancel and eat it or lie why they are cancelling. All bad.
Nope, would not help.