Auction with Person Who Can't Up Their Bid

[somanypostcards]

I just got this message from a long time repeat buyer of my auctions:  "Is there something you did with my account, as I can;t increase my bid from what I already bid a few days ago?"

Is anyone else having this problem?

[eburtonlab]

Hard to diagnose third-hand, without knowing what the bidder is seeing when attempting to bid.

Any error message? Technical glitches -- such as bid amounts disappearing while attempting to place a bid?

If it is a long-time repeat customer, it is unlikely to be your buyer requirements, unless the buyer very recently received a second unpaid item strike. Might be worth checking the logs to see if anything appears there.

Open transaction limits? Perhaps the buyer has many more current orders in progress than usual.

PayPal or eBay account problem? Maybe something like a payment method needs to be updated there.

Browser or app issue? Intermittent network issue?

[somanypostcards]

I've asked the bidder for more details on what is happening, but so far no reply.  He did send me 6 messages that this is happening on 6 auctions, but that's all I know.  I suggested he call eBay customer support. 

| If it is a long-time repeat customer, it is unlikely to be your buyer requirements, unless the buyer very recently received a second unpaid item strike. Might be worth checking the logs to see if anything appears there.

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by checking the logs.  This buyer has always paid for items bought from me.  He's one of my best customers.  But thanks for your comprehensive list of possible causes.

[eburtonlab · Accepted solution]

If a buyer is prevented from bidding or buying due to your Buyer Requirements, there should be an entry in your Buyer Requirement Activity Log; if so you may be able to add that user to an exemption list to allow that buyer to make a purchase.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?id=...

Not sure if that is what is happening in this case, but it is worth checking.

[somanypostcards]

Thanks for letting me know about the Buyer Requirement Activity Log.  I was able to see that one of my best buyers was being blocked because I had recently added a requirement to block buyers who had 3 unpaid items in the past 6 months.  I immediately went in and removed this requirement, so my buyer requirements snowed NONE.

Today this buyer informed me he still could not bid.  I went back to Buyer Requirements and discovered a toggle switch at the bottom to apply changes to existing and new listings.  It was OFF so I turned it ON.  I'm not sure why this toggle switch is even needed.  I just wanted to make other sellers aware of it, as they might run into the same problem I did, when I thought my seller restrictions were NONE but that wasn't true if this switch is off.