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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

I have no idea where else to make this suggestion, and I did submit it as suggenstion in the past.

 

Basically, I have once again been stiffed by a buyer for one of my auctions. And I am not the only one this time; another seller left them Positive feedback with a negative comment because as a seller, that's all we can do.

 

My suggestion to eBay is this: When a seller does not pay for an auction, after the resolution center has closed the case, an automatic Negative Feedback response should be generated for the non-paying Buyer that simply says, "Buyer did not pay for auction."

 

That still protects the Buyer from retalitory feedback from a Seller, yet it punishes them the same way a Seller can get punished. A strike on their account and the ability to add them to our Block List is simply not enough. And for me, leaving Positive Feedback with a negative comment is not an option.

 

I'm really tired of dealing with non-paying Buyers and no way to publicly flag them.

Message 1 of 32
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31 REPLIES 31

Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

We have a recourse, if sellers follow through.

 

Open an unpaid item case.  Buyer will get s strike.  

As a seller you can set your block bids based on buyers with item strikes.

 

This will help alliviate some of your issues.

 

From there, as much as it sucks, it's part of doing business.  I had two unpaid item strikes I had to issue this week.  Both were Best offers and one, I accepted right away, then the buyer never paid.

Message 2 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

I do all of that -- automatic opening of an unpaid item case, blocking bids based on buyer strikes, and, as I mentioned previously, adding the buyer to my block list so they cannot bid on my future auctions.

 

I just don't think it's enough of a deterrent. Negative feedback is a deterrent. Like you said, no matter what you do, non-payers will always be a part of doing business. But I think there is a problem when the only public recourse is to leave positive feedback with a negative comment.

Message 3 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

I have asked this question many times & never received a reply. 

 

However...once more...

What would be the purpose/effect etc. of leaving  negative feedback for a buyer & how would it help you or other sellers? 

Message 4 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

Having an auto generated Negative Feedback created against non-paying Buyers (and I want to stress that part, because it would not be the Seller leaving the Negative Feedback; it would be eBay) would have the effect of letting other Sellers know if there is a pattern with a particular Buyer not paying. And whether to expect problems. Against new users, I'm not sure if it would have the same effect, but it would at least be a consequence of creating an account and bidding just to win, and then deciding against wanting/paying for the item.

 

How would it help me as a Seller? For me, it's mostly information. I can tell if there is a pattern with a Buyer not paying. With my latest non-payer, after seeing the Positive negative feedback response, I am pretty sure this Buyer will not be paying for my auction won either. It can also let me know if the Buyer has never been a non-payer before; maybe there is another issue that requires patience on my side, especially if making contact isn't working. Besides deciding how to deal with the Buyer (block lists, patience, etc), it can help me know how to proceed with the item in question. With my latest non-payer, I know I can probably get away with relisting my item without waiting for the entire Non-Payer Resolution process to complete. The way I like to list items, that's important to me. 

 

It's certainly a different effect than leaving Negative Feedback against Sellers, which helps you decide whether to avoid a Seller or if the issue may have been a bad Buyer. And perhaps it would not be the deterent I think against non-payers, or at least, in deterring repeat non-payers. At worst, it can at least be a helping mechanism for those every once in a while Sellers who are not vigilant at setting all the safeguards that autopartspuller mention's in their post.

 

I hope that helps to answer your questions!

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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

The present system is fine for non paying bidders.  You are creating problems trying to solve a problem.  If a buyer has a pattern with non paying you won't even get bids from him using the current system.  What good is knowing a bidder has a pattern for not paying for items anyways?  I would rather the bidder not be able to bid.  Even if you did see negatives you can't relist the item  until the non paying dispute is over or you will get a severe mark for not completing the sale if they do pay late.  Online selling can't be perfect.  Ebay has this situation under control. 

Message 6 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

Actually the only time I can see it really being helpful is with best offers.  You could check someones feedback and see if they have a habit of not paying before hand.  But of all the things ebay could change to help the seller this, in my opinion, is way down on the list.

Message 7 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

Well, difference of opinion, but I do appreciate the feedback.

 

Thanks!

Message 8 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

@t-dubsgp

 

Thank you for your detailed reply.

 

I too look at a bidder's feedback...the feedback they leave for sellers.

I then look at the feedback they have received & if I see a false positive for non paymen left by a seller I immediately ignore it.

After all if a seller is prepared to ignore policy how can I trust that what they state in feedback is accurate?

 

One more question if I may...make that two.

 

How would you handle a bidder who has a used a Snipe Service to win your auction & you see that they have a neg for Non Payment?

Perhaps they may be away with no internet (rare I know) & intend to pay upon their return maybe a day or two after the end of the auction?

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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

@*help_no_brakes*

 

Sadly for me, the false Positives have always been accurate to what I can expect from a bidder (no payment). I don't like it because bad comments or not, it still goes in the Positive Feedback column.

 

In your scenario, I would handle any Buyer with a non-payment negative the same way I handle a Seller with a negative feedback. Sometimes I see an item I want to buy with a seller that has a 97.8% feedback rating. I look at their feedback and see they have one negative, admid a bunch of positives. So I would definitely consider buying from them.

 

As a seller, with the commitment already made to buy from the winning bidder, it's a little different as to what you can do, but as with any buyer, I would give them an opportunity to pay. Really, what else can you do? Try and cancel an auction? That would seem to be overkill. Maybe they have 20 Positive Feedbacks and one Non-Paying Negative. Maybe eBay gives them a chance to respond like Sellers can respond to Negative Feedback. Like you mention, things happen (no internet, family emergency, etc).

 

I have a case auto open after 8 days. Before that happens, I send an invoice as a reminder to pay. So I guess I wouldn't do that much different with my proposed Auto Negative Feedback system. You really can't, even if you wanted to, but probably should not be able to either because, as you said, things happen and sometimes payment cannot be made immediately. I ran into that recently. I would hope most sellers give more than a couple of days to pay though.

 

No internet is rare, but I am happy to work with buyers who send me a message about late payment (for me, that's more than 5 days after an auction ends), or when they intend to pay. I might be a little less willing to work with those with Non-Paying Negative Feedback.

 

In the end, I guess I feel that people deserve to know upfront if they are dealing with a person that does not pay. The current eBay tools are useful; sometimes I will look at bidder history and see a bunch of bids that were blocked -- some with a high feedback count -- because of non-payer strikes. This would just be another tool, an informational one, for the Seller.

 

I hope that answers your questions somewhat 🙂

Message 10 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

You would be surprised what a psychological deterrent getting a negative used to be.  

Ultimately on a buyer account it means little, until you get a flaky buyer and can go see what you're in for - like a guy who used the same excuse to flake on me that he'd used on someone else a year before - but getting it sure made them mad and the possibility of getting one prevented a degree of buyer abuse.   

Even if it just included it in the feedback page header as a tally of UPI strikes or something, would be enough maybe.  People who scam do not want you to be able to see that they scam.  

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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

I guess  my question is:

 

What good does it do when a buyer can just open a new account..

Don't pay once or twice- new account

Scam a seller with partials- new account

3402 bid retractions- new account

Bunch of unwarranted negs for sellers- new account

Scam a seller with empty box return- new account

 

What good does negging a buyer do again? 

 

~Pika~
People in life that are the happiest don't have the most,, they make the most of what they have...

Message 12 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)


@t-dubsgp wrote:

 

...Basically, I have once again been stiffed by a buyer for one of my auctions. And I am not the only one this time; another seller left them Positive feedback with a negative comment because as a seller, that's all we can do...


Unless I'm not understanding you correctly, What you're describing is False Positive Seller Feedback and is not allowed under eBay policy.

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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)


@pikabo-icu wrote:

I guess  my question is:

 

What good does it do when a buyer can just open a new account..

Don't pay once or twice- new account

Scam a seller with partials- new account

3402 bid retractions- new account

Bunch of unwarranted negs for sellers- new account

Scam a seller with empty box return- new account

 

What good does negging a buyer do again? 

 


It does absolutely nothing which is probably why eBay did away with it.

 

Except maybe put a bandaid on a seller's hurt feelings? I dunno.

 

shrug

Message 14 of 32
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Negative Feedback for Buyer (Suggestion)

@postingid7659

"Even if it just included it in the feedback page header as a tally of UPI strikes or something, would be enough maybe."

 

I like that idea! That would work too.

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