Bids from "0" count Bidders?

[omchamlin]

I don't sell on here continously, but when I do, I am plagued by "new guys" that turn out to be "non-paying bidders". During the course of an auction, can I simply cancel a bid from a bidder that has 0 feedback? I know that can be viewed as harsh, but I really don't have time for that garbage. Is it "eBay legal" to do that?

[coolections]

NO. That would be considered a very rude thing to do. It is very unfair to the bidder and all other bidders interested in your item. Also you cannot stop a snipe at the last second. What you can do is when the auction is over and after waiting the allotted payment time, file a NPB report. You can also not accept bids from people who have more than 2 NPB reports already on them when you set your auction.

[mudshark61369]

@omchamlin,

 "During the course of an auction, can I simply cancel a bid from a bidder that has 0 feedback? I know that can be viewed as harsh, but I really don't have time for that garbage"

Yes you can cancel bids.  However, not all (0) feedback bidders are actually new, nor are they all nonpayers.  Canceling bids because of feedback will usually mean you'll never have that person bid on your auctions again. Not only that but if the (0) bidder has been outbid, you run the risk of the 2nd bidder thinking a shill is being used, and they may retract their bid. 

  "I know that can be viewed as harsh, but I really don't have time for that garbage"

If you do not have, or do not want to take the time, to possibly coach new members then do not list your items as auctions. List them as Buy It Now with Immediate Payment Required, (BIN w/ IPR) and watch them languish.   Some of my best repeat customers were (0) FB bidders and some had payment issues which I helped them through.  Now they are fairly regular participants in my auctions and they pay.

If you still intend to cancel bids use the info in the link below, but start wearing bullet proof shoes.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/selling-auctions/cancelling-bid?id=4140

[omchamlin]

Oh my! I seem to have hurt some feelings here!

[smileytown18]

You can skip this problem if you list "Buy It Now" with "Immediate payment required".

And yes, the boards here can get pretty emotional sometimes 😉
Good luck

[a_c_green]

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@omchamlin wrote: 
Oh my! I seem to have hurt some feelings here!

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Unless some posting(s) have disappeared, I'm not sure what you're referring to there, as the replies I see are mostly factual. If you're finding that your listings are attracting zero-feedback bidders who (more importantly) don't pay for their wins, then figure out what you want to get for the items and list them as fixed-price BuyItNows with Immediate Payment Required. That way no one can snatch your item off the market without actually paying you for it first.

Cancelling zero-feedback bidders is technically permitted prior to the end of the auction, but you can just as easily find deadbeats with 1-10 feedback, or 5000+, and as already noted, you have no time to react to snipers at the end regardless. I would say that unless you're seeing an unusually high number of non-payers, you're still more likely to get a paying bidder than a deadbeat, or you can avoid the risk entirely and go to BIN/IPR instead.

[omchamlin]

Well, after ANOTHER "0" Feedback, new bidder failed to pay, my policy going forward is now to simply cancel all bids from 0's, and then add them to my blocked bidders list. Cry all you want, wring your little hands all you want, I have N E V E R had a 0 feedback bidder follow through on payment. Never, not ONCE.

I am beginning to consider the same for 1's too...

[this*old*attic]

They pay me.

Take a longer view - why alienate new users from the site? And who has time to babysit listing? Time is money.

Just set your account to autohandle unpaid items and don’t sweat it.

Nothing is perfect when dealing with humans.

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Maybe your items would be better sold Buy It Now with Immediate Payment Required?

[scottish_kat]

I hate to point this out, but you sell gun accessories at one of the most highly politically charged times in this country's history. There's a bunch of reasons this could be happening. Maybe people are $%^&ing with you. Maybe people are scared and deciding to buy guns and gun stuff and then changing their minds.

[inhawaii]

All of my listings are "immediate payment required". Close to 50% of my customers are "0" bidders.  I rarely ever have a problem with them.   As a matter of fact, as i think back, most of my problem customers/scammers  are not "0" bidders. 

You do what you feel you have to do.

Good luck to you!

[a_c_green]

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@inhawaii wrote:

All of my listings are "immediate payment required". Close to 50% of my customers are "0" bidders.  I rarely ever have a problem with them.

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Um, your customers are not bidders because your listings are not auctions; they're Fixed Price, so you can use IPR on them. The OP is running auctions, so he can't use IPR. He could conceivably list those items as Fixed Price/IPR if they've got a commonly known value, but auctions can fetch good money as well, if you're willing to put up with the occasional deadbeat.

[fashunu4eeuh]

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@omchamlin wrote:

Well, after ANOTHER "0" Feedback, new bidder failed to pay, my policy going forward is now to simply cancel all bids from 0's, and then add them to my blocked bidders list. Cry all you want, wring your little hands all you want, I have N E V E R had a 0 feedback bidder follow through on payment. Never, not ONCE.

I am beginning to consider the same for 1's too...

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If your purpose is to sell here, blocking all “new” users is akin to shooting oneself in the foot.

[inhawaii]

Hey ac, You are correct.  But here's a question. Do you have any reason to believe that "0" BUYERS (not bidders) would be any more trouble with an auction style listing as opposed to a fixed price listing?  I can't answer that because as you pointed out all my listings are fixed price/buy it now.