Blocking Repeat Buyers

[iamalwaysright]

You guys ever have or ever will block any of your repeat buyers? If so, how many times did they previously buy from you and why did you block them? Do you give them more chances than a random new buyer?

The most common reason why I block repeat buyers is for returning too many things since I have free returns. Sometimes by like the 4th return, you just gotta say stop lol. It wouldn't put it past me that some of them were probably looking at ebay as a free rental site.

This one time awhile back I blocked a repeat buyer who would come back every 4 months or so buying upwards to 1-2k each time. He never followed the ebay policy so we would ALWAYS have to rearrange and fix his orders for him which took a long time because it was alot of units. After about half a dozen orders, he started getting way more lazy with his orders and expecting us to fix them the way he wanted but giving us no direction. He would get really upset and pull the "I'm a huge deal and you're not" card and complain after filling the orders that it was all wrong trying to weasel back some money. I finally had to block and fire that buyer because my staff hated him and all his special overkill customizations and it really affected warehouse morale. 

[12345jamesstamps]

Returning an item one time for the first time....I do block that buyer. I don't need drama or someone wasting my time.

I don't send items on approval. That is basically what you are doing...sending items on approval.

Repeat buyers I have a lot of ....but not one has ever returned an item.

[iamalwaysright]

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@12345jamesstamps wrote:

Repeat buyers I have a lot of ....but not one has ever returned an item.

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Yea, but I'm not narrowing to buyers who return nor is this topic strictly about that. I just stated my most common reason for blocking among others. Have you ever blocked any of your repeat buyers for any reason, not just returns?

[wastingtime101]

It's all relative. I have this one repeat buyer that filed a few returns on free return items, but the amount of $$ he spent in my shop over 3 months was far more valuable than a few low cost return labels (lightweight items) - one of which he decided to keep so really only two labels in the end. Not only did he spend a boatload, but he kept buying from the same 4-5 listings which massively boosted my search ranking and increased sales on those listings with other buyers. Some of the new buyers also became great repeat customers.

Most repeat buyers don't spend enough for me to tolerate a high volume of free returns. And some categories I had to ditch free returns entirely because the loss was too great.

Your buyer sounds pretty nightmarish regardless of how much $$ he spent. I think you told me about that dude before. It's not that difficult to add stuff to the shopping cart for promos to automatically apply, or to select the right items from a variation listing. If he couldn't grasp that basic stuff after all your team's efforts to work with him, then gave you attitude on top, then good riddance. His $$ spent was offset by the time suck your staff spent dealing with all his special requests. Your staff's time time is $$ you're spending.

I'll definitely make accommodations for great repeat buyers, but there are limits.

[12345jamesstamps]

I never blocked a buyer who is a "repeat buyer".

Blocking a "repeat buyer" can get you in trouble with a repeat buyer. Repeat buyer "will" try to buy again from you and can't and find out they are blocked. If you block a buyer before they leave feedback from a previous purchase they will and have sometimes give you a negative feedback for being blocked. This I notice a lot in sellers of stamps. 

I block buyers who ask too many questions before their first purchase...that's drama I don't need.

I block buyers who want 50 % off on an item...that's just silly in that my items are not even expensive.

I had someone last week who wanted a stamp...but mail it to Portugal(aunt) and not South Africa his address.

He even gave his aunt's address immediately without answering him.

I might have 300+ block buyers or more...never really counted them.

[dentalsales4u]

I will block a buyer if they keep sending me offers.
I don't except offers and I will politely let them know this.

If they keep sending them, I will block after the third one comes through.

I will also block if it's someone who keeps asking a lot of questions and all the answers are in

the listing if they would just read lol. That's my clue that they are clueless and trouble down the road.

[albertabrightalberta]

I don't block based on the buyer whether it's a repeat buyer or a newbie. I block if their feedback left is scary, if they send multiple messages telling me why my items are overprice or if as @iamalwaysright describes, they're too high maintenance. 

[a_c_green]

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@iamalwaysright wrote:

You guys ever have or ever will block any of your repeat buyers? If so, how many times did they previously buy from you and why did you block them? Do you give them more chances than a random new buyer?

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I've never had a repeat returner, although I probably would block the guy after a second return. I've had a few returns over the years, but only one per buyer, and I generally just refund after return and move on.

What may get you blocked by me is a bid retraction, depending on whether it affects the auction later on. If you've got a bid retraction count on your feedback page (see the Feedback As a Buyer tab) of anything more than, say, 3, you'll definitely get blocked by me. (I wish we could have a Seller Preference to automatically block bidders above some user-selected number of bid retractions, but now I'm probably getting off-topic...)

[fashunu4eeuh]

No, haven't ever blocked a repeat buyer.

Fortunately, eBay sellers are free to do business with whom they choose on the platform. Always been that way, and i respect that approach, altho mine is a little different. 

I think there are 4-5 names on my block list in nearly 15 years of selling. My experience has been that those buying from me rarely do anything that creates grief, inconvenience or issues for my account. But i have had some rare problems myself as a buyer, with a few ‘bad seed’ sellers. Those IDs go on the block list, just in case.

(That said—that there are some crazies out there—i don’t want that to color my perceptions and interfere with a legitimate sale. So i try to make a concerted effort not to block out of fear, suspicion, or otherwise anticipate problems with a transaction. )