Buyer minimum feedback settings to bid

[eyeseemusic]

When eBay 1st started sellers could set a number of feedback ratings to prevent flaky/fake buyers from bidding. That policy was eliminated and it should be reinstated. I am tired of bidders with 1 feedback rating from not paying after winning. Stop protecting buyers so completely! 

[inhawaii]

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@allen1853 wrote:

Ebay encourages buyers to commit fraud. They coach them how to do it. How do I know? Reports by buyers. Good luck. 

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Ebay employee:   "Come on buyer, commit fraud, you can do it!  I'll talk you through it!"

[earthdreamer]

Zero feedback buyers have made some of my best purchases in the past few months. 

These are buyers who prefer to login with a guest ID and have their items shipped to a forwarding hub.  Some people simply prefer anonymity online, and not necessarily for nefarious reasons. 

I admit to some trepidation when I see the zero, especially after spending some time (probably too much) reading these boards, but so far my anxiety has been misplaced. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@eyeseemusic wrote:

When eBay 1st started sellers could set a number of feedback ratings to prevent flaky/fake buyers from bidding. 

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Nope, there was NEVER a policy such as you claim to remember. NEVER!

[albertabrightalberta]

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@allen1853 wrote:

I have been a seller for 19 years. Limiting buyers/bidders with non positive feedback WAS an option. Just because you were not aware of it or were not a seller then does not mean it was never an option. 

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There was a time when sellers could block members with a negative feedback score. But since it's been about 14+ years since buyers have been able to receive only positive feedback, there's no ability to block newbies.

[house*of*paws]

Hi @eyeseemusic 

Back when buyers could get negative feedback … sellers could set their Buyer Preferences to block buyers with negative Feedback Scores:  -1, -2, -3 or -4.

It was never possible to block zero-feedback buyers … but many sellers seem to remember that they once could.  🙂

[simba6]

No there was never such a setting.   However, any user could give feedback to any other user. No transaction was needed.  Yep, you could neg someone for outbidding you. They then could neg you right back however.  That "feature" soon went away.   Back then the user IDs of the other bidders were not hidden. 

[downunder-61]

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@allen1853 wrote:

I have been a seller for 19 years. Limiting buyers/bidders with non positive feedback WAS an option. Just because you were not aware of it or were not a seller then does not mean it was never an option. 

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I have sold on eBay for 18 years - You are able to block negative (-1) FB - that is still an option today, it has however, NEVER been an option to block a (0) feedback member as you have claimed over and over again.

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@downunder-61 wrote: ... You are able to block negative (-1) FB - that is still an option today,....

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That option disappeared from the Buyer Requirements options setup about a year ago.

https://www.ebay.com/bmgt/buyerrequirements

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@simba6 wrote:

No there was never such a setting.   However, any user could give feedback to any other user. No transaction was needed.  Yep, you could neg someone for outbidding you. They then could neg you right back however.  That "feature" soon went away.   Back then the user IDs of the other bidders were not hidden. 

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And their user ID might be their email address!

[johnrj1226]

Have  had  more non payers with 4 digit FB  and zippo non payers  with 0 FB.  Hmmm! All my non payers were on  auctions style listing.  I fixed that easily.  Went to fixed price listing (no best offers) and Immediate Payment Required.  Problem solved.  eBay life was good again.

All buyers and sellers start out with FB zeroes.  Should seller with zero FB be blocked from selling too??

If there are zero buyers there are zero  sellers - just peddler hopefuls.

[theteamsetguy]

Agreed! If you read these boards you would think the sky is falling. Reality is a very small percentage of the transactions go south. How often do you see a seller come on these boards and vent on how well there transaction went! Same with how great their sales are. The last thing a seller wants is to invite competitors.

[pburn]

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@allen1853 wrote:

It was not an Ebay policy, it was/is a setting sellers can use to block bidders without a certain level of feedback. I have not used auctions very much lately so not sure what the current options are for limiting bidders. When you list an auction, look for the option to limit bidders. 

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@allen1853 

Check your Buyer Requirements. 

Maybe you're referring to the block based on feedback numbers for buyers who are currently winning or have already made a purchase from you in the last ten days.

[ms.rodriguez*]

NO, eyeseemusic, I am NOT mistaken.  There was a block on buyers with negative feedback but never zero.

Now as Judge Judy would say, put your thinking cap on.  If this policy were correct, that means that when ebay first started ALL bidders had 0 feedback and NONE have them had the chance to bid if sellers put such a block.  See?  

As a seller with 2 selling accounts and over 10,700 feedbacks, I have never had a deadbeat with zero feedback.  All of my deadbeats have had lots of feedback, some in the thousands.

[maxine*j]

Too bad you can't send all those zero-feedback buyers to me.  I love new customers and, with a bit of respect and care, many of them turn into old customers.

By the way, do you wish that buyers could block zero-feedback sellers from their searches?

And, for the record, the very few transactions of mine that have gone south were not with zero-feedback buyers.  Nary a one.

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[varebelrose]

I always had far, far more problems with high feedback buyers than I ever did with new accounts. YMMV.

And no, sellers have never had the ability to block zero or low feedback buyers per se, just some limitations that can be placed on the amount of items they buy from you.