Buyer upset with me so she bought my cheapest item to leave bad feedback!

[needleandthreadlastchance]

I'm a reseller and I won a beautiful dress in an auction that I planned to resell. It was a bargain and I know how much they go for.

After I listed it I had a message from the bidder who lost out to me in the auction pressuring me to sell it to her cheaply. I politely declined and pointed out that her offer was less than my maximum bid had been on the original listing. She kept coming back with lowball offers so I politely asked her to please stop and gave her a tip about sniping websites for future auctions to help her.  I went out of my way to be kind, but am not going to be manipulated into a sale.

She didn't reply to that message, but it turns out that 90mins after I sent it, she bought the cheapest item I was selling.

I shipped it not putting 2 and 2 together as I hadn't paid too much attention to the username.

Then today I get a bad feedback on that item. My first bad feedback in maybe 5 years.

I spoke to ebay before I had realised it was the same girl, but they declined my removal request.

An hour later I just had a thought to check the username on that dress.....and realised it was her.

She literally bought an item to harm my account!!!

What would your next move be?

I'm thinking call ebay first thing tomorrow (fraud team?)

and then snail mail her a notification on intention to prosecute to put the wind up her.

(Both she and myself are in the UK)

I'm shocked. How low can people get? Buying an item just to leave bad feedback is evil. 

This is nuts!!!

[tobadger]

" She kept coming back with lowball offers so I politely asked her to please stop"

You've been on here for 21 years with 1200+ feedback points according to your profile.  With those repeated lowball offers, you should have known by now to simply block her from bidding and buying.

[inhawaii]

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@needleandthreadlastchance wrote:

What would your next move be?

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Stomp my foot and then get back to life.

Sorry to say but there is nothing ebay will be able to do for you.

[snoopwiz]

Sorry to say but there is nothing ebay will be able to do for you.

Maybe not or.........maybe.  If it is important to you, then try. From time to time the "right" c/s agent takes the call, "gets it" and makes things happen. "Rules" be darned.

They have been known to even remove a positive feedback.

I say, go for it.

[ebooksdiva]

What baffles me is how did you know that was the loosing bidder when all eBay IDs are masked?

[chapeau-noir · Accepted solution]

Her feedback looks pretty dumb - new with tags but worn? I think you answered well, and the neg is already being buried by great positives. Just keep going.

One piece of advice going forward - don't engage with time wasters like this, don't try to "help" them - I know you were doing it out of a sense of good customer service and kindness, but blocking this person ASAP they started begging would have been the best course. It's one of those lessons that many of us have to learn one way or another.

[luckythewinner]

pointed out that her offer was less than my maximum bid had been on the original listing

Never, ever justify your pricing to a buyer. 

and then snail mail her a notification on intention to prosecute to put the wind up her.

You believe this buyer made a malicious purchase in order to damage your account ... and your plan is to antagonize her further? That sounds like a great plan. 🙄

[janet9988]

Open a new ID just for buying.

[toysaver]

Blocking isn't the same with eBay's replacement messaging system.  Originally you could see what town a buyer who asked a question lived in so if they circumvented the block it was an easy call.  Now all they have to do is open another account or use a spouses and the seller is stuck.  

I urge everyone to click on the Updated messaging feedback link and request this feature be returned.   It's at the bottom of the page under the paper airplane.  

[jenayedhess]

Oh no man that’s not good 

[ittybitnot]

I won a beautiful dress in an auction that I planned to resell.

@needleandthreadlastchance 

Did you even have the dress for sale or was this person simply messaging you to sell it to her and making offers?

If the latter, see if you can "report the message(s)" right on the message itself.  Here in the US, we have that option.  It used to be under the "ACTION" tab on the listing itself, or now found under the 'three line' menu.  What she was doing besides being a pain in the rear may be construed as "trying to take the sale off eBay". 

I am curious as well if in the UK you are allowed to see the IDs of the other bidders when, as a buyer, you are participating in an auction.  Here we can't.    Also, there is no negative review on your feedback page. Did you have it removed? 

[mr_lincoln]

Hi @needleandthreadlastchance 

I see you are located in the UK ... here is a convenient link for you to the UK Community:  Home - UK eBay Community

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi @needleandthreadlastchance so sorry this happened to you. Report the buyer for feedback manipulation. See link below to the policy. ( It is important to reference the exact violation when reporting.)

Do not engage in any more dialogue moving forward, including telling the buyer they’ve been reported. Belay the desire to take the wind out of her sails. One must remain above the fray and be unimpeachable in their behavior. The urge to get some of yours back is walking right into the trap of inviting more chaos. Do not attempt to prosecute on such an issue as this, as it is a declaration of war and a reason for her to retaliate further. It will legitimize more crazy actions, at least in her mind.

When she first contacted you, all that needed to be said was

”i regret i cannot accommodate your request, but thank you for your interest in my item.”

That’s it. Nothing more.

Explaining, offering help and advice, or making salient observations, only throws fuel on the fire. When someone behaves in this manner, it is also a good option to remove the item from your listings for the time being.

As others said, they needed to be on your block list without delay. The suggestion not to buy and sell on the same account is also a very good idea.

https://www.ebay.com/help/policies/feedback-policies/feedback-manipulation-policy?id=4231

”Feedback manipulation, which is any attempt to artificially increase your feedback score or lower another member's, is not allowed.”

[inhawaii]

There is ABSOLUTELY NO WAY that you, me, ebay or anyone here "knows" that was a malicious purchase just to get back at you.  There is also no way to prove it.

[pickapaper]

@ittybitnot wrote:  Did you even have the dress for sale or was this person simply messaging you to sell it to her and making offers?

@needleandthreadlastchance  wrote: " After I listed it I had a message from the bidder who lost out to me in the auction pressuring me to sell it to her cheaply."

@ittybitnot 

Sounds like @needleandthreadlastchance won the auction, got the dress, and then relisted it herself for a higher price.  Apparently the runner-up bidder to the original auction saw the listing and realized it was the same dress.