How do I stop zero feedback bombers from using Buy it Now on no shipping items

[postingid7659]

About once a month now I get a zero feedback new account hit a listing and use Buy It Now for a large item that has no shipping.  You never hear from them, they have no intention of paying, they're just being a pest.   In one instance the account had been made that very day. 

I attempted to set one to require immediate payment, but you cannot do this if there is no shipping.  I suppose I could try to set the shipping to a flat rate of some ridiculous amount like $10,000.   But that would just confuse and probably drive away any legitimate buyer for these items.  

Is there no way to stop these people?   New accounts with zero feedback should not be able to use Buy It Now on items over a set dollar limit.   Raising the asking prices of the items does not seem to stop them.  

I have had this happen a couple of times where it was close enough to the end of the billing period, I got billed for it, then ended up with a credit for several months when the fees were refunded.  

I suspect there may be one person behind this, as it started earlier this year when I turned down an offer who made no contact and clearly was too far away to attempt a pickup.  That account and all of the others who have done this (about five times now) have used names of the same ethnicity on the sock accounts.  Unfortunately I've no way to trace the IP addresses to determine if indeed it is one person.  

[southern*sweet*tea]

If they actually "buy" the item, keep a record of the address. If the same address buys from you again, cancel using problem with buyer address. Be sure to report all the IDs, for whatever good that will do since they're using sock accounts.

In general, make sure you have LOCAL PICKUP in the title. Yeah, I know...a waste of valuable title real estate, but at least non-description readers can't make the mistake. As  to the description, make sure you have local pickup only in large red font.  For the absolute non-readers (you know, the picture only shoppers) maybe make a sign that says "Local pickup only, no shipping", take a picture of it and set that as your second picture...or maybe this:

Or this:

(You said no shipping items. I'm assuming you mean local pickup, but it's late, I'm tired and I'm rambling away while poring over booklet lot listings while my eyeballs are starting to cross)

[postingid7659]

Yes, local pickup items. 

They don't respond to anything, and I block the accounts as soon as I see they've done this.   If it is one person I would think sooner or later they're going to run out of credit card numbers and emails to set up accounts with. 

I have the Unpaid Item Assistant turned on now because the last time it happened while I was on a short vacation.  Had to log in on this ancient laptop using the hotel wifi that I had intended to use without ever logging in, just to keep an eye on things and research and do other internet browsing.  

[fashunu4eeuh]

Hi, don't throw the baby out with the bath water!

When you get a non-payer, don't forget to put them on your blocked buyer list. This can stop or slow them down. 

But as far as blocking zero feedback buyers, it cannot be done. And for very good reason. If zero's were blocked or limited, there would never be new buyers on the platform. We all started at zero and a lack of history is not a reliable way to determine problem users. 

The best way to deal with non-payers is to set your Buyer Requirements to the strictest levels. Below is a link on how to block these already-identified problem buyers. Then, users with policy violations, and/or two or more non-paying strikes cannot bid or buy your items for a period of one year. It is far more effective to do this than attempt to mitigate risk based on feedback number only. New users come to the platform every day and it is imperative for them to have good buying experiences. This builds our buyer base on eBay and ensures a healthy shopper population for all sellers to draw from.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?id=...

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@postingid7659 wrote:

Yes, local pickup items. 

They don't respond to anything, and I block the accounts as soon as I see they've done this.   If it is one person I would think sooner or later they're going to run out of credit card numbers and emails to set up accounts with. 

I have the Unpaid Item Assistant turned on now because the last time it happened while I was on a short vacation.  Had to log in on this ancient laptop using the hotel wifi that I had intended to use without ever logging in, just to keep an eye on things and research and do other internet browsing.  

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Somewhere in recent board threads is one from a seller who has been targetted many, many times by a nutbar. It's a fairly long thread, and I can't remember the OP's name to save my soul.  I tried to find it, but can't right now.

[postingid7659]

I'm going to say it again.  New accounts and zero feedback should have some restrictions until the account is proven to be a reliable buyer.  Meaning multiple paid purchases over say 30 days with different sellers. 

A buying limit of $500 or $1000 per transaction would solve the problem without stopping people from buying low priced items.

Of course eBay used to have something that prevented this - I could set these listings to approval, meaning even if they wanted to pay the asking price I could approve or deny the sale.  If they brought that back, it would also solve the problem.  

I already block them every time, I already have the restrictions set, in fact I had to argue with the eBay rep the last time that zero is less than five, he insisted if I changed the limit to zero it would block these buyers.  He got mad when I told him it wouldn't work that way.  I think I'm dealing with something similar here, because it's clear one person didn't read all that I said initially. 

[7606dennis]

If the item is for local pickup only and you have your listing set up correctly, I would simply message the buyer asking when they want to pickup the item and await their reply.  If they want you to ship, simply cancel the sale using the problem with address reason and refund them and put them on your BBL, again, if it is a repeat buyer using a new ID. 

Of course, if they haven't paid you can file a UID.  Then if the paid they would still be required to pickup the merchandise since no shipping was offered in the listing so you then go through the same cancellation procedure.  However, if they don't pay after filing the UID, close it after the 96 hours and give them a strike.

If they continue with this type of behavior using a different ID, call eBay and, making sure you are speaking with a rep in the US, present your evidence that they are circumventing your block in an attempt to harm your sales.

[autopiacarcare]

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@southern*sweet*tea wrote:

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@postingid7659 wrote:

Yes, local pickup items. 

They don't respond to anything, and I block the accounts as soon as I see they've done this.   If it is one person I would think sooner or later they're going to run out of credit card numbers and emails to set up accounts with. 

I have the Unpaid Item Assistant turned on now because the last time it happened while I was on a short vacation.  Had to log in on this ancient laptop using the hotel wifi that I had intended to use without ever logging in, just to keep an eye on things and research and do other internet browsing.  

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Somewhere in recent board threads is one from a seller who has been targetted many, many times by a nutbar. It's a fairly long thread, and I can't remember the OP's name to save my soul.  I tried to find it, but can't right now.

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@southern*sweet*tea  - it might be me you were thinking of. https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Targeted-By-Malicious-Buyer-False-Returns/m-p/29512410#M137183...

I was actually just going to post here to mention that a lot of times the 0 feedback buyers are actually guest accounts. The person doing this may have a history of many transactions (whether or not they actually complete the sale), but if they use guest accounts then each and every time they buy, they basically get a new "temporary" ID created on that day that has no feedback history.  It also means that putting each ID on your block list doesn't really do anything to prevent them from coming back because next time it will be a different guest ID.

It's a loophole that eBay is very much aware of and chooses not to do anything about, from my experience.  If this OP is in fact being targeted by someone who is using guest IDs to mess with them, unfortunately I wouldn't hold my breath that eBay is going to do much to prevent it from continuing to happen.

@postingid7659  - If that is what is happening to you and you are able to get their name/address from the sale, check to see if there is any information at all that is the same every time (in my case they always used the same shipping street address).  That was the only way I was able to get eBay to finally tie the guest accounts together and take action, and it took them 8 months to do it.

[southern*sweet*tea]

Yes, it was you. I could not remember your name at all!