How do you handle difficult buyers or challenging situations as an eBay seller?

[fivestarparts1]

Navigating tricky situations with buyers is part of the journey for every eBay seller. What's your go-to approach when faced with a difficult buyer or a challenging scenario? Whether it's communication strategies, conflict resolution tips, or anecdotes from your own experiences, your insights could help fellow sellers handle these situations more effectively. Share your wisdom.

[luckythewinner]

If they ask a lot of questions, I answer them. 

If they say my price is too high, I tell them that everyone on eBay has a different cost structure and they should definitely take advantage of the other seller's lower price. 

If they say they are unhappy with the item, I tell them to return the item for a refund. 

What other difficult or challenging situations have you run into? 

[monroe67]

"What's your go-to approach when faced with a difficult buyer or a challenging scenario?"

That's a kind of broad question.

Fortunately, my selling ID's most difficult buyers have been those [people] who submitted a winning bid or clicked Buy It Now and then never followed through by actually sending any money to/through eBay.  Very annoying, but I can't chase them down and try to force them to pay.  I think that would land me in jail, and I don't want to be in jail.  So I just grit my teeth and let eBay's clocks run, and then I add those buyer names to my Blocked Buyers List.  

Then there was the buyer who actually did pay but gave me a neutral, appearing to claim that I opened a government-factory sealed container to replace one item with a similar one but with a different year embossed on it.  Which, of course, I did not do.  He's on my Blocked Buyers List, too.  

The words "challenging scenarios" can cover a wide variety of situations.  A few years ago I sold an item to a buyer who didn't pay right away.  I noticed on the news that evening that her town was being evacuated due to a hurricane.  Hoping wherever she would end up would have wi-fi, I messaged her through eBay asking her if it was OK for me to hold onto that package for a couple of days to let the storm blow through.  She was very grateful and left positive feedback.  As I recall, I didn't get in trouble for a late mailing.  

[lamber9347]

I treat my buyers as I would like sellers to treat me.

#1- I answer any and all questions presented to me. I listed my items because I no longer want them, so if answering questions is a part of what it takes to get rid of the item, so be it. 

#2- If a buyer complains about color, size, shape, smell, or just plain doesn't like it, I tell them to start a return and ship it back with my provided return label. Haven't had an actual return in over two years now. Many times, people write just to be heard or to test the seller out. Apparently, I pass as they rarely every actually return the item. 

#3- I always apologize. Regardless of what the complaint is about, I apologize. It's raining where you live? I'm so sorry about that, please return your item using my provided label. 

#4- Lastly, I don't become upset or take things personally because that buyer is a complete stranger to me. I've never met them and will never cross paths with them again in my lifetime. If they call me names or are just plain rude, oh well....

[nick101902]

I'll be honest I don't always handle them well.  I try my best to treat them as I would want to be treated but I'm only human, I fail at times. All in all I do go out of my way for buyers or potential buyers.  It does bother me when I feel I went above and beyond and the don't even leave any feedback.  People are people, weather on eBay or in life.  I just try and do my best. 

[inhawaii]

I answer all questions no matter how many or how stupid.

I do not block buyers for asking too many or asking stupid questions.

I kindly decline all offers. I don't accept offers.

If a customer has a complaint or problem with a order, I take care of it.

I do not block buyer who cancel orders.

I had a buyer the other week who cancelled a order.

I cancelled the order.

I did not block the buyer.  I know many sellers do.

Ten minutes later he made another purchase, this time he bought TWO instead of one.

[mssteamboat]

I am very new to selling.    I have run into my first difficult buyer right out of the gate.  If I were to want one thing buyers would do is to contact the seller before contacting EBAY for a return.    I had already left positive feedback and now very much wish I could retract it.  My lesson learned?   WAIT, WAIT, WAIT before leaving feedback whether good or bad.   A lot can happen before the sale is totally completed.   Some buyers and sellers are exactly who they present themselves to be and unfortunately, others are not. 

[soh.maryl]

You may not realize this.  It's nice for a buyer to contact a seller before contacting eBay to do a return, especially nice from the seller's POV.  However, we have seen quite a few buyers, usually inexperienced ones, who come here stating that they contacted the seller and the seller somehow conned them into waiting before opening a case, sometimes deliberately stringing them along until the 30 days is over with.  

[mssteamboat]

I have asked the buyer to please send me pictures of the "damaged" item and crickets.  There is no evidence that the buyer contacted me or even tried contacting me prior to requesting a refund based on what I feel is incorrect information.   I have plenty of emails before payment and shipping that came through just fine.   Now I have crickets.   I know the selling rules and what I will have to do.   Lesson learned.   No feedback until much time has passed after the sale.  Be suspicious of buyers listing one address location on their profile and having you ship way across the country to somewhere else.   Be suspicious of listed items for sale that match the category you are selling that suddenly disappear without record of sale after your item has shipped and been received.  You might get a return request. 

I am sure there are ways to use the return policies en masse to an advantage.   That is not me.  EVER.

[luckythewinner]

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@mssteamboat wrote:

I have asked the buyer to please send me pictures of the "damaged" item and crickets.  There is no evidence that the buyer contacted me or even tried contacting me prior to requesting a refund 

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As an eBay seller, you are bound by eBay's Money Back Guarantee. That guarantee does not require buyers to contact sellers first or to send pictures. 

[albertabrightalberta]

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@mssteamboat wrote:

I have asked the buyer to please send me pictures of the "damaged" item and crickets.  There is no evidence that the buyer contacted me or even tried contacting me prior to requesting a refund based on what I feel is incorrect information.   I have plenty of emails before payment and shipping that came through just fine.   Now I have crickets.   I know the selling rules and what I will have to do.   Lesson learned.   No feedback until much time has passed after the sale.  Be suspicious of buyers listing one address location on their profile and having you ship way across the country to somewhere else.   Be suspicious of listed items for sale that match the category you are selling that suddenly disappear without record of sale after your item has shipped and been received.  You might get a return request. 

I am sure there are ways to use the return policies en masse to an advantage.   That is not me.  EVER.

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When a buyer opens a return request for NAD (not as described), ebay may require them to send a picture. But if the return request goes through without picture(s), the buyer doesn't have to send pictures just because you've asked them to do so. 

Also, in your previous post, you stated, "I had already left positive feedback and now very much wish I could retract it.  My lesson learned?   WAIT, WAIT, WAIT before leaving feedback whether good or bad." Even if you'd waited, you (as a seller) cannot leave negative feedback nor negative comments for buyers. 

[segestius]

The best advice that I can give regarding this issue is to never respond immediately to an angry e-mail from an upset buyer.  Responding immediately in the heat of the moment just tends to fan the flames of friction, and will never lead to a good result.

Waiting at least one hour (or preferably several hours) will allow a seller to calm down, and figure out a way to respond in a positive and friendly way, but still get their point across.

It is amazing the results that one can achieve with a seller when responding positively and calmly.

[inhawaii]

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@mssteamboat wrote:

I am very new to selling.    I have run into my first difficult buyer right out of the gate.  If I were to want one thing buyers would do is to contact the seller before contacting EBAY for a return.    I had already left positive feedback and now very much wish I could retract it.  My lesson learned?   WAIT, WAIT, WAIT before leaving feedback whether good or bad.   A lot can happen before the sale is totally completed.   Some buyers and sellers are exactly who they present themselves to be and unfortunately, others are not. 

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You left the buyer positive feedback and then they had the nerve to want to return something?

I leave my buyers positive feedback to thank them for their purchase, whether they want to return something later or not. 

[willsonestop]

Well I'd like to chime in real quick:

Certainly the advice mentioned previously is most likely valuable and helpful.

I have been in this business a very long time, and I dont say that with any intentions of bloviating, but simply as a way to justify my experiences on many issues.

1. Always remember that you are your own seller. Meaning, it's not one size fits all. Ever.

2.  We can all, even us old timers, learn something everyday. There is always something to learn here.

3. Feedback is AND always has been a very imperfect aspect to this whole industry. No matter how hard you try or how hard you work or how much the item is or isn't. There is going to problems. Leaving positive or negative feedback for a buyer who is unhappy or whatever, is basically meaningless. Why? Because I have yet to see a seller, myself included check a buyer's feedback prior to doing anything. Only when a buyer's feedback number is low, you simply need to determine if it's worth it to go through with the transaction. Buyer's with low feedback numbers, like below 10, means for one reason or another they are not really that active on ebay. Also, means they probably likely to presume that ebay has not changed. They would be wrong, 

4. It's very difficult to say the least when the "experts" say things like do this or just let it go or move on.

Heck, I still find it extremely difficult to let it go or the feeling of losing everything. So, I wont give any advice on that it really boils down to what your own personality and reasons for selling in the first place.

5. When you sell online, your going to be dealing with millions and millions of different people, in some form or fashion. Simply listing an item your already presented to millions and millions of people.

There's always going to be a large % of individuals in every business or daily life itself that have malicous intentions. 

Lastly, re-read the 1. I mentioned. It's great that we all have a place at the table and to see what other's do in certain situations. If it applies. awesome take it. If not, at least you learned something that may help in the future.

The opporunity to do this is an absolute blessing pure and simple. There wasnt a place to learn from other sellers and/or buyer's or anyone way back when, but there's I encourage all new sellers to come on in, there's plenty of room for everyone that wants to partake. 

[ddtjman]

I feel like you could ask 1000 sellers this question and get 1000 different answers. I'm a single person operation and maybe make $30,000 in sales a year so not a huge operation. I know people on ebay so big that they actually have cargo containers of goods and have employees helping. I generally sell NASCAR autographs so a very niche audience. I don't deal with too many difficult customers. When I get them, I refund and block and move on UNLESS it's the USPS's fault. I'm very meticulous about my items being described accurate and even more meticulous in my shipping methods as for them to arrive safely and undamaged. All items above $10 include a free signed card. I even film every step of packaging and mailing in the USPS dropslot at my local PO, time geo dated stamp. I try to be as accommodating and understanding as possible but sometimes a toxic person is a toxic person, whether online or in-person.  They get blocked. Suffice to say, most customers have been great and have been with me for over 10 years. The bad ones actually stand out in my mind like that giy from California who was upset I used tape on a one touch holder for a card and told me that he's a single Dad and don't have time to mess around with removing it and wanted a full refund. That jack wagon got his refund and his block. He also threatened negative feedback unless I sent him $15 additional dollar for his inconvenience. I sent it just to rid myself of him. Also, had a buyer complain about a few stray dots on the back of his cards but since I did list as MINT, I was in the wrong, technically, despite his extreme pickiness. He was polite and I let him keep the $21 worth of cards and full refund. But yes, I did block.