Non- paying bidders with zero feedbacks

[menmichef]

I have had so many bidders with zero feedback that never pay for their item after it’s won. I listed one particular item 3 times and each time, it’s been these loser bidders with zero feedbacks that have NO intention to pay. I put a lot of hard work and money into my eBay and such bidders make it very difficult to run a small business affectively. Is there a way sellers can not allow bidders with zero feedback to bid on their items? Am I the only one this is happening to? And what is EBay doing about it? 

[pburn]

sheila@ebay 

Could we please get some help in getting a clear and complete answer to the question(s) being posed in this thread regarding when the option to cancel a transaction for nonpayment will appear for sellers using the manual process?

Please let me know if the questions I've posed (along with @nobody*s_perfect) are unclear or could be phrased differently in order for the answer to be provided.

Thanks.

[mam98031]

elizabeth@ebay  and kyle@ebay 

I know that the policy page says 4 calendar days must pass before you can file a cancellation for non payment, but that is not correct.  You can file them as I described in my earlier post as I've done it several times.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Non-paying-bidders-with-zero-feedbacks/m-p/33421686#M2130981

It would be nice to have the policy page updated to say 96 hours as that is more appropriate and different than 4 calendar days.

If you have a buyer that purchases something from you at 12:00PM on Monday and hasn't paid by 12:01 PM on Friday, you can then file the cancellation for non payment as 96 hours have passed.

If you use the 4 calendar day rule then this same example would not allow you to file the cancelation until Saturday some time.  Which is not correct.

[chapeau-noir]

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@allen1853 wrote:

Ebay auctions are pretty much a losing proposition. In the olden days bidders would fight over the silliest things. Today the auction side is mostly a bunch of non-payers, frauds and snipers. Your best bet as suggested by others is to set a reasonable buy it now fixed price, do not accept offers, and do immediate payment required. Good luck, it is a jungle out there. 

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I agree all except the "jungle" - it's just daily business.

[kyle@ebay]

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@mam98031 wrote:

elizabeth@ebay  and kyle@ebay 

I know that the policy page says 4 calendar days must pass before you can file a cancellation for non payment, but that is not correct.  You can file them as I described in my earlier post as I've done it several times.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/Non-paying-bidders-with-zero-feedbacks/m-p/33421686#M2130981

It would be nice to have the policy page updated to say 96 hours as that is more appropriate and different than 4 calendar days.

If you have a buyer that purchases something from you at 12:00PM on Monday and hasn't paid by 12:01 PM on Friday, you can then file the cancellation for non payment as 96 hours have passed.

If you use the 4 calendar day rule then this same example would not allow you to file the cancelation until Saturday some time.  Which is not correct.

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Hey @mam98031 thanks so much for sharing your own experience with your cancellations.  We've reached out yesterday to the proper teams to request an update to include more precise language in the help page as well.  

[mam98031]

kyle@ebay 

Thank you.

FYI it was the same when we use to have to file UID claims.  The Policy page said after 4 days [or whatever it was], but it was actually 96 hours.  As you can see, there is a difference.

IDK why they want to put 4 calendar days in the policy.  It is 4 fiscal days, meaning 96 hours [four 24 hour periods] from the TIME actually purchased.

[soh.maryl]

What action do you believe eBay will take?

eBay offers sellers the opportunity to cancel, citing buyer did not pay as the reason, after four days.

Or sellers can list with fixed price, immediate payment required.  

[pburn]

kyle@ebay 

There still has not been a definitive answer from an eBay Community Team member of the precise time frame for the nonpayment cancellation to appear for sellers. The inference one could draw from your responses that the correct time frame is indeed 96 hours, but it that statement still remains unsaid.

Something like:

"The correct period of time for a seller to see the cancellation for nonpayment option to appear is 96 hours. We've contacted the proper team to update the help pages."

It would not seem to be too challenging to just straight up answer the question. People reading this thread don't necessarily know whether the member replying that the time frame is 96 hours is any more reputable than any other people responding to this thread. (Just in general--not implying that specific member is unreliable at all.) The correct response should come from an eBay Community Team member, not a discussion-board participant.

Perhaps I'm mistaken to expect the Community Team members to be able to respond to discussion board questions with a direct, clear, concise answer. acting as interpreters of or clarifying any confusion with eBay policies.

[tdrake]

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@inhawaii wrote:

Non-paying bidders. No problem for me. 

Buyers with zero feedback. No problem for me. 

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Ditto.

,

[mam98031]

That can sometimes be a challenge if they aren't getting a "direct, clear, concise answer" out of the team that handles the particular policy.

We ran into this a lot when trying to get straight answers about MP.   Some questions too countless effort asking again and again and some took almost 2 years to actually get answers.

[lisatomgray]

It happens to me a lot and I know how frustrating it is, I'm sorry it's happening to others. eBay really needs to give sellers the option to block zero (0) feedback buyers.

It's a lot of work, but what I do is check each of my active listings daily and look at the bid history. I then go to my block list and add the usernames of any zero- or low-feedback bidder (copy/paste works great, have multiple tabs open). I might even cancel their bid(s), especially if the low feedback buyer is the highest bidder and their high-bid amount is obviously egregious.

There is a certain satisfaction in cutting these **** off at the pass.

[reallynicestamps]

eBay really needs to give sellers the option to block zero (0) feedback buyers.

I opened a new selling account a couple of years ago, and first did some buying to build feedback.

After some dozen completed transactions, leaving FB for my sellers on delivery, I had two FB from all those purchases.

By the end of a couple of months, I had about five.

Those sellers could not know that I was an experienced eBayer (since 1998) with my new account, but they also, with that option, would be able to refuse a buyer with a dozen successful transactions.

So the option is meaningless.

I would suggest dropping FB entirely, and replacing it with a record of completed transactions, coupled with a record of Disputes (won or lost).

As an example  a Buyer with 103 completed transactions, who has opened three Claims, winning two, and losing one, has a Rating of 97/103.

And if the same Buyer has not paid for five other transactions, spurring the Sellers to open UID claims, that 97 would drop to 92/103.

[marketwoman]

That doesn’t deter them. I’ve recently had a camera that was bombarded with the zero bidders. As they bid I cancelled their bid and blocked them. Wasted my time for 5 days. Now I have listed another camera as buy it now. Who buys it but a zero bidder. Just waiting for them to cancel. What a waste of time. What do they gain? 

[soh.maryl]

1. Since this thread started in December, 2022, you might get more responses by starting your own thread.

2. When you cancelled all those zero FB bidders, what did you use as your reason? 

[kh-vince]

Hi everyone,

Due to the age of this thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thank you for understanding.