Nonpaying buyer and some strange behavior

[ocean7501]

Just venting here. I'm sure nonpaying buyers are pretty common to most of you. I've been on EB since 2001, but have sold very few things. I was lucky enough to deal with good people for the few items that I did sell.  Anyway, I accepted an offer for an item recently, after rejecting 2 back-to-back identical offers, from 2 separate user names with exactly the same feedback number (189). One of those users re-offered and ended up being the winner. 48 hours passed and no payment. No responses to messages. 99% positive feedback this person has. Now I am wondering if this was a bot that automatically changed user names and put bids/offers for the same item. One would think that EB would not allow such capability. And how can such this user have 99% positive feedback out of 189? And what is the motive? Maybe the person thought that I would just ship it before getting payment?

I had given too much credit to EB all these years, assuming that a non-payment "strike" would obliterate one's account - a capital offense of sorts. I am now aware that I can block people with strikes within a certain time period. Looking at the options for that particular setting, I was shocked to see how far up the allowable number of strikes went: up to 5 strikes within X number of months. So, in theory, there could be tens of thousands of Ebay users out there with at least 5 non-payments each. Why wouldn't Ebay convert a strike to, say, 5 negative feedback points?

Now, I have to wait 4 more days for this *@%! to not pay me until I can move on with my life and relist my item. Total of 6 days killed for a seller...

[janet9988]

You also are forgetting that members can have multiple accounts and although a bidder ID might be blocked, ebay still allows members to get around the block by using a different ID even though they say it is against policy.

[*help_no_brakes*]

"Total of 6 days killed for a seller..."

You could spend the time on some study.

"And how can such this user have 99% positive feedback out of 189?"

Obviously they also sell.

No doubt you have carefully studied the member's feedback...as a buyer, as a seller, feedback left & bid retractions.

"So, in theory, there could be tens of thousands of Ebay users out there with at least 5 non-payments each."

Smart sellers set Account Preferences to block those with 2 or more unpaid strikes in a 12 month period & use the BBL.

"Why wouldn't Ebay convert a strike to, say, 5 negative feedback points?"

Buyer's can't receive negatives.

A neg won't stop a non payer from BIN or Sniping.

Enjoy your visit to the Site Map.

[arun7500]

Ok, so you were dealing with a shill bidder using several different ID's playing one against the other and eventually wining the bid. Nothing new there. Of course none of that is ' suppose' to happen, but this is the new ebay and the buyers are always right, even when it's really one buyer using different aliases. Don't expect much from the ' unpaid strike ' system, just like the ' Blocked bidders ' list; all but useless. With the ability to created and change ID's on a whim and no interest from ebay to curb this problem, you are on your own. Set you're preferences to automatic UPI, have ebay send the ' Please pay reminders' and then have them close out the sale. Just take satisfaction in the knowledge that ebay will be forced to do the one thing that they hate more than anything in this market....refunding your FVF.

[myboardid]

No, there is no 'bot that changes the user ID and keeps the same feedback number - that was merely coincidence. 

EBay doesn't keep track of buyers' non-payments.  Sellers need to set their blocks - the strongest one is 2 non-payments in 12 months.  That really does block a lot of bad buyers.  I use it even though I have Immediate Payment Required on all my listings.  I don't want to encourage any buyers who have refused to pay other sellers. 

arun7500 - shill bidders work with the SELLER to raise the price of an item, so you are not describing the OP's situation correctly.  Buyers making Best Offers are not working together, they would be working against one another.  Each Best Offer is independant of the any other one.  None of your other comments apply to this situation at all. 

[ocean7501]

Just a quick follow-up on this. Nonpaid item case was closed, buyer got a strike, I got my EB fee back and relisted the tiem. I fixed all my buyer preferences to hopefully avoid this situation again. Here is the amazing thing, after I relisted, I got another offer for the same amount of the very early ones from before, from a buyer with also exactly 189 feedback number. Here is a brief summary, maybe someone can explain what's going on here.

First Listing, $150 BIN or best offer:

-Buyer with a user ID that starts with an "R" bids $100. Buyer has 189 feedback.

-Another buyer with an "R" user ID also bids $100. Also has 189 score. After some back and forth bidding, buyer wins and does not pay. Case resolved, I block the user ID. At this point, I check that this buyer's feedback goes to 190 from other transactions.

Second Listing for same item:

-Another user, with an ID starting with an "R", bids $100. And has 189 feedback score.

How can this be a conincidence, 3 times in a row? What's going on here?

[a_c_green]

Dump the silly Make Offer option, list your BuyItNow item at the price you would genuinely accept to sell it for, and set the Immediate Payment Required checkbox option (found in the full Sell Your Item form, not the Express version). That way, no one can snatch your item off the market without actually paying you for it first.