Not totally following the logic of the Buyer Requirements settings

[a_c_green]

So I'm staring at my current Buyer Requirements page settings, which look like this:

I notice a couple of things: 

1. That modifying setting of "Only set this requirement to block buyers with a feedback score:" doesn't make a whole lot of grammatical sense. It should at least have an additional clause beyond the little pulldown menu reading "or lower." As it stands right now, that pulldown menu count of "5" is just hanging out in space, with no further context to explain it.
    
2. What does "Apply above settings to active and future listings" do when it's Off? Nothing at all? That can't be right, because my Buyer Requirements Activity Log (here) does show that deadbeats have been blocked from recent auctions. When Off, is that saying that current listings can continue as-is, but future ones will adhere to the settings above? There is a line of explanation reading "Existing bids will not be affected," but it's not clear in that case what will be affected, or what the difference is between having the Apply Above switch On or Off.

[buyselljack2016]

....

[coolections]

Not sure why you are confused. The block buyer setpoint is if you want to not only block buyers who have not paid twice, but also if you want to include buyers with 5 or more feedback scores.

The active and future settings is just that. If you want to make your requirements active, you click it.

[nobody*s_perfect · Accepted solution]

1.  eBay forms, policies, etc. often reflect a lack of skill with logic and the English language. Two or three years, ago, many of the forms and policies were revised, often with a loss of content and format.  This vintage screen capture from 2016 shows that the buyer requirements option in question used to be written appropriately.

2.  When it's "Off," it's applied only to future listings. 

[a_c_green]

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

This vintage screen capture from 2016 shows that the buyer requirements option in question used to be written appropriately.

Thanks! I could have sworn that it used to be more clear than it is now. That is indeed what I remember.

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@nobody*s_perfect wrote:

2.  When it's "Off," it's applied only to future listings. 

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"Apply above settings to active as well as future listings" (or "in addition to future listings") might be more clear for that one.

[lacemaker3]

@a_c_green, I can understand your confusion, but it does make sense if you look at it in context.

The requirement you are questioning, is inset underneath the one above it. That means that it only applies to the requirement that is right above it. Like this:

[a_c_green]

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@lacemaker3 wrote:

@a_c_green, I can understand your confusion, but it does make sense if you look at it in context.

The requirement you are questioning, is inset underneath the one above it. That means that it only applies to the requirement that is right above it.

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Thanks; I do know its function. What I'm questioning is the language. As @nobody*s_perfect showed in that vintage screenshot above, it used to be a complete sentence: "...who have a feedback score of [3] or lower." It was clear that you could adjust that feedback count (3, in the screenshot) to a different setting if desired, and buyers with feedback of that value or lower would be blocked.

Following the latest round of revisions, the "or lower" ending phrase got lost, and the new format of pulldown menu has the current number just hanging in space, with no clear context to explain it.

Too much of the current programming on this site seems to have been blindly imported from Europe, with no one fluent in the English language to review it before dumping it into Production use. This is just one of many examples of shaky or incomplete English on this site. It really could be better.

[icecreambaker]

Are you serious?

The buyer requirements are written very badly.  The instructions do not make sense.
It reads like you want to block buyers who are currently winning.  It doesn't state if it means 0 feedback users or buyers with a score of more than single digits (regular eBayers).
The drop down box of 0 to 5 feedback score reads as though you want to set a feedback score of a user with the specific score you state.

Meaning, if I set a restriction of 3, to me eBay have written it as though any eBay account user with a score of 3 (and 3 only) will be blocked.  Therefore, buyers with feedback of 0, 1, 2, 4 & 5 are able to place a bid on my auction.

What I have set up, when I select to set it for current and future auctions, the selector does not stay set.

It's confusing and doesn't work.

[icecreambaker]

It is very poorly written.

I've set mine, but 0 feedback eBay account users can still place a bid on my auction and the 'apply this setting to current and future auctions' setting does not stay set.

In sick and tired of non paying bidders.

[nobody*s_perfect]

That buyer requirement can block them from bidding on more than one auction within a 10-day period, but it won't block them from bidding on that first auction.