Only bidder has 0 feedback and member since 2016! Should I be concerned?

[mayajean1]

Hello,

I have a Shirley Temple doll for sale.  The starting bid is $75.  The auction ends Sunday night, September 4.  There is one bid so far.  The bidder has been an eBay member since 2016 but has 0 feedback, no buying history, no selling history.  This is not a new person that just signed up and is starting out - I would give them a chance if they were new as we all started at zero at one point.  But this person has been a member since 2016 and has zero feedback and it seems odd to me.  Should I block the bidder or cancel the auction?  I’m not sure what to do.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thank you. 

[m60driver]

I don't think that level of the doll market is rife with scams.  I would do nothing and accept the normal everyday selling on Ebay risk of having a sale go bad.  And by the way, I have never had any major issues with a zero feedback buyer.

[albertabrightalberta]

@mayajean1 

It's very possible that the bidder has made purchases for which they just didn't receive feedback. Or they may have joined to look for something and never found it until they saw your item. 

I'm not sure why so many sellers assume 0-feedback buyers are scammers. 

[mayajean1]

Thank you very much for your reply.  I agree with you, it’s a doll and not a cell phone.  It just seemed odd that they have 0 feedback and have had no activity (buying or selling) in the 6 years since they signed up…and then they pop up to buy a doll.  It would be their first purchase since they became a member 6 years ago.  It just seemed odd/suspicious to me.  I was trying to avoid a possible issue. Thank you for your response.  

[mayajean1]

Thank you for your reply.  Yes, that’s possible. 

[okiefolkart]

Usually zero bidders are scammers! Happened to me twice. A real pain. Waste of time and money and ebay doesn't care!

[inhawaii]

You mean ebay lets new "0" bidders/buyers join?

That's ridiculous!

[soh.maryl · Accepted solution]

When selling or buying on line, we never know the back story of any buyer or seller.

We can theorize all we want about the history of this potential buyer, but it will make no difference in the end.

You have a live bidder on a -- let's face it -- not so very high dollar item.  My recommendation: Do not block or cancel.  Let this play out.  

[dbfolks166mt]

@mayajean1 

It's very possible that the bidder has made purchases for which they just didn't receive feedback. Or they may have joined to look for something and never found it until they saw your item. 

I'm not sure why so many sellers assume 0-feedback buyers are scammers. 

     Agree 100%. It is also possible the bidder/buyer has multiple accounts that they use for different purposes. Not uncommon even among the posters on this forum many have multiple ID's. They may in fact have purchases and feedback on other accounts and they just happened to place the bid on using this account. 

[mayajean1]

This is not a “new member that just joined” situation.  It’s an old account situation with zero feedback.  Member since 2016.  Six year old account.   0 feedback.  No buying history.  Of course we need new members and new members start at zero. We all did.  I welcome new members just starting out. This case only drew my attention because it’s a very old account with 0 feedback. But I appreciate your sarcasm even if you missed the point a bit. 

[mayajean1]

Thank you for answering my question.  I really appreciate it.

[wrong66]

You can't possibly be serious. So, anyone who joins eBay after today would be a scammer? Yeah, that makes sense.

[sextons-sweet-deals]

have you Google map their address?

You can always ship with signature required for a little self-security.

[charper-2016]

Hello.,
I have an idea. But I am a fairly new member to ebay. I hope you find this useful. Chat with the bidder after the auction ends. Find out what he thinks. Find out if he is willing to pay for your item. Cancel after auction only if no response from him. I don't know if this is 100 % correct. But I hope What I know will help you. And I request you to study this further.
Thank you.