Sellers need a way to expose/highlight bad customers

[memory-tiques]

This is not new but eBay needs to hear it from small sellers and respond.

We need a way to highlight bad buyers.  Every month I have non-payments.  I end up wasting loads of time doing the posting, packing the item and chasing the buyer who does not pay.  Customer service says you can get a refund by opening a non-payment case -- more work for sellers -- and the buyer goes off to do it again and again.  This week I have spent a week sending daily messages to someone who bought a $50 item and no replies and no payment.  But they have a perfect feedback record with all these wonderful comments about how great they are and they are a faster payer, etc etc etc.  Then someone else buys an item, does not reply to repeated messages, pays for it in the middle of the night and 50 minutes later sends me a message to cancel the purchase and requesting a refund.  I can not even do an unpaid case and they walk away scott free.  If I do not accept they can leave negative feedback on me as the seller but I can not highlight the games they are playing.

eBay hear us NOW:  for all the fees we pay as sellers you need to reapond.  Long ago sellers could leave negative feedback.  Not any more.  Let us leave negative feedback or let us indicate that we purposely withheld feedback and why.  Post the percentage of times a seller is withholding feedback and if you want make us the seller give a reason like non-payment or bad communications or slow payment.  

Post the percentage of times each buyer has not paid or reneged on a deal on their profile.  That tarnish might get people to be more respectful of the system.

It's simply unfair to the sellers that we can not highlight the shortcomings of the buyers but they can say whatever they want in feedback about us.

It's simply unfair as a seller that I can not tell that someone who is bidding is likely to be a deadbeat and string me along and not pay. Or worse yet block my auction with a bid they never plan to honor so a competitor's auction goes forward and sells while I end up with an unpaid item.

Let me set my auctions so that a bidder with say 5 or more non-payments can not bid in my auctions.

Or I am sure the community can come up with other similar suggestions to be fair to the majority of good buyer but  also now call out once and for all the small number of people not playing by the rules and abusing sellers and getting away with it.

[dorskinny]

Just file unpaid items so you get your fees back... negs for buyers is never coming back

[sharingtheland]

Don't do auctions, do FP IPR.

Ebay is never, ever going to allow buyer-bashing and with that I agree.  What other site allows it?  Would you buy there?

Mr. Skinny, where the hockey sticks you been ?

[the*dog*ate*my*tablecloth]

Do you file and close the Unpaid Item Dispute? Do you have your bidder blocks set to block anyone with two or more UIDs in the last 12 months? Those strikes work far better than feedback that nobody will see in time.

The only thing negative feedback for buyers does is make the seller feel better. It is useless to other sellers and may prevent buyers from ever buying again. It is far more detrimental than it ever helped.

As far as nonpaying bidders being "bad", have you ever changed your mind and returned something to Target? Did they brand a big red R on your forehead for returner? You renegged on your purchase. Other stores should be warned that you return things you contracted to keep.

[dorskinny]

I didn't address your other stuff cuz the bay will never do any of it... you can block buyers with 2 or more unpaid items in a year...

other than that... 

[tripper101]

You have the abilty to go in block buyers who have non paying strikes against them.

[retrose1]

Let me set my auctions so that a bidder with say 5 or more non-payments can not bid in my auctions.

As has been pointed out, you can not only do that already - but you can block buyers with two deadbeat transactions.  Check your seller preferences in ebay and paypal and you'll find some ways to make you happy.

By the way, ebay likes buyers who don't pay or scam sellers - ebay was hoping that the sellers don't know how to deal with them and so ebay will get to keep the fees if they make a mistake.

[dorskinny]

Just busy Sherry. dog isn't doin too well . been real sick. Wasn't sure she'd pull through.

gettin better, but still not sure she's gonna make it all the way back

[slippinjimmy]

The potential for negative feedback never did anything to reduce or eliminate non-payers.

Now I have to ask, you say "every month I have non payers", how many is that actually? As a percentage of sales how many go unpaid?

Almost all of your Auction listings end with one bid or two bids with the 2nd being $1 over your starting price. If non-payers are such a huge problem then list as Fixed Price with Immediate Payment Required and you rarely if ever have to deal with non-payment issues (you will probably sell more as well).

eBay provides the tools to reduce or eliminate non-payers so use them.

[wolf*song]

"Hey, Mick, what's happening?  Yeah, I'm gonna have to go ahead and ask you to just move your desk as far as it'll go against the back wall, and sit this one out, m'kay? Thaaanks..."

[slippinjimmy]

By the way, ebay likes buyers who don't pay or scam sellers

Ridiculous statement with no basis in fact or reality.

[wolf*song]

Ridiculous? You're being really generous. But, I get it, that whole bleeping thingie...

[gyoosyuia0]

You  chose  to  cancel  my  bid  and  not  me  however  I  did  accept  your  cancellation.

You  do  not  even  know  who  I  am.

In  addition,  5  or  more.

How  can  I  be  in  trouble  when  I  never  had  a  winning  bid?

You  are  the  first  bid  that  I  placed  on  Ebay  so  I  have  no  idea  what  you  are  talking  about

I  know  my  message  tag  looks  funny  but  the  thing  will  not  let  me  create  it

[rw011164]

EBay will never go back to the circus that was sellers leaving negative feedback for buyers. No professional endeavor will be successful in publicly rating paying buyers. It was a very bad idea from the beginning.

1. You can require immediate payment for fixed price listings, that way your item remains available to others until payment is received.

2. Block buyers who have two or more strikes,

3. Open and close UPI cases as soon as the option is available and

4. Add NPB to your blocked bidders list.

Those are the many available tools available to help sellers vet buyers

[tellmemama]

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@slippinjimmy wrote:

By the way, ebay likes buyers who don't pay or scam sellers

Ridiculous statement with no basis in fact or reality.

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I'm not so sure.  Every week there still are sellers who come here wondering why they can't leave negative feedback for buyers.  A change from nine years ago.  It wouldn't suprise me in the least if sellers like this don't know about or bother to open a UPI and just leave a false positive instead.  Not only do they fail to get their fees back, they get a possible policy violation.

As far as ebay loving scammers?  Well unless you firmly believe otherwise, there are scam buyers on this site and they make ebay money.  They "spend" which generates fees.  Judging by the multiple daily posts from frantic sellers who had a rock returned instead of their item, false INR claim when the item shows delivered, and partial/full refund shakedowns, they usually end up with the item and most if not all of their money.  Unless the seller goes through the proper procedures for cases filed, the fees are kept.  Seller issues a partial refund?  Ebay keeps the whole fee and does not adjust it.  Cases escalated and closed without proper seller resolution?  More free money for ebay.

Some of the worst offenders are still happily "buying" here.  Even though they could be/should be stopped.  Ebay can easily link seller accounts which are even mildly in violation of policy.  I would think it would be just as easy to link buyer accounts for the same reason.

But kill the golden goose?  I hardly think so.