Sold brand name item to buyer whose feedback for sellers is mostly negative

[uzumakey]

I sold a clothing item from a high-end brand today, to a buyer who leaves overwhelmingly negative feedback (around 75% negative) for their sellers. They seem to leave feedback for every transaction and each feedback page is covered in red negatives. They say things like "I HATE THIS SELLER" "NEVER RECEIVED" (for items successfully delivered), "ITEM IS OLD" and "ITEM IS UGLY!!!" 

It's literally page upon page of feedback like this (so around 500 feedback) - I've gone through lots of buyer-issued feedback before but never seen feedback so negative. It looks like they buy a lot of pre-owned clothing, much of it high-end, then put their sellers on blast for nearly every single transaction. 

The item I sold is not in perfect condition since it's vintage, but all imperfections were photographed and described minutely. However I am very sure that this buyer will find something wrong with it, or at the very least will simply think it's "very ugly" and leave feedback accordingly. I sold the exact kind of item they seem to like complaining about. From the nature of their feedback, it looks like they leave negatives and demand refunds while refusing to return the item. 

The garment I sold is expensive and not something I can afford to lose like this. I am also TRS on the account I sold it on, which is the only account I ever seem to make sales on anymore. I cannot afford to lose my item to a buyer like this and I can't afford an undeserved negative on my account. I have fewer than 200 feedback so a neg would destroy my rating completely.

What in the world do I do?

[emerald40]

Call ebay and get this guy on their radar.

If you get someone with a clue they just may take away his buyer protection or NARU him all together.

But whatever they tell you to do, come back and run it by us.  

You have to be careful following some of their advice.

I wonder if he would qualify for cancelling due to problem with buyer.

[bubbleman2010]

Nothing you can do except handle it as a normal transaction...

[jason_incognito]

I'd be tempted to just cancel it and take the hit. 

[southern*sweet*tea]

Pack it well, ship promptly and pray.

I guess you could report the buyer, but not sure if anything can or would be done.

[jason_incognito]

say that you found a flaw that you hadn't noticed before and that you cannot sell it to them. A seller cannot be forced to sell the item, and if it looks like the buyer may lose the item.....

Likely the buyer no longer has MBG priviledges, but you never know.

[retrose1]

Short of canceling the transaction for invalid reasons, you have very few options.

You can ship, wait for the neg and take it.

You can ship, wait for the extortion, refuse and get the neg.

You can ship, wait for the extortion, say return for refund and get back garbage and take the neg.

You can ship, wait for the extortion, refund and hope for the best.

You can ship and get lucky.

I think that feedback like that belongs to a scammer.  You can do everything right and hope that ebay will remove it.  I would not hold my breath.

Negs don't count against sellers anymore and most feedback extortionists count on a sellers pride in their perfect feedback to leverage freebies.

[bubbleman2010]

Its very hard to give advice to a posting ID. When you post with the ID that the transaction was involved in you can be offered suggestions as to what angles you can or can't use and what problems a buyer might find to try and shake you down...

[lookng2015]

So much for scammers not liking to leave a FB trail

[uzumakey]

This is what I'm leaning toward. I just finished reading all their feedback and they bought the exact type of item I'm selling from the same brand before. "Went to the store, it's FAKE AND UGLY." I mean, it's pretty obvious that this is not going to turn out well. I figure I'm going to get a negative anyway, so I may as well at least keep the item and re-sell it.

[southern*sweet*tea]

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@lookng2015 wrote:
So much for scammers not liking to leave a FB trail

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Depends on the scammer. Some operate, like retrose says, by dropping the hammer then counting on the seller to come crawling with a bribe and a feedback revision..

[uzumakey]

I refrain from using my selling ID to post because you never know who's reading your posts.

Anyway, I doubt there are many angles I can take other than cancel/refund or ship/get negged/refund. The buyer routinely leaves abusive feedback, but it doesn't qualify for feedback removal (no personal info, no profanity, etc).

As for the item, it's a vintage garment from a luxury brand (think LV, Prada, Burberry, etc). Going by the buyer's feedback for others, they may have the following complaints:

* ugly
* fake
* too small (they wear size XL but this garment is a medium)
* too old/used
* didn't arrive on time/wasn't received

On top of that buyer commonly says things like "I hate this seller!!!" and "negative x1000000" so I also that to look forward to. Honestly I might just have to cancel and abandon that account because even if feedback means nothing, buyers don't want to buy from someone with a 95% feedback rating.

[uzumakey]

Yeah, this seems to be the tactic they take. Doesn't come off as a particularly bright buyer judging by the feedback left. Leaves negs, demands partial/full refund and demands to keep the item as well.

[jason_incognito]

Something simple like.... "Please look at all feedback left by this buyer" could very well negate the negative.

[city*satins]

How does the buyer's feedback RECEIVED number compare to the feedback LEFT number?

There are a very few buyers who only leave feedback when they have something extreme to say (extremely happy or extremely unhappy) and don't leave feedback for the rest.   Check whether this is that kind of buyer, in which case you are probably fine.

Also, check to see how many of the positive feedbacks are actually REVISED feedbacks, which is the red flag of a feedback extortionist who extorts partial refunds without opening return cases.

If this buyer is "that kind of buyer" you may want to phone eBay customer service and ask to speak with a Trust and Safety specialist.