Targeted Harassment as Seller

[3rdhandarchive]

Hi there all,

I'm a small seller on eBay that mostly sells bigger ticket items ($1k-$3k) but have recently started selling small items to boost my sale numbers. I'm looking to get into the top rated seller program hence why I started increasing volume.

That being said, I recently had a run of auctions won by a single buyer. This buyer requested combined shipping, which I obliged under the idea that I would ship all won items together. I price each listing with shipping not included so as to buffer the cost in case the item sells for .99c.

When the buyer then asked for a shipping discount, different that combining shipping, I declined. The buyer then proceeded to leave a very nasty and manipulative negative feedback that painted herself as the victim saying that I had already agreed upon this and that, all the while crafting her elaborate false story. When I read up on this, it was clearly extortion. Thankfully, when I was able to cancel the order, the feedback disappeared. I blocked her and reported the transaction to eBay but of course I never heard back on that matter.

Then the following week, another run of auctions ended and I noticed that when I scanned the list of names, the same buyer appeared again however under a different eBay account. I knew this was bound to be bad news so I canceled the auction in order to protect myself. Then I immediately reported the sale and buyer to eBay again.

Lo and behold, the buyer then left negative feedback, this time of which I could not remove.

This feedback is especially important to me because over the course of a year, I've only gotten a handful of feedback, but they're all from happy buyers leaving detailed positive reviews. When this negative feedback came, my 100% dropped to less than 93%.

The buyer is purposefully harassing me and I've reported this to eBay several times now but I've not been successful thus far.

If anyone knows a way to navigate this, please share. Any feedback would be helpful as well.

Thank you.

[frommichel]

Hello. Sympathies! First off, take a look at everything under the buyer's history including feedback sent and received. Are they new to eBay? Do they have a history of leaving negatives? Does this buyer also sell? If they have an otherwise long perfect history of buying, then maybe they are a competitor because their action was very targeted or maybe the initial shipping discount conflict was truly just an honest misunderstanding on the part of the buyer. If they have any history of doing this kind of thing to others, then you have great proof to bring to eBay. Regardless, the buyer did a terrible thing by getting spiteful. I think that you should try contacting eBay one more time and, this time, ask for a supervisor because of the multiple accounts and spiteful actions of the buyer. I hope this helps!

[ed8108]

Don't forget adding the other buyer account into your special blocked buyer list

[luckythewinner]

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@3rdhandarchive wrote:

This buyer requested combined shipping, which I obliged under the idea that I would ship all won items together.

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What specifically does "under the idea that I would ship all won items together" mean? What was the exact message you sent to the buyer? 

Did you communicate your idea of combined shipping explicit and unambiguous terms (ex. "You won 5 items A, B, C, D, and E. The combined shipping for shipping these 5 items together in the same package would be $X")? 

[3rdhandarchive]

It appears it could be targeted as competition because they also sell luxury goods, however their track record for sales and purchases on both accounts are 100% positive. I also agree it was a misunderstanding and tried to communicate that to the buyer but they immediately acted out by accusing me of going back on my word. I'm doing my best now to reach out to someone higher up. 

Thank you for your response.

[3rdhandarchive]

This was the first thing I did when the initial confrontation arose. I saw the feedback and knew I was in for a bad time, but I didn't think they'd use a second account to harass me in that manner. Both accounts are blocked.

[3rdhandarchive]

So the idea I had in mind was that I would group all items won and ship together rather than ship each item out individually. I believe this was a minor miscommunication, but it didn't warrant such a reaction from the buyer. The total cost of 4 won auctions was sub-40 dollars with shipping included.

I understand the latter part of your response as my fault as I didn't explicitly explain that. But in hindsight, since I haven't ever had such an interaction with a buyer, I didn't proceed as if every word would be scrutinized.

That being said, I don't believe the hassle of winning another auction just to harass a seller to be justified for anyone.

[adkhighker]

I'm a small seller on eBay that mostly sells bigger ticket items ($1k-$3k) but have recently started selling small items to boost my sale numbers. I'm looking to get into the top rated seller program hence why I started increasing volume.

I wouldn't start selling items that I wouldn't normally  sell for the sheer purpose of selling the required number of items you need to sell in a year for making top rated seller.  Even though just a few of my sales might add up to the thousand dollar TRS requirement for a year's worth of selling, I sometimes don't sell quite 100 items in a year to meet the 100 items in a year requirement.

One year I needed around 25 items to meet that requirement so I started selling some cheaper things I had kicking around just to meet the 100 items/yr requirement. It just wasn't worth it. Not only did I have to waste time listing those 25 items that I wouldn't normally list on eBay, but I would have done better with those items by dropping them off at my favorite junk auction.

For the measly discount you get by being a TRS it just isn't worth doing it unless it comes to you naturally for the type of items you sell, rather than going out of your way to spend the time listing things you wouldn't normally sell on eBay. OTOH, if attaining for TRS comes naturally without having to change how and what you sell, then it's worth it.

[3rdhandarchive]

I definitely see where you're coming from.

I'm in the luxury market and although yes I started to sell smaller ticket items, they're all second hand luxury products that I'm honestly selling for quite the discount. Although yes, they're items I don't typically sell, they're very well within my wheelhouse of potential items.

[iamalwaysright]

I often get messages from buyers asking “do you do combine shipping?” When they actually mean to ask “do you offer discounts for combined shipping?” Both questions are different, but many buyers think they are the same. Best be aware of that. I’ll go a step further and some buyers who look for a discount asking “do you do combined shipping?” actually expect to pay free shipping for the additional items. I’ve gotten some nasty replies from buyers when I say something like “yes we combine shipping for multiple items paid in 1 transaction. Each additional item added has $1 shipping added to the initial item’s shipping cost.”

There’s more tolerance for bad buyer behavior than seller behavior on eBay. 😞

[adkhighker]

There’s more tolerance for bad buyer behavior than seller behavior on eBay. 

That's because eBay thinks it's so much easier to yank money out of sellers pockets in a sold transaction, even when it's the buyer's fault for whatever was going on, than it is for them to take things out on buyers.

[gloryglorygifts]

I had a different type of harassment (giving listing tips, product reviews for things he never bought, asking my employees what I looked like and if I was single.....) but a similar problem with the buyer playing whack-a-mole and creating new id's to contact me. I contacted ebay for business on Facebook and they were able to block that ip address from doing any business with, or contacting, me. All 4 accounts were on my bbl too! You may want to reach out to them as well and see if they can do the same for you. I didn't know that they could do that, but it seems that they can. You can also contact ebay for business on Insta and X.  Provide them with copies of your messages and the feedback and see if they can do something about that as well.

Good luck to you. 

[tobaccocardyahoo]

There are all sorts of crazies in the buyer community.

One way to find them is to list auctions starting at $.99 in fashion related categories.

I think your strategy for upping your sales count is flawed.

You want easy sales with fast turns. Not a lot of high maintenance buyers who will make you crazy and trash your FB.

No auctions, no fashion. Simple. Perfectly described. Buy It Now.

[luckythewinner]

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@3rdhandarchive wrote:

So the idea I had in mind was that I would group all items won and ship together rather than ship each item out individually. I believe this was a minor miscommunication, but it didn't warrant such a reaction from the buyer. The total cost of 4 won auctions was sub-40 dollars with shipping included.

I understand the latter part of your response as my fault as I didn't explicitly explain that. But in hindsight, since I haven't ever had such an interaction with a buyer, I didn't proceed as if every word would be scrutinized.

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I'm still not clear. 

When a buyer asks for combined shipping, it is almost universally understood that they are asking for a reduction in the total cost of postage because shipping the items together usually costs the seller significantly less. 

When you "obliged" the buyer's request for combined shipping, do you mean you offered a reduced total cost of shipping, or  just that you were willing to put them in the same package?