Time Wasters' Motivation

[ageofreason66]

So it seems whenever I list a high value or high demand item (which isn't often), the time wasters come out of the woodwork. (I've had to list high value items as many as 4 times in the past.) I've just relisted a high value item  after the first buyer has gone dark. I've now been able to spot the general profile:

- Relatively low feedback rating (e.g. no higher than 50)

- No recent buying activity (typically at least twelve months)

I just cancelled the bids of no less than 5 bidders who fit said profile (and added them to my blocked bidders list, along with the original deadbeat bidder) . The fact that NOT ONE of the cancelled/removed bidders has emailed me, questioning my actions, says that my hunch is correct.

So I really am dying to know, what is the motivation of such people to spoil an auction? My first thought is, they are people with multiple eBay accounts who bid on the same item from multiple sellers and simply back out of the highest bids? Thoughts? Just trying to understand...

[penguins_dont_fly]

---

@ageofreason66 wrote:

So it seems whenever I list a high value or high demand item (which isn't often), the time wasters come out of the woodwork. (I've had to list high value items as many as 4 times in the past.) I've just relisted a high value item  after the first buyer has gone dark. I've now been able to spot the general profile:

- Relatively low feedback rating (e.g. no higher than 50)

- No recent buying activity (typically at least twelve months)

I just cancelled the bids of no less than 5 bidders who fit said profile (and added them to my blocked bidders list, along with the original deadbeat bidder) . The fact that NOT ONE of the cancelled/removed bidders has emailed me, questioning my actions, says that my hunch is correct.

So I really am dying to know, what is the motivation of such people to spoil an auction? My first thought is, they are people with multiple eBay accounts who bid on the same item from multiple sellers and simply back out of the highest bids? Thoughts? Just trying to understand...

---

Umm ... blocked means they can't email to complain. 😞

[emerald40]

Some get carried away and bid, but when it comes time to pay realize they just cannot afford it.

Others are competitors hoping to tie up your item while you go through the whole cancellation process.

And of course you have your sports bidder who think this is all a game.

In the future, try fixed prices, immediate payment required.  Listing goes on as before if they do not pay.

[ed8108]

Sorry, but unfortunatey, no one can really give you The Answer to your question.

[ageofreason66]

---

@penguins_dont_fly wrote:

---

@ageofreason66 wrote:

So it seems whenever I list a high value or high demand item (which isn't often), the time wasters come out of the woodwork. (I've had to list high value items as many as 4 times in the past.) I've just relisted a high value item  after the first buyer has gone dark. I've now been able to spot the general profile:

- Relatively low feedback rating (e.g. no higher than 50)

- No recent buying activity (typically at least twelve months)

I just cancelled the bids of no less than 5 bidders who fit said profile (and added them to my blocked bidders list, along with the original deadbeat bidder) . The fact that NOT ONE of the cancelled/removed bidders has emailed me, questioning my actions, says that my hunch is correct.

So I really am dying to know, what is the motivation of such people to spoil an auction? My first thought is, they are people with multiple eBay accounts who bid on the same item from multiple sellers and simply back out of the highest bids? Thoughts? Just trying to understand...

---

Umm ... blocked means they can't email to complain. 😞

Whoa! I had no idea. Thanks.

---

[slippinjimmy]

My thoughts on your actions..........

I hope eBay makes it impossible for sellers to unilaterally cancel bids or at a minimum gives out a serious defect for doing so more than "x" times per year.

x = a specific number OR percentage.

If you have trouble with the Auction format then don't use it. No need to chase away good buyers.

On Monday I sold a $1000 item at Auction, the buyer almost perfectly fit your profile, less than 50 feedback, only a couple of transactions in the past two years.....they paid IMMEDIATELY and sent me a message about how they had been waiting for this particular item (in the right condition) for more than 10 years.

I'm glad they were not soured on eBay by the actions of a seller with control issues.

[ageofreason66]

---

@ed8108 wrote:

Sorry, but unfortunatey, no one can really give you The Answer to your question.

---

I was hoping to get a response from a "reformed time waster".

[ageofreason66]

Control issues, huh? Sounds like you've had nothing but smooth sailing here then. Good for you.

[retrose1]

OP, blocked buyers can email you unless you have also blocked communication from blocked buyers. 

My explaination is that auctions are hard because a lot of buyers don't understand them, see an item they sort of want at a great price and bid, only to find out after they bid that they won't even find out if they won the item for days yet AND ebay also shows them on their confirmed bid page other like listings that are cheaper than yours that are BIN.  So they do the BIN and abandon the auction listing.  And since ebay never does anything to punish a buyer, they can leave their sellers hanging without guilt.

Speaking of, you can not just cancel bids, especially of winners, you have to file unpaids on the deadbeats and leave the bids of buyers that you don't like stay.  If you don't, ebay will call you a unresponsive seller and boot your selling account.  With the numbers you have reported in your OP, you are at risk now.

[ageofreason66]

Thanks, retrose1. Assuming you are correct (about blocked bidders still being able to contact you), I stand vindicated. (I couldn't seem to find a definitive answer to this question...)
As for the cancelled bids, I have only cancelled bids of questionable bidders in a live auction (as in the first relist, not yet over). While I know I run the risk of turning away a legitimate bidder, as a seller, it seems logical to me to have the right to disqualify bidders, regardless of the criteria. Regardless, if another deadbeat slips through before the end, I will take the advice offered by a few others and relist as a Buy It Now only.

[savwillsell09]

that's weird,never had to do any of those kinds of things?,,,,but my stuff was only a few hundred.$$..good luck

[reallynicestamps]

I've just relisted a high value item  after the first buyer has gone dark.

Why?

The failed transaction gave you a strong indication of how much the market would pay, because in addition to your deadbeat high bidder you had an underbidder.

• You could have done a Second Chance Offer to the underbidder.
• Or you could have set up a Fixed Price Listing (even adding Immediate Payment Required) .

Your losing bidders would (I think) be notified that the unsold item was relisted.

But if you think another auction will be more successful and that cancelling bids will encourage payment, we're all grownups here.

[castlemagicmemories]

AFAIK, blocking bidders is a separate block from the BBL, blocking buyers.  A blocked bidder can still message you if you have not blocked them on communication as well.

There is no definitive answer to your question.  Some may decide they are spending to much, after the fact, some may be "playing", some may have taken off in pursuit of the next shiny thing they saw...

Approximately 80% of all listings are fixed price, immediate payment required.  That eliminates the non paying scenario.  You might want to consider it!

[fashunu4eeuh]

First, i wanted to say every seller has to protect their interests on eBay, as well as determine their risk tolerance. You have every right to exercise your best judgment in blocking members.

We encounter many sellers on the boards asking how to block low feedback buyers. Of course there are no such blocks. If every seller had the same worry about low feedback members, there would be no new buyers. 

People are reporting low sales and no sales. Wondering where the buyers have gone? Canceling bids and blocking for only having less than 50 feedback is a strategy with the potential of losing buyers on the platform. While i realize that is only one half of your criteria, the other being infrequent shoppers, it may be limiting your liability but it could be doing so at the expense of your bottom line. 

My concern is that scammers and deadbeats can’t be identified based solely on a feedback number. Also I think far too much blocking goes on in general, but that’s just me. I give every buyer the opportunity to buy my items. If a non-payer slips thru, so be it. They go on my block list and i relist after giving them a strike.

If more sellers filed an Unpaid Item Dispute on the non-payers, that could solve the deadbeat issue for everyone very effectively. And sellers wouldn't feel it necessary to guess who might be a deadbeat—they would be identified by their own behavior, as opposed to limiting low feedback yet legitimate buyers’ ability to purchase freely on eBay.

Just my two cents.

[pokana0]

---

@fashunu4eeuh wrote:

People are reporting low sales and no sales. Wondering where the buyers have gone? Canceling bids and blocking for only having less than 50 feedback is a strategy with the potential of losing buyers on the platform. While i realize that is only one half of your criteria, the other being infrequent shoppers, it may be limiting your liability but it could be doing so at the expense of your the bottom line. 

---

Make that the bottom line of all sellers.

When one seller negatively affects however many buyers, that affects ALL sellers.

Not just that one.

If we're both sellers and I do something that affects a buyer's purchases here, it hurts you too.