WHAT DO I DO

[jeeploverkeith]

 have decided to sell some of my extra military stuff on ebay. it has been a nightmare. to make it worse I have a stalker. . he got 3 items from me and he never paid so eBay canceled the sale. it was 10 days later. my stuff was set to auto relist so when the sale has canceled the stuff he did not pay for relisted. well, he made false reports to ebay that my listings violated policy they got removed. i got on the phone with ebay. they walked me through how to block him so i did. i relisted and he used the other name to bid on all of my stuff with no intention of paying. not sure what if anything ebay will do both his accounts are active and selling stuff. has anyone else had to deal with this and if so how did you fix it.

[eleanor*rigby]

First of all, learn how to cancel your own unpaid item transactions. You don't have to get eBay Customer Service reps involved in order to do that. Using the unpaid item cancellation process will give him a strike on his account, and most savvy sellers have their Buyer Requirements set to block anyone who has two strikes in twelve months (the most restrictive setting). He may be unpleasantly surprised if he continues his pattern of not paying for items.

Resolving unpaid items with buyers 

You should be listing your items with the fixed-price format with immediate payment required. Then no one can avoid paying for your items.

If you feel you can prove any member has violated eBay's Abusive Buyer Policy, you can report them using the big blue button labeled "Report a buyer" on this page:

Abusive buyer policy 

[eleanor*rigby]

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@eleanor*rigby wrote:

You should be listing your items with the fixed-price format with immediate payment required. Then no one can avoid paying for your items.

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Too late to edit my previous post. 

Don't accept any offers, either. Remove the "Best Offer" feature from your listings or ignore any offers received.

[jeeploverkeith]

Why should one have to change the way they sell an item to avoid a bully using loopholes online? Ebay should be protecting their sellers as well as buyers better otherwise eventually everyone will leave. I can sell my items at a set price elsewhere, but I choose Ebay for the auction option.  Without the auction option, Ebay has no purpose. 

[mtgraves7984]

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

Why should one have to change the way they sell an item to avoid a bully using loopholes online? Ebay should be protecting their sellers as well as buyers better otherwise eventually everyone will leave. I can sell my items at a set price elsewhere, but I choose Ebay for the auction option.  Without the auction option, Ebay has no purpose. 

"i relisted and he used the other name to bid on all of my stuff with no intention of paying."

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@jeeploverkeith 

From the Help & Contact pages: 

As a seller, there are some situations where you can cancel bids that have been placed on your auction-style listings.

How to cancel a bid

If you need to cancel a bid:

1. Go to Cancelling Bids placed on your listings.
2. Enter the item number, the username of the member whose bid you’re canceling, and the reason you’re canceling the bid.
3. Select cancel bid.

[doc-holmes]

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

Why should one have to change the way they sell an item to avoid a bully using loopholes online? Ebay should be protecting their sellers as well as buyers better otherwise eventually everyone will leave. I can sell my items at a set price elsewhere, but I choose Ebay for the auction option.  Without the auction option, Ebay has no purpose. 

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If someone is dead set on making your life miserable, they will. Not just on eBay, but anywhere in life. The suggestion you have been given are good. After awhile this pest will move on. Plus, generally speaking, if you have unique items that may not be super in-demand, buy it now is your best option. 

[eleanor*rigby]

eBay has provided seller protection. That's what the blocked buyers list, the non-payment strikes, the immediate payment required, reporting the buyer, etc., are:  seller protections. If a seller chooses not to use them, there's not much more eBay can do.

eBay is also testing a way to require immediate payment on offers, as well, so watch for that rollout.

It's estimated that somewhere around 15% of eBay's listings are auctions. I'm just not sure what level of resources eBay will dedicate to such a small sector of the marketplace. Maybe if the test for immediate payment of offers works out, they'll work on applying it to auctions, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Good luck to you!

[jeeploverkeith]

I do not accept any of these answers as good or helpful. I did use the block buyer option.
However, the non-payment strike would not have worked due to the fact he used 2 different accounts.
I could not cancel the auctions because he bid as the auction closed.
I almost feel like I am being punished for doing the right thing. I have done nothing wrong.
The buyer on the other hand bid on 2 separate auctions did not pay and made false reports.
Yet, I am the one being told that I need to change and work around this guy. Really?
To say just because a small number of people use auction-style listings that no good protection is given or nothing will change is sad. Things always change and people find loopholes. eBay needs to be on top of the changes.
I use eBay for the auctions there is no other option for auctions. If all they want is static sales
I predict they will lose in the end. There are cheaper alternatives for "buy it now" sales
with little to no fees elsewhere so if I wanted to go with that I would just go elsewhere.
eBay has a responsibility to all sellers, not just those that use the buy it now option. I hope you realize what he has done.
If he went to an auction house in-person bid a bunch of stuff up and did not pay he would be banned from further auctions. If he still went he could be arrested for trespass.
Think about it...if this was how I pay bills this guy would literally be taking food out of my family's mouth.
I'm sure there are a lot of people on eBay right now trying to make a little money off something for their family.
I don't think anyone should or needs to change to let a bully get his way. eBay needs to get zero tolerance for this and they can ban him for a certain amount of time. He can make a million different accounts yes, but ban his bank account
he can only have so many. I hope someone high up in eBay reads this. This is something that can and should be stopped.

[klhmdg]

You have been given good information but no one can make you take and use it.

No one “high up” in eBay will read this and even if they did they would wonder why you are not using the tools and information you have been given.

Only you can help yourself on this issue.

[bonjourami]

There is no seller 'protection' on Ebay. Learn to be proactive and protect your account,Ebay is a self serve site, you have been given some excellent suggestions..use them or not, up to you.

[fab_finds4u]

Ok, he won and didn't pay.  You cancelled and he got a strike and you blocked him.  If he came back on a different name you should contact eBay and let them know he is circumventing your blocks by bidding on a different name. 

If he doesn't pay then cancel and block him.

[popblox]

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

I do not accept any of these answers as good or helpful. I did use the block buyer option.
However, the non-payment strike would not have worked due to the fact he used 2 different accounts.

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As long as the buyer uses different email addresses, they can have multiple accounts. We don't make the rules though.

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

I could not cancel the auctions because he bid as the auction closed.
I almost feel like I am being punished for doing the right thing. I have done nothing wrong.

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Punished how and by whom?

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

The buyer on the other hand bid on 2 separate auctions did not pay and made false reports.
Yet, I am the one being told that I need to change and work around this guy. Really?

Yes, really. The behavior of this buyer is not altogether unusual, it's been happening here for 20+ years. No one is telling you to do anything - you've been given advice from experienced sellers who volunteer their time in this forum. 

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

To say just because a small number of people use auction-style listings that no good protection is given or nothing will change is sad. Things always change and people find loopholes. eBay needs to be on top of the changes.

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We know, that's why the number of auction-style listings is so small. There's nothing anyone here can do about that. 

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

I use eBay for the auctions there is no other option for auctions. If all they want is static sales
I predict they will lose in the end. There are cheaper alternatives for "buy it now" sales
with little to no fees elsewhere so if I wanted to go with that I would just go elsewhere.

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Based on your responses, it sounds like that might be what you need to do.

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

eBay has a responsibility to all sellers, not just those that use the buy it now option. I hope you realize what he has done.

Again, responses are primarily from sellers who volunteer their time to help others. eBay is not here. 

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

If he went to an auction house in-person bid a bunch of stuff up and did not pay he would be banned from further auctions. If he still went he could be arrested for trespass.
Think about it...if this was how I pay bills this guy would literally be taking food out of my family's mouth.

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But he didn't. And you didn't. You both came here. And we know - that's why you've been given the best advice possible based on the circumstances. 

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

I'm sure there are a lot of people on eBay right now trying to make a little money off something for their family.
I don't think anyone should or needs to change to let a bully get his way. eBay needs to get zero tolerance for this and they can ban him for a certain amount of time. 

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Nobody likes it and nobody thinks that buyers should get away with it. Except eBay, but they're not here.

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

He can make a million different accounts yes, but ban his bank account
he can only have so many. I hope someone high up in eBay reads this. This is something that can and should be stopped.

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Ok, but, right now, that's not how things work. I know this sucks for you - believe it or not, billions of others, just like you, have already said the exact same thing (myself included). Being resistant or upset about eBay policies isn't going to change anything. You can figure out how to work with what you've been given, or find another platform.

[px_455]

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

Why should one have to change the way they sell an item to avoid a bully using loopholes online? 

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Well, my guess would be that it's to avoid a bully using loopholes online?

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@jeeploverkeith wrote:

Ebay should be protecting their sellers as well as buyers better. 

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They do!

But if a buyer or seller isn't willing to use those methods, then I'm afraid there isn't much doing.

Some of us may even see it as weeding out the chaff.

[jeeploverkeith]

Once again nothing useful other than it happens, let's DO NOTHING. Do you think sellers can't or shouldn't try to be heard? Do you think we shouldn't do anything at all in any way shape or form to make changes? Because that's all anyone is saying just bow down and take it cause eBay ain't home. Sure, we both came here so tell me why should he have a right to force me to sell a particular way? This is okay with you? Seems it is if your answer is just to take it cause that's all you get. All these "experienced" people told me nothing different that eBay hasn't already advised me to do. I did everything they said and was fine until I saw his second account come for me. I posted here in hopes someone would say, "yea that happened to me before....." and maybe say what they did or just flat out say eBay won't do anything, but there's a petition or something to make it known to eBay. Maybe if people like you will stop forcing others to be okay with things like this and actually try to help figure out a way to make changes then maybe something can happen. Changes happen all the time and eBay doesn't seem to be following things because "experienced" sellers are saying do this and be okay with it. Weird........

[johannalwest13]

Have eBay change your user name so you can keep your status. Wait awhile or sell something you normally don't sell, mix it up a little, hide your address so the stalker won't know what to look for. Make sure you put in buyer restrictions, always use the seller pay immediately after auction is over option. Add the stalkers names to your block list. Hope it works out for you