Well, this is news to me---Trusted Buyer Program

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

So, I'm one of those sellers who activated auto payment on buyer offers in my Preferences. The way it works is, the buyer must designate a payment method before making the offer, and if I accept the offer, ebay automatically bills that payment method, so that I get paid "immediately" (or very close to it). No need to wait for payment. 

This has been working fine. Receive offer, accept offer, get paid, ship.

Until my most recent offer. I accepted the offer, and......nothing. Listing went into my "Awaiting Payment" section in "Orders".

It's only been two days, and I know buyers have four days, so....OK, I can wait the four days, and if I'm still unpaid, buyer gets Unpaid Item Strike and I relist. No big deal.

BUT.....

Why wasn't there an immediate payment?

An ebay glitch, perhaps?

Apparently, not a glitch.

What Customer Service told me is : Just as some sellers are TRS, some buyers are "Trusted Buyers". "Trusted Buyers" are NOT required to provide the payment method before they make an offer (regardless of my selected preference). Trusted buyers have the four days to pay, period.

However, as far as I can tell, unlike TRS sellers, Trusted Buyers are not publicly identified as such. 

The CS could not tell me anything more about the TB program, and could not find it in the Help pages, but promised to do further investigation and email me when she finds something. If I hear from her, I will post here. 

In the meantime, is anyone familiar with the Trusted Buyer program? @valueaddedresource ?

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

Oh, and just an aside, the CS also told me that when auto pay has been triggered because I accepted the offer, the item remains listed as "active" until the payment goes through. I wanted to add that because , even though it is a short period of time, it would seem to mean that a buyer could make an offer, have it accepted, and lose it to another buyer who buys it during that short "active" period. Just something to consider.

[valueaddedresource]

Wow @my-cottage-books-and-antiques that is really interesting. Thanks for the tag, but unfortunately I've never heard of there being any specific program like that for buyers.

However, your post did tickle my memory about how often Jamie would reference "trusted buyers" in his early days as CEO, for example when talking about authentication programs or in the Q2 2020 earnings report:

https://investors.ebayinc.com/investor-news/press-release-details/2020/eBay-Inc.-Reports-Better-Than... 

"We will accomplish this vision through three key priorities: build compelling next-gen experiences for our enthusiasts; become the partner of choice for sellers; and cultivate life-long trusted buyer relationships."

I could find a handful of others too but they all kind of are along the same lines and when I heard them back then, it always struck me as he was talking about improving/building on the trust buyers (should) have in eBay, not the other way around...but your experience now makes me wonder if it didn't go deeper than that and there wasn't some secret stealth initiative to designate some buyers as "trusted" internally, possibly giving them perks or benefits or at least letting them bypass some hoops others might have to jump through. 🤔

Definitely can't wait to hear if you find anything else out and I'll do some digging too and share anything I find.

And just in case - devon@ebay kyle@ebay elizabeth@ebay is there anything you can find out and share about this please?

[valueaddedresource]

Oh also forgot to mention I know there is the Top Star program for buyers, but that is a very specific loyalty program that gives select buyers special access to hot sneakers at retail prices and some exclusive events and things like that...but to my knowledge it does not extend outside of that category and wouldn't include anything remotely like being able to override or ignore seller payment settings like this.

[my-cottage-books-and-antiques]

@valueaddedresource  Thanks....I was going to mention that, but couldn't remember the name of the program----Top Star. But as you say, that does not seem to have anything to do with the Trusted Buyer program the CS rep was talking about.

[valueaddedresource]

@my-cottage-books-and-antiques this also just reminded me of a presentation from eBay Open 2023 by Senior Director Trust, David Newman,  that was specifically about trust and "solving the unpaid item problem" on eBay.

At the time, eBay was getting some flak from both sides as many sellers were tired of waiting for them to do something meaningful to make sure sold really meant sold (and paid for) but many buyers were also resistant to the changes and balked at being forced to provide a payment method upfront.

Newman said:

"It takes a lot to build trust with our buyers and sellers but as online guides like these reveal it only takes one negative experience to break trust. Ultimately eBay sellers and buyers need to trust the platform and each other. Anytime a customer has to ask if they can trust another buyer or seller, it reminds us of the work we still have to do and that's why there's so much energy going into our trust initiative to make every process better."

He then went on to confirm eBay's commitment to solving the problem, while admitting it's taken longer than they intended to "unwind 28 years of buyer behavior."

"With best offer, the feedback from sellers has been incredibly positive and we're glad you are seeing our commitment come to life. That said we're still listening and acting on your feedback on how to make the experience even better and we have begun our work on auctions."

"Jamie committed we would solve this problem and admittedly it has taken longer than we intended. The reality is that unwinding 28 years of buyer behavior in a way that is net positive to your business requires a great deal of testing and we'll remain deliberate and thoughtful in our approach."

Was a secret Trusted Buyer program that would allow some buyers to skip the immediate payment requirements eBay's answer to the pushback and if so, what is the criteria and how does eBay ensure it is not being abused?

I also have to wonder how eBay could possibly square all those nice sounding words about trust with operating such a secret program without informing sellers it even exists, let alone that it may completely disregard their settings and policies. 🤨

[ha-436611]

It sounds like you're well-informed about the Top Star program and its benefits, such as exclusive access to hot sneakers and special events. You're absolutely right that it's a very specific loyalty program and doesn't seem to offer the ability to override or ignore seller payment settings.

If you're facing an issue related to payment settings or seller restrictions, it might be worth reaching out directly to customer support for clarification. They could offer a more tailored solution or explain if any programs or exceptions apply to your situation. It's great that you're diving deep into understanding the program keeping informed like this always helps in navigating these specific platforms.

[dhbookds]

I might note that Kyle answered today on another thread:

Any and all bidders should be presented with the AutoPay prompt anytime they are bidding or offering on a listing where the seller of said listing has opted to use AutoPay.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/2024-Summer-Seller-Update-Auction-Auto-pay-quot-test-quot/m-p/...

but that doesn't square with this experience...........but then does "should be" equate to "will be"????

[valueaddedresource]

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@dhbookds wrote:

I might note that Kyle answered today on another thread:

Any and all bidders should be presented with the AutoPay prompt anytime they are bidding or offering on a listing where the seller of said listing has opted to use AutoPay.

https://community.ebay.com/t5/Selling/2024-Summer-Seller-Update-Auction-Auto-pay-quot-test-quot/m-p/...

but that doesn't square with this experience...........

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Great catch @dhbookds !

kyle@ebay  - can you weigh in on this apparent discrepancy please?

[itscalledapostingid]

Hasn't the wording on the settings page been changed to specify "all?"

"Require all buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer "

Auction setting doesn't say all though:

"Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid "

Buyer management | eBay

I don't think it said all until recently.

[valueaddedresource]

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@itscalledapostingid wrote:

Hasn't the wording on the settings page been changed to specify "all?"

"Require all buyers to provide a payment method before they make an offer "

Auction setting doesn't say all though:

"Require buyers to provide a payment method before they place a bid "

Buyer management | eBay

I don't think it said all until recently.

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@itscalledapostingid interesting, I hadn't noticed that but you're right. 

It does say "all buyers" for offers and since @my-cottage-books-and-antiques 's situation was an offer...you would think "all" should really mean "all", unless as the answer from support would indicate, some animals are more equal than others. 😉

[carlmarxx]

Well  I  was  not and haven't  been presented  worth autopay when bidding .  

[itscalledapostingid]

All three of those settings are misleading to say the least.

Unchecking the "Don't allow blocked buyers to contact me" box doesn't allow blocked buyers to contact.

(I recently tested it.)

[chapeau-noir]

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@valueaddedresource wrote:

Oh also forgot to mention I know there is the Top Star program for buyers, but that is a very specific loyalty program that gives select buyers special access to hot sneakers at retail prices and some exclusive events and things like that...but to my knowledge it does not extend outside of that category and wouldn't include anything remotely like being able to override or ignore seller payment settings like this.

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I'm having flashbacks of 1980s K-Mart.

IAC, "28 years of buyer behavior" would be unwound dayum fast with the "three strikes you're NARU" back in the day.

[iamalwaysright]

Hm. Okay so I’m guessing the criteria for a buyer to be in the “Trusted Buyer Program” would basically just be that they historically paid for their items? If so, then that means any buyer who isn’t in that program is a deadbeat buyer.