eBay

justadragonhere · ‎01-04-2019

Hello eBay community. I've been a member of eBay since the late 90s. This is my first post to the community, so hello all!

I never remember things being this bad with zero feedback bidders. I've seen an overwhelming number of zero feedback bidders in my auctions lately. They fight each other to bid up the item and then they consistently either do not pay, or they do not pay on time. They are usually international bidders outside the US in either South American or African countries.

You used to be able to block bidders under a certain feedback rating. Now it seems I can only find one, well-buried setting which allows me to block members by name. That's great, but it doesn't help me since I don't know who these people are before they bid and waste my time and money. Oh, and I can block buyers with unpaid item strikes, but again, these are zero feedback bidders or negative feedback bidders. And you can block them only if they've had unpaid item strikes within a maximum of 12 months! Please, these people are not working to build their feedback or community ratings - their usernames aren't sticking around long enough to develop any history. They're just signing up for new accounts every day.

My questions:
-Is eBay doing anything to fight these folks?
-What exactly are these people achieving by bidding on random items and then just not paying? No one has tried to scam me - they simply aren't paying and aren't responding to communication, forcing me to initiate non-paying bidder processes.

-What do you do as a seller to prevent this? Is there any selling format where I can require instant payment? I'm not a big seller, but I occasionally sell an item or two when I feel eBay is the place for that.

nobody*s_perfect · ‎12-01-2019

@nealla30 wrote: ... I HAVE tried doing BINs or Fixed Price/Pay immediately. Doesn't mean anything. The Zero Feedback bidders still win and then just do not pay. ...

If a listing is in fixed price format with "Immediate payment required," then it is not possible to have an unpaid item transaction. Likewise if the buyer uses the BIN option on an auction-format listing that has IPR.

Your Sold listings for the past 3 months shows only one auction that got more than one bid. So you'd have very little at stake if you list in fixed price format rather than as auctions.

dogofwar777 · ‎12-01-2019

This is terrible what people are doing to you. I stopped selling here a year ago. Got tired of all the nonsense.

this*and*that1969 · ‎01-16-2020

I am dealing with this now - 3 times I have had to report an unpaid item from zero feedback buyers for an iPhone I am selling.

What I do not understand is "Why?" - what do they accomplish? What is the upside for them?

I am not a business or corporation - just someone who sells some used electronics and other stuff now and then.

What a shame that eBay has become such an unwelcome place for small sellers.

@castlemagicmemories wrote:
Lots of zero feedback buyers shows the site is growing, with the potential of increased sales, possibly in response to all the commercials Ebay has been airing.

It was never possible to block bidders with a less than a certain feedback number. You could block for those with -1 but since buyers can't get negatives, that would only block a new seller who wants to buy.

The most popular unpaid block blocks those with TWO unpaid item strikes in one year. So in other words, if they have two in a month, they are blocked. If they have two in two weeks, they are blocked. If they have two in three months, they are blocked. And so on and so on. There is no waiting for the year to elapse. A year means they are blocked for a year.

You can list fixed price, immediate payment required. Over 80% of all listings here are fixed price, IPR. No more no pays. But if you list at auction, you are subject to non payment happening.

godwin1058 · ‎01-16-2020

It is possible to block bidders by number of feedback if you use Turbo Lister.

fashunu4eeuh · ‎01-16-2020

Hi @godwin1058

The Buyer Requirements in Turbo Lister are the same as the Buyer Requirements in eBay policy. Exactly the same. (see link below) The ability to limit a buyer by feedback number is for a member who has already purchased one item (or more depending on the setting) from you. It does not block low feedback members from making the first purchase. The way it is set up is very confusing, and some will swear they have been blocking low feedback users from the get go. Not true.

eBay will never allow sellers to block new buyers. It needs new buyers too badly.

https://www.ebay.com/help/selling/listings/creating-managing-listings/setting-buyer-requirements?id=...

"Buyers who may bid on several of my items and not pay for them

Block buyers who are currently winning or have bought ___ of my items in the last 10 days. (10 items or less)

Only apply this block to buyers who have a feedback score of ___ or lower. (5 or less)

Consider selecting this requirement if you are selling expensive items and don't want to sell over a certain number to any single buyer. Learn more about how this requirement works."

sd-redneck · ‎01-17-2020

If one is running an auction and has time to watch the bids, you can add the 0 FB bidders to your Blocked Bidder List (BBL). Their bids are still valid and if there are no further bids, they will still win. However, once they are outbid by another, they cannot bid again. I would wait until the last day of the auction to do this. Also, this would not stop an unblocked bidder from sniping at the end. Please correct me if I am wrong.

dennisanddana · ‎01-25-2020

A buy it now does not illuminate buyers with zero feedback

ll_secretchimp · ‎02-01-2020

Best you can do is set up buyer requirements:

Buyers with unpaid item strikes

Buyers in locations you don't ship to

Buyers with a NEGATIVE feedback score

Buyers with a history of not paying for items from you

https://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences

ll_secretchimp · ‎02-01-2020

Just negative feedback score.

fun-snowbunny · ‎02-01-2020

I have been getting several of these over the last couple of months. These newbies bid up against other bidders, win the item and then either don't pay or immediately cancel their account after they have won. It's really irritating to me since I am the one that loses my free listing for that item. Then if I want to re-list the item, I have to either use another free listing or pay. It's a huge fail on Ebay's part for not giving us a credit back on re-listing the item. We are the losers then this happens.

99working · ‎03-29-2020

I remember an option to “block bid from Ebay user with feedback below x”

nobody*s_perfect · ‎03-29-2020

@99working wrote:
I remember an option to “block bid from Ebay user with feedback below x”

There has never been an option to completely block bidders/ buyers with a feedback rating of zero or more. You can only block members who have a negative feedback score, which of course is extremely rare.

In your site preferences, you can set up a block based on the buyer's feedback score, but it can only block them from purchasing more than one item. You can't block that first purchase.

kh-ornesh · ‎03-30-2020

Hello Everyone,

Due to the age of the thread, it has been closed to further replies. Please feel free to start a new thread HERE if you wish to continue to discuss this topic.

Thanks for understanding!