Why my Ebay stores always block everyone with private feedback

[certifiedcitynet]

Why would a legitimate buyer set his feedback to "private"? What is he hiding? Something is very fishy.

Our Ebay stores have encountered major problems with many if not most of these buyers, such as attempted extortion of partial refunds under threat of leaving fake negative feedback; cases inexplicably opened just one or two days after orders were placed; puzzling cancellation requests; returns demanded months after the return privilege had expired; or dozens or even hundreds of harassing messages.

We always look for red flags in order to avoid dealing with criminals and weirdos. Private feedback is one of them and invariably results in a block. These lowlifes are never worth the trouble, at least in our experience.

Heck, we blocked a creep today who demanded to see a coin in its PCGS holder because he did not trust us. Yet, we are supposed to trust him, an anonymous total stranger with almost no feedback? He is probably a crook himself, hence his paranoia and projection.

Some fellow coin dealers refuse to sell on Ebay due to the plethora of scammers and wackos. But our screening process dramatically reduces interactions with such undesirables. 

Curiously, our biggest spending customers NEVER set their feedback to "private". Or give us a hard time in any other way. 

[certifiedcitynet]

Again, we do not sell personal items, we sell expensive rare coins, whose sales have a high rate of fraud as noted in my OP. 

[certifiedcitynet]

You are in a different universe. You sell $10 to $50 watches, we sell expensive rare coins, whose buyers have a high rate of fraud, which is why many coin dealers refuse to sell on Ebay.

Our screening process is designed to weed out these thugs. And yes, a few might not be crooks at all but we go with the odds using our actual experiences. 

[certifiedcitynet]

You sell $5 "adult diapers", we sell expensive rare coins, whose transactions have a high rate of fraud. Many coin dealers refuse to sell on Ebay because of it. Hence, our screening process. 

Coins do not photograph well in full slab shots, which make them look dull, dark, and ugly, and thus discourage sales. 

[certifiedcitynet]

Exactly! Private feedback can also be abused by dishonest sellers. 

[toomuchstuffagain35]

Yep, but I don't trust those either lol

[stuff4divas]

nvm already addressed

[certifiedcitynet]

Some sellers do indeed mark all of their feedback as "private". But you can still see their buyers' feedback, just not what item was purchased with each feedback post. And you can still see what the seller actually sold within the prior 90 days:

> See other items

> Show only

> Sold items

[stacy_pme]

I do occasionally sell rare coins, and I do sell gold & silver jewelry (which can have a high rate of scam), as well as rare video games (ditto... high rate of scam).... and so I understand your plight better than a few others might.  I will say, sellers cannot set their feedback to private, the system will not let you set your feedback to private if you have any active listings.... Now if a seller gets reprimanded and loses their selling ability, they can set their feedback to private (assuming all listings were removed), and they may continue to use that account to buy with.... Or you have a buyer with a bunch of feedback from sellers that are negative (yes I know sellers can't leave negative feedback, but they can leave positive feedback with negative comments - which can get sellers in trouble.... but it does happen)....   Some sellers might leave a positive feedback with a comment like "buyer never paid" stuff like that, I see it all the time.  In fact I have a buyer right whose feedback score is 173 and made an offer that I accepted and still hasn't paid (it's been 3 days), with a feedback rating on their account from another seller calling them a "deadbeat buyer that didn't pay".  I also have a lot of buyers with zero to less than 10 feedback score that make offers, but never pay, so I have changed my policy to only accept offers from people with a feedback score higher than 10.  

Sometimes you just gotta do what you think is right, the market will correct you... it always does.   If you institute a policy that isn't working, your sales will drop, and you will end up doing what you need to do to bring your sales back up.  I don't see a problem with you not wanting to sell to buyers with private feedback, but there is no way to filter them out.  You can't go around cancelling all sorts or orders either or your performance ratings will go down, so you will have to find your own path.  It's not against ebay policy to have a private feedback.  My recommendation is to set your prices high enough that you can absorb the few scammers that have private feedback and slip through.  In the end it will all work out. 

I also wanted to add.... If you sell properly and you develop a good reputation, in the event that a problem does arise that is a bigger deal, eBay will back you up.  I have had a few occasions of things going sideways that were semi-big deals, and eBay backed me.  It helps if you develop a good reputation, because 9 times out of 10 the person in the wrong will have other wrongs on their record...

[luckythewinner]

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Your answers are pure guesses

My answer was simply an example of an reason why a buyer might not want his feedback comments exposed.

You sell $5 "adult diapers", we sell expensive rare coins

I do not sell adult diapers. And expensive coin buyers do not only buy expensive coins.

Rare coins do not photograph well in holder shot, genius. Such photos make coins look much darker, duller, and uglier than they are. 

You can add a photo in the holder in addition to your detailed photos. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Plus, I googled "PCGS graded coins" and saw plenty of beautiful, bright, clear photographs of coins in holders. Maybe the issue with those dark, dull, ugly photos of yours is not due to the PCGS holder?

we sell expensive rare coins, whose sales have a high rate of fraud as noted in my OP

All the more reason why a buyer would want to see the PCGS graded holder.

[postcardcountry]

After looking at your listings and your feedback, I totally understand why you do what you do.

It reminded me of the stories about gem merchants in New York City who wouldn't even open the door to their business until you had an appointment and had already been vetted.

[certifiedcitynet]

You know everything about selling rare coins on Ebay yet I know nothing, even though you do not sell any but I have $8 million listed in one store alone. Got it!

My OP applied to my actual experiences with selling rare coins, not your speculation and guesswork based on your zero experience thereof.

You do not sell expensive rare coins, I do. Going with the odds, you sell inexpensive items for which there is little to no risk of fraud. 

Our slab photos impede sales in my experience because they make coins look much darker, duller, and uglier than they actually are, hence our use of only closeups, which tend to be more realistic. 

We are not professional photographers. But yes, experienced pros can take more attractive slab photos than we can. 

In my experience, people who ask for full slab photos usually turn out to be crooks, fraudsters, and or backbreakers. 

But again, you know everything about Ebay rare coins sales yet I know nothing. 

[certifiedcitynet]

Bingo! When selling pricer items on Ebay, you need to have a screening process that reduces the risk of fraud and other problems. 

[buyselljack2016]

Mine is not a "pure guess".

My feedback is set to private, because it is absolutely no one's business what I buy on eBay, or anyplace else.

Nothing nefarious, just nunya.

[rosszonebricks]

I guess I never look at a Buyer's feedback.  They pay, I ship. 

[transamcc]

I set my feedback to "private" a few months ago when I got tired of the ebay cheerleaders on these forums using the honest feedback I had left for sellers to criticize and personally belittle me in the forums instead of providing constructive assistance on issues I brought here for answers.  There are a few who seem to have canned answers for every post whether or not it has anything to do with a real solution. I buy only.