Zero feedback buyers bidding like crazy just in the past day, should I be worried?

[christinesclassicjewelry]

Hi, I have two zero feedback buyers bidding on a couple items of mine like crazy today, and one is from out of country (even though I don't ship out of country, and have all my listings set to not accept bids from out of country buyers.) 

One of the buyers is new within the past month, and the other has had their account for a year, but still no feedback. I'm confused... should I be worried about possible scams? It's only costume jewelry I am selling. 

What are your opinions on this?

[emerald40]

If you have all your blocks in place how did the one from outside the country manage to get through?

As for the others, a new seller by itself is not a red flag.  New people join every day.  We all started out new.

It is just the way they act afterwards is what you need to look out for.

Are they doing anything to cause you to have concern?

[lewisburggold]

Most of the time if they pay you have to ship.  Do a little detective work check the addresses make sure they exsist.  Best regards

[nobody*s_perfect]

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@emerald40 wrote:

If you have all your blocks in place how did the one from outside the country manage to get through?...

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The block is based on the bidder's Primary eBay address, not on their country of registration. So they might have a US address or use a forwarding service.

[jonathankirkland · Accepted solution]

As stated above, it's possible the foreigner intends to use a freight forwarding service.

Not to get ahead of ourselves too much here, but since you asked..

If this buyer did win, and provided a USA address, it would most likely be a forwarding address. Theoretically all you need to do is prove delivery to that address and they would lose their buyer protection when making a claim since they are circumventing your block and involving a 3rd party.

But anyhow, I wouldn't worry about any of that nonsense right now. See how the auction ends. And see how prompt the payment is.

If no payment, open a UPI (unpaid item dispute) afte 48 hours and close it after another 96 hours. This will relieve you of your obligation to that buyer and allow you resell the item, and it will give the buyer a "strike" so if they do it again they will find themselves very restricted on which sellers they can buy from in the future.

Again however, no sense really worrying about any of this right now!

[christinesclassicjewelry]

I suppose you are right, I shouldn't worry about it now. I just thought it seemed suspicious, but I have no way of telling. It just seemed weird that they have the account for over a year, and still have no feedback. Anyways, I will let the auction run its course (like I always do,) and see how things play out. I was more just curious to see if anyone else had run into problems with buyers like this before.

Thanks all for the responses!

[jonathankirkland]

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@christinesclassicjewelry wrote:

I suppose you are right, I shouldn't worry about it now. I just thought it seemed suspicious, but I have no way of telling. It just seemed weird that they have the account for over a year, and still have no feedback. Anyways, I will let the auction run its course (like I always do,) and see how things play out. I was more just curious to see if anyone else had run into problems with buyers like this before.

Thanks all for the responses!

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It's much more telling what a buyer does between the completion of an auction and the payment process than anything else.

If they send you any messages that seem suspicious feel free to come back here for advice if you'd like. Remember though, even if you are suspicious, it's always in our best interest as sellers to remain courteous and polite and seemingly oblivious to a potential scam--er--customer.

But yeah, no need to get ahead of ourselves! Best of luck!

[christinesclassicjewelry]

Yes, I always remain courteous and try to show my best customer service face here, at all times. Not that I haven't been gritting my teeth behind my computer monitor at times 🙂

[a_c_green]

For either of your two mystery zero-feedback bidders, how many bid retractions do you see listed on their Feedback as a Buyer page? (Right side of the page, about halfway down. You must select the Feedback as a Buyer tab to see that number.) If either shows an unusual number of retractions, it may indicate a bid-shielding scam, where one of the two competing bidders will suddenly retract their bid and cause the auction to collapse, lowering the price for the other account to win. 

[agent006140]

many of us have multiple Ebay IDs,so he could just be using an ID he seldom uses.

If their behavior bothers you ,see if they are bidding on other sellers' items, I am surprised at some bidders how many items they bidded on,they probably do not expect to win all.

if they are using Paypal to pay for many items in a short period and do not have a established record with Paypal,dont be surprised your payments could be withheld by Paypal,it is a way Paypal protects itself.

Yahoo shopping has a piece of software in place ,if a person steals a cc,and keep buying across the platform irregardless of price and mostly items which could be turned into cash,they will send a message to the shopowner.

[christinesclassicjewelry]

So, yes, one of them has 3 bid retractions. The one that has been a member for less than a month. 

[christinesclassicjewelry]

And, they are bidding what I feel is way high for this auction.

[christinesclassicjewelry]

Also, how do I see if they are bidding on other people's items?

[ted_200]

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@christinesclassicjewelry wrote:

Hi, I have two zero feedback buyers bidding on a couple items of mine like crazy today, and one is from out of country (even though I don't ship out of country, and have all my listings set to not accept bids from out of country buyers.) 

One of the buyers is new within the past month, and the other has had their account for a year, but still no feedback. I'm confused... should I be worried about possible scams? It's only costume jewelry I am selling. 

What are your opinions on this?

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I didn't read the other replies yet...

Let it go.  The time to get cold feet on eBay is before you click the "List Item" button.  They're driving up the price, which is the entire point of running an auction.  If you have blocks in place for "no bidders with primary shipping address in countries you don't ship to", they shouldn't be able to bid.  Many int'l buyers use forwarding services and have shipping addresses in the U.S. 

Unless they have messaged you and set off alarms with what they're asking/saying, or their feedback profile suggests they're a problem buyer, don't do anything.  Neither of them may win, but they'll run up the price.  If they insist on int'l shipping and you don't ship to there, cancel with "problem with address" and block the ID then. 

[ted_200]

One has bid on 37 items and has no retractions, the other has bid on 20 items and has 3 retractions.  Click their ID in the bid history.

I'd still probably let them go and see what happens.  It's easy to spook yourself if you suddenly find you're make a real good profit on eBay... LOL!