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When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
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When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?

Original Question
flashanddash (191 ) View Listings
flashanddash
(1 of 10)
When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 04:15 PM

I just closed a case against a non-paying bidder, who won my item, didnt pay, didn't respond to any of my emails ever, before I finalised the case against her.  As a seller, I cannot leave negative feedback, yet I see she is still trading.  I contacted ebay, who tell me that an Unpaid Item strike is worse than negative feedback, and also tell me that she has done this many times before, but that she has eventually paid!  Well there was nothing visible that I could see letting me know this point, so clearly an Unpaid Item strike doesn't help inform sellers.  Then, she marked my item as Paid, when it hadnt been, presumably just like she has done in the past, giving a false impression.  I contacted ebay again, and they pretty much said, yeah, shame about that, if she does it enough times they MAY even suspend her account.  So exactly how many sellers does this one 'buyer' have to screw over before ebay takes this action!  I asked the ebay consultant that question multiple ways, but she actually typed the same paragraph multiple times, and I'm not sure what question she was answering, but it wasn't that one! Not impressed.  So, can anybody out there recommend another, better site for selling goods - ebay clearly has got too big and too impersonal now.and it seems just too easy to keep on breaking the rules and getting away with a slap on the wrist with a feather.  Any comments gratefully received.
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flashanddash (191 ) View Listings
flashanddash
(1 of 10)
When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 04:15 PM

I just closed a case against a non-paying bidder, who won my item, didnt pay, didn't respond to any of my emails ever, before I finalised the case against her.  As a seller, I cannot leave negative feedback, yet I see she is still trading.  I contacted ebay, who tell me that an Unpaid Item strike is worse than negative feedback, and also tell me that she has done this many times before, but that she has eventually paid!  Well there was nothing visible that I could see letting me know this point, so clearly an Unpaid Item strike doesn't help inform sellers.  Then, she marked my item as Paid, when it hadnt been, presumably just like she has done in the past, giving a false impression.  I contacted ebay again, and they pretty much said, yeah, shame about that, if she does it enough times they MAY even suspend her account.  So exactly how many sellers does this one 'buyer' have to screw over before ebay takes this action!  I asked the ebay consultant that question multiple ways, but she actually typed the same paragraph multiple times, and I'm not sure what question she was answering, but it wasn't that one! Not impressed.  So, can anybody out there recommend another, better site for selling goods - ebay clearly has got too big and too impersonal now.and it seems just too easy to keep on breaking the rules and getting away with a slap on the wrist with a feather.  Any comments gratefully received.

1 person has this question.
*bad*angel* (Private) View Listings
*bad*angel*
 
(2 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 04:23 PM

Unfortnately many sellers dont report these buyers, so often the strikes dont build up as fast as they should. Some sellers still dont realise that once a dispute is closed for non payment then they cannot receive a neg from buyers so they allow the fear of a neg to prevent them doing the right thing.


 


There is no set number of strikes for any member, it's up to eBay, it's variable it seems.


 


As to where else to sell, eBay continues to have the best traffic from all I've seen and read. Other sites have lots of sellers but no so many buyers.


Integrity is priceless.
“I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating”. Sophocles

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*sparklz* (Private) View Listings
*sparklz*
 
(3 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 04:25 PM

If you had the blocks in place to stop buyers that have more than 1 strike in a 12 month period then that buyer would not be able to purchase from you.


Go to your my ebay and hover you mouse over account and from the drop down click on Site preferences and then go down the list till you see Buyer requirements and to the right of that click show then edit.


From there you can put in place the blocks to stop non payers that have been issued strikes and other options as well if you want to.


 


 


Sparklz 4

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straybooksoz (581 ) View Listings
straybooksoz
 
(4 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 04:27 PM

Prudent sellers have blocks set for buyers who have 2 or more unpaid item strikes in the last 12 months.


 


You can set your blocks to exclude them from buying from you, sight unseen.


 


Therefore, as ebay said, a strike is far better than a neg. It's automatic, sellers won't even know the serial offender tried to buy unless they check their activity log.


 


On your 'My eBay' page go to 'Account>Site Preferences>Buyer Requirements' and select your blocks there.


Call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye - Don Henley

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straybooksoz (581 ) View Listings
straybooksoz
 
(5 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 04:29 PM

Snap, sparklz. :)


Call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye - Don Henley
*sparklz* (Private) View Listings
*sparklz*
 
(6 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 05:02 PM

:-D


Sparklz 4
phorum_junkie* (111 ) View Listings
phorum_junkie*
 
(7 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 05:49 PM

Ebay provide the tools and then leave it up to individual sellers to take action.


 


There are other sites where you can list, unfortunately they don't attract many buyers and even though they allowed sellers to leave negs I had a far higher percentage of negs on the very few items that sold.


 


As for the comment on ebay and paragraphs..............at least they used some;)


 


My problem lies in reconciling my gross habits with my net income.
the3coopers (60 ) View Listings
the3coopers
 
(8 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Jul 30, 2012 06:29 PM

Ebay doesn't really act on the reports - it actually up to YOU as a seller to decide whether you wish to accept bids from people like that.


As was just mentioned above, you can set a block so that they cannot bid on your stuff. By default it is not blocked, so they could have 1000 non-payment reports against them and they can still bid. You need to change that, if you wish.


Remember, there is no real "loss" to you if you get a non-payer... they don't hurt you in any way, so they are more an annoyance that anything else.


Some sellers don't care, and will take any bid they can get. Also keep in mind that there aren't that many people who NEVER pay, so if they pay 50% of the time then that is still better than booting them off completely and losing all their business.


That is why ebay don't block or boot them by default, but rather they let the seller decide. I hope that makes sense.

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flashanddash (191 ) View Listings
flashanddash
(9 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Aug 12, 2012 10:14 AM

Update:  I have now received an email from PayPal saying that this buyer tried to make a payment a month ago, but there was something wrong with the server.  They are asking me to remove the Unpaid Item strike, as it wasn't the buyers fault.  This is a person who did not respond to the emails I sent prior to starting the Unpaid Item process, did not reply to ebay and did not contact me at any point.  I cannot send another invoice to the buyer, as the entire transaction was cancelled at the conclusion of the Unpaid Item process.  Also, the buyer allegedly lives in the US and paid for what I listed as Australian postage.  I did not state I would post overseas.  As I say, didn't receive any communication at any time from this non-paying bidder.  My inclinication is to say Get Nicked, the Unpaid Item strike stands, as the item remains unpaid for.  However, I wonder why PayPal is involved?  Also, when I initially contacted ebay, prior to me leaving this original post, they told me this person had a number of Unpaid Items against her in the past, but that they were eventually lifted.  Call me cynical, but I just think this person has found a way of working the system so as she can do what she likes.  Any thoughts?
*bad*angel* (Private) View Listings
*bad*angel*
 
(10 of 10)
Re: When does ebay take action against those who have Unpaid Item strikes against them?
Aug 12, 2012 10:21 AM
I've never seen Paypal involved like that. You are not under any obligation to remove the strike so just ignore it all if you want. And make sure you have the buyer on your blocked bidder list. You dont need to do anything more.


Integrity is priceless.
“I would prefer even to fail with honor than to win by cheating”. Sophocles
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