Guest accounts

[jellybirddesigns]

Why do people open guest accounts?

I understand there are some scammers out there, but I generally can't figure out what the point is.

In the last few weeks I have had 3-4 buyers buying under guest accounts. They all pay straight away and everything is fine, but I was just curious as to why not just join Ebay properly and finished?

I will admit that, although I do not generally offer tracking if people only buy 1-2 cushion covers, I do it regardless of the quantity when I see someone buying off a guest account.

[lyndal1838]

If she had won the INAD dispute you would have been stuck with paying the return postage.

I wonder if she realised that when she opened it....make the seller suffer because she didn't like the dress.

Glad you were able to shot her down.

[black*poppy]

No Lyndal, if she won the paypal NAD she would have had to pay the return postage.  I just would have had to give a full refund which would have included the initial postage.  Paypal don't refund more than the original transaction amount, but as a buyer if you have opted in to their free returns, you can get that back from paypal - not the seller.

[lyndal1838]

It is still a pretty low act to open a NAD dispute when she admits it just did not fit well.  That implies that it was as described but she just did not like it.

[digital*ghost]

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@moonandstarsshop wrote:

I have that requirement in place and the guest buyers can still buy.

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Do you apply it to a specific FB number? eg If you only apply the phone verification block on members who have a FB score of less than 5, any guest account that has accrued above that will be able to purchase without being blocked. 

I remember I was once blocked due to not being phone verified, and along with the message was a prompt to go through phone verification then and there so I could go through with the purchase, so it's possible a guest account gets the same prompt, too (all it involves - if memory serves correctly - is supplying a number (any number), receiving a phone call or text with a PIN, then entering that on the screen). 

Somewhat unrelated, but I've been hearing rumours here and there that PayPal plan to stop allowing people to use PP as a guest, which will be awesome if they do. (eBay / site guests it don't really bother me too much, but I don't like receiving PayPal guest payments). 

[davewil1964]

We can only hope DG. Using a financial service as a 'guest' is a bit of a joke, imo.

If they want to buy online and pay with Paypal, it isn't hard to open a verified account.

[*tippy*toes*]

I don't seem to get a lot of guest payments but I worry everytime I do in case they decide to do a chargeback. Fingers crossed it won't happen!

[springyzone]

Why do people open guest accounts?

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I don't know for sure but I would guess it is to take advantage of passing traffic & the impulse buy.

People who decide they would like to get something but aren't prepared to take the time to sign up for an account.

It's not how I personally would like to operate but i can sort of identify with it.

In my email, I sometimes get notifications of sales (from another site, not ebay) and a few times there I have clicked on the link, only to find it won't show me the items, it insists I log in first.

Because I have forgotten my exact log in (and obviously forgotten they require log in to view), I feel a slight disappointment but just usually click out, I can't be bothered.

They would do better to be like ebay- let anyone look but require some sort of log in, even a guest log in, to buy.

So I guess it's for lazy people, moon.

As for black poppy's sale. I am so glad she won the case. Lucky the buyer told the truth in the  first message. I am guessing some buyers will use any means they can to ensure money back if they are not happy with something. They aren't prepared to accept something bought online may not fit & I bet they also think the seller should be the one out of pocket on postage.

[toranacoupe]

why do you guys think that guest account do not get the ebay money back guarantee? look at the screenshot.  It does seem possible to block guest accounts though as whenever I attempt to purchase something from newegg the continue as guest option isnt there but probably just ebay giving the big sellers special treatment and options as usual.

Seems strange for an australian buyer to purchase using guest account since you have to be on the US site in order to have that option, I am very suspicious of them.

[toranacoupe]

problem with the phone verification is it seems to be severly flawed, I have had a few buyer message me to say they have tried and its not working, I remember when I was overseas and ebay wanted me to verify myself in order to sign in and I never got the call (yes I had the right number) and rarely got the email either. checked my requirements history and have had 4 buyers in the past 5 days unable to purchase because of the faulty phone verification.