Phone Verified Buyers

Good morning one and all 🙂

 

I hope all is well in your world.

 

I noticed a NPB issue in another thread, but didn't want to 'butt in.'

 

It caused me to check back through some of our paperwork and I notice we've sold to quite a few 'non verified' buyers. I Think?? I can see some of the risks, but I can also understand why some would decline their phone numbers when dealing in cyberspace.

 

Is there a 'general rule' with respect to blocking NVB? Or is it one of those Judgement Calls?

 

I'd appreciate your advice on an issue I haven't considered before.

 

Big thanks, always.

 

Melina.

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Phone Verified Buyers

Melina, my gut feeling is that it depends on the type of item being sold, which has a flow-on effect as to the type of customer that you attract.

 

Do you have a significant number of non-phone-verified buyers causing problems post-sale? If yes, it would make sense to block buyers who are not phone-verified. If no, then it seems that it wouldn't be a problem for you as a seller, as the situation stands now.

 

At least eBay permits sellers to make individual decisions about blocking or not blocking potential buyers on the basis of some clearly important metrics. I suspect that sellers in similar categories would face similar problem buyers, while sellers of completely different items would think "I've never had an issue with that."

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Phone Verified Buyers

I used to sell to many non verified buyers but they weren't verified in the US so that doesn't mean they're not verified in AU.

The unverified just means Non US.

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Phone Verified Buyers

That seems very likely.  I included a phone number right from the start but was 'unverified' according to my profile or whatever for years.  It puzzled me very much.

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Phone Verified Buyers

Thanks everyone, I appreciate your unput. As I said it was just one of those things I've never really considered, so your opinions are valued.

 

It sounds like I've got nothing to worry about, really.  I do the usual checks we all do if I'm feeling a bit titchety about a buyer - so far, no real issues. We've got some lovely customers, verified and otherwise.

 

@Countess .... Yes, and thanks. I understand, but we've not had one issue NVB related, so we'll just continue on with the occasional judgment call I guess. My Gawd though, things are sooooo different to 10-12 years ago. You just about need a pilots licence to fly in here these days, and of course, a nice warm cup of concrete every now and again helps too .... Lol.

 

Many thanks 🙂

 

Melina.

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Phone Verified Buyers

Melina, many years ago when I joined ebay it was only possible to verify an account on the US site.  It had something to do with their banking system and it was not possible to do it on Australian based accounts.

 

Some US sellers refused to send to unverified accounts which left Aussies out in the cold....it was so bad that eventually ebay had to step in and announce that US sellers could not refuse to send to unverified accounts.   It took a long time for the prejudices to disappear.  Even now I see the occasional seller in the USA who states that they will not send to unverified account holders.

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Phone Verified Buyers

Australian PayPal accounts can be verified or unverified, and PP can also be used as a guest - my emails from guest PP accounts don't have eBay details in the subject line of the email, the format is very different and it says "You've received new funds" at the top. 

 

On eBay, the status of the buyer's PayPal account doesn't matter too much as you can qualify for seller protection through all the normal means. Off-eBay, however, you can't get seller protection if the buyer uses PayPal as a guest (at least, they were the T&Cs for PayPal as of last reading, which was admittedly a while ago). 

 

eBay also has the option to block members that haven't verified their eBay account, which is a bit different to PP verification. I do block members who aren't phone verified, though my items are mostly low-value, so not typically the kind of high-risk items where a seller would find this block most attractive. The reason I first implemented the block was because I was specifically attempting to prevent a problematic member from continuing to make new accounts to try and purchase from me (new accounts almost always are unverified with eBay). I also set it up so the block applies to all members, though, not just the ones with FB below a certain level, because this member was using multiple accounts (new and old) to target me, and I just wanted every block in place I could have. 

 

I've had it in place for a couple of years now, and I commonly have around a dozen pages in my activity log of members attempting to purchase unsuccessfully due to this (I can't remember how many it displays per page, but I think it's either 25 or 50? so I guess that means it's either 250 or 500 attempts every 3 months (most members try several times over a couple of days, though, sometimes over a couple of weeks). 

 

The reason I kept the block in place after the initial troubles were taken care of, is because I noticed the number of problematic transactions also decreased once I set it up - I know it may have been coincidental, and that not everyone who doesn't verify their account is going to be a problem; I have also exempted plenty of people from the block, or advised how to verify an account when people contacted me about it, but it seems to work for me so I kept it.

 

The eBay block can be overridden if the member goes through phone verification, links their eBay account with a verified PayPal account, or puts a valid credit card on file with eBay - all things that add a little extra layer of identity confirmation, which makes me just that little bit more comfortable.  

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Phone Verified Buyers

I still don't understand how people are not verified. This account isn't phone verified, because it's purely for the forums. It is not linked to my other accounts. Yet when I want to do really basic stuff, like putting something on my watch list, or checking an ID history, I can't do it without verifying my account.

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Phone Verified Buyers

 

 

I noticed a NPB issue in another thread, but didn't want to 'butt in.'

 

 



I am just wondering if there is some confusion here.  NPB  means "non paying bidder" nothing to do with being phone verified, but refers to buyers who buy, then don't pay.

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Phone Verified Buyers

That was in another thread that was sort of loosely connected with non verified buyers.

 

Melina.

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