topic Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay? in Selling

Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 02:18:56 GMT

Like numerous other reports online and my listing a few years ago (in which I had a fake bidder with 0 feedback who did not purchase, which meant I had to wait 4 days before requesting a fee refund from eBay and being able to relist my item) I suspect the same has occurred to me today. This time the user who has today won my auction has not paid as yet (its been a few hours) and I now see they have a 0 feedback since joining 9 months ago and that they put in a very high bid to out bid the next bidders maximum bid. I contacted eBay and they also suspect this to be a fake bidder but confirmed I have to wait 4 days before doing anything. I think this is not good enough. That eBay should better protect sellers. I have been a long term eBay member of 21 years who has sold alot on eBay but this has made me question if eBay is still a viable option for me to sell moving forward. Unless I can be satisfied this wont continue to happen to me, I think not. Any suggestions as to how I can ensure this doesnt happen to me in the future?

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

papermoon.lady — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 02:32:34 GMT

I don't think you can block buyers with 0 feedback from bidding. Not all bidders with 0 feedback are bad either. We all must start somewhere, and there are also experienced buyers who might have the account with 0 feedback as a second account and just want to use it because eBay offered them a coupon. Many of the members here with 0 feedback are experienced buyers and sellers.

If you wish, you can also cancel immediately, but that will mean a defect apart from when you say there is a problem with the buyer's address I think (I am not a seller, but I read threads here)

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

papermoon.lady — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 02:38:17 GMT

It is too late to edit my post. I just wanted to add that maybe he does need a wireless router. But... he placed a bid with another seller too for a similar item, and if he won the other auction too at a better price it might be a problem. I hope yours is the router he decides to keep and pay for. If he doesn't pay, cancel after 4 days and block him from bidding in the future.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

padi*0409 — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 02:39:59 GMT

I might be wrong Papermoon, but I think if the OP cancels the bid then the bidder with the 10 feedback will get the router for $40.00.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

jellybirddesigns — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:00:19 GMT

There have been fake bidders just about as long as Ebay has been around.

Ebay cannot force them to pay.

To ensure this does not happen in future, you could set a Buy It Now price with Immediate Payment required.

I did this many years ago and it 100% solves the problem.

I get quite a few 0 feedback buyers, but with the BIN in place, it's not an issue. And anyway, everyone starts with zero feedback, so you can't block them. You can only block buyers who are consistently problematic.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:01:49 GMT

Thanks papermoon.lady. I apprerciate your contribution. I agree with the comment that we all have to start somewhere and that all 0 feedback are not bad buyers but it is the combination of all the odd things that send a red flag. In this case, 0 feedback, no activity for 9 months, a rediculously high bid which out bid the next bidder days before the auction end and put off other bidders, a very strange user name. If it is the case users have multiple accounts, then eBay shouldn't enable this. Perhaps eBay should better identify users (i.e. link them back to a payment account as one example). Of course there are always ways to cancel an auction. My issue was I didnt think to monitor the bidders, but should I have had to, or should eBay have been doing this? Shouldnt eBay be about protecting both buyers and sellers alike. Hopefully this thread is being monitored by eBay and they do something to address this.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

sandypebbles — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:05:23 GMT

No, eBay do not read anything members post here

eBay also consider buyers can do no wrong, pretty much and have little interest in protecting sellers

eBay also allow people to up to eight accounts

It could be possible in *some* cases that there are hijacked accounts and the real owners are not the ones doing the fake buying

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:10:59 GMT

Hi jellybirddesigns, I appreciate your feedback but to be fair. I first tried to sell this as a low ball Buy Now ($160 which was well below what others were selling for) with Offers and I only had watchers. In the end I listed it as an auction to let the market decide. Im not suggesting I should be able to block 0 buyers but perhaps eBay can better identify users to reduce this from happening.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:14:14 GMT

Hi sandypebbles, I appreciate your feedback. Not good if this is true. One would think it is in eBays interest to protect their product and people that use it.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

sandypebbles — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:18:38 GMT

I would not be posting if it were not true

eBay are all about the buyer

Many years ago, when I had an issue with a buyer as dodgy as the day is long, an eBay cs rep informed me 'buyers don't lie'

I've not seen anything to show their opinion has changed in the years since

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:32:59 GMT

Hi sandypebbles, If you had an issue many years ago why does your eBay profile say you have had 0 feedback since being a member since only 2019?

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

papermoon.lady — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:50:58 GMT

@padi*0409 wrote:
I might be wrong Papermoon, but I think if the OP cancels the bid then the bidder with the 10 feedback will get the router for $40.00.

Yes, that would be the case if the auction had not ended, but I think the OP could now just cancel the sale (not the bid). I think he could then relist the item, but I am not sure. I might be wrong too.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

papermoon.lady — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 03:49:21 GMT

Sometimes sellers only give feedback after receiving it. It is possible that the buyer made a couple of purchases (just a couple) and didn't leave feedback, so the sellers didn't give him feedback either. It is a possibility, but I cannot check because I don't work for eBay...

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

domino-710 — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 04:06:12 GMT

@waza_p wrote:
Hi sandypebbles, If you had an issue many years ago why does your eBay profile say you have had 0 feedback since being a member since only 2019?

Waza - that would be because most of us use an ID to ' post ' and an ID to ' sell '.

Simples

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

sandypebbles — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 04:07:19 GMT

I was a seller since 2005 with close to 2000 feedback

Like many sellers who use their selling ID to post found out , some people took offense at being given advice according to eBay policy and would 'revenge bid/buy' to teach the person a lesson, basically

Rather than do anything about this behaviour, eBay simply advised sellers they should'nt be posting here with their selling ID 'to protect themselves' from revenge bidding

Just another example of eBay's concern for sellers

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

papermoon.lady — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 04:15:37 GMT

You could also keep an eye on bids and bidders and cancel a bid if you think it is fake (before the auction ends):

https://www.ebay.com.au/help/selling/listings/cancelling-bid?id=4140

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 04:19:21 GMT

That is concerning to understand you don’t know who is behind the post and underlines the issue I’ve raised.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

domino-710 — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 04:27:31 GMT

@waza_p wrote:
That is concerning to understand you don’t know who is behind the post and underlines the issue I’ve raised.

No it's not - take notice of the advice given - that's all that matters - and learn to be a little patient as a seller.

Not many pay immeditately - some don't pay at all - but we are as sellers are given the ' tools ' to deal with this - it may not be overnight - but 4 days to complete a sale is reasonable.

No pay - deal with it in a professional manner - use the tools given to every seller.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 04:57:17 GMT

Thanks papermoon.lady, The link that you provided is very helpful and provides me with a solution moving forward as it confirms eBays policy that you may cancel a bid on your auction prior to the end of an auction, if “you're concerned the bid may be from a fraudulent buyer”. The key word is that eBay confirms that I just need to be “concerned” to be justified in cancelling a bid and I will have done nothing contrary to the terms and conditions set out by eBay. Obviously as with any listing, my aim is always to sell the item and so I would only do this if I was “concerned”.

Re: Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

waza_p — Sun, 02 Oct 2022 05:18:39 GMT

Hi domino-710, Thanks for your views however I think we’ll need to agree to disagree.

I think most would agree with me that it is a concern that people have multiple eBay user iDs for obvious reasons.

On your suggestion that not many pay immediately, in my experience having sold on eBay for the last 21 years I have not found this to be the case, as I have found people are typically keen to get their purchase sooner rather than later.

On the suggestion of me being patient and allowing a reasonable timeframe to address a non payment, for the reasons I have stated in this post for my concern with this buyer I think justify my early concern.

On any suggestion that I may not be dealing with my concern in a professional manner, as a forum I am simply highlighting the issue of Fraudulent Bids as a discussion point however I will let others who read this post decide.