topic Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder in Selling

New seller - nervous about current bidder

greylion2013 — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 11:54:49 GMT

I’ve used eBay for many years as a buyer, but have only recently started selling and need some advice.

Someone has placed a bid on one of my auctions who has 100% positive feedback (score over 90), but when I look at the feedback they have left for others there are over 20 negative/neutrals, often with nasty comments such as the item was crap or rubbish. Looking at the sellers these comments were left for, often they had excellent feedback aside from this buyer.

I’m nervous because I don’t have much feedback as a seller (but all positive so far :-)). I looked at cancelling the bid (and adding the buyer to my blocked list), but eBay says can only be cancelled for good reason (e.g. can’t verify bidders identity). Does being wary of the buyer count as a good reason? They have left positive feedback too, I just don't like the odds - they seem difficult to please.

The auction doesn’t finish for another 3 days, should I let it run and hope they are outbid?

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

phorum_junkie* — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:02:50 GMT

Just cancel their bid if you want, ebay don't really care what the reason is although I would probably leave it as I have little faith in the comments of sellers who think it is OK to breach ebay policy by leaving false positives. Who is to say they did not breach other policies and the negs were totally justified?

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

shypansy — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:05:40 GMT

You don`t need any other reason to cancel bid of a buyer when you feel that buyer may make life difficult for you.

Cancel his bid, and add to your blocked bidder list now. if you wish to end the listing and relist a little later to be sure he doesn`t try to contact you then do so.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

thecatspjs — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 12:11:55 GMT

Maybe read the post PJ instead of jumping on the bandwagon about other sellers.

OP if the feedback a buyer had left for many sellers gave me a strong sense that the buyer was difficult to please, they would be straight onto my BBL and their bid cancelled.

Bit of risk management and just not worth any potential hassle I reckon, particularly for a new seller establishing a good reputation and seeking to avoid having their DSRs trashed.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

*new2vintage — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 14:12:37 GMT

All members who only buy maintain a 100% rating.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

dotcomdotayu — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 19:59:13 GMT

If eBay were to say a word about the cancellation of this bidder, they would just be making a mockery of the whole feedback system.

Why have it there for buyers if sellers can't use it as a guide?

Good on you for checking the FB OP. You should follow your intuition.

Good luck on your selling 🙂

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

2106greencat — Thu, 20 Jun 2013 22:18:24 GMT

I'm with dotocm - sorry, but it sounds like a problem just waiting to happen.

Waves to cats

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

belindabargainhunter — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 01:01:46 GMT

If u know what you are selling is as described and u know u will post in a timely manner u shouldn't be worried.

On another note I think I have solved the problem to low sales on ebay. A lot of sellers seem to block and cancel bids of certain buyers maybe they have blocked so many there is no one left to buy

:-):-):-p

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

pinktoedannie — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 01:14:13 GMT

If u know what you are selling is as described and u know u will post in a timely manner u shouldn't be worried.

On another note I think I have solved the problem to low sales on ebay. A lot of sellers seem to block and cancel bids of certain buyers maybe they have blocked so many there is no one left to buy

:-):-):-p

No, Belinda, this isn't true. There are many buyers who don't read descriptions properly and leave bad feedback prematurely ... without even giving the seller a chance to make things better. It's true, I do block buyers. I wish ebay would bring in something that let me block all buyers based on the percentage of neutrals/negatives/ and poor star ratings they give out ... seems only fair.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

belindabargainhunter — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 01:23:59 GMT

yes but at the same time many sellers who give the wrong description eg working when not working but if a seller knows they are doing the right thing then they have nothing to worry about and for those few who leave feedback that is not deserved most buyers can see through it I have bought from a seller with a less than 80% feed back rating I checked the feedback found it was because of one buyer read there feedback left history and could see it was unfair.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

pinktoedannie — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 01:33:48 GMT

yes but at the same time many sellers who give the wrong description eg working when not working but if a seller knows they are doing the right thing then they have nothing to worry about and for those few who leave feedback that is not deserved most buyers can see through it I have bought from a seller with a less than 80% feed back rating I checked the feedback found it was because of one buyer read there feedback left history and could see it was unfair.

Sounds sensible, but since ebay limit the sellers ability to list, and can demote their ranking in best match, bad feedback - including neutrals and undeserved false positives (positive with low star ratings) are something all sellers want to avoid

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

greylion2013 — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 10:13:54 GMT

I appreciate everyone’s responses 🙂

I do have confidence that the item is as described and that I can post in a very timely manner. Just worried that even doing that I’d still end up with a negative!

Over the years as a buyer I’ve left a couple of negatives, but it would probably work out to less than 2% of my total purchases. This buyer has left more than 20% negative/neutral. Maybe they have had really bad luck; my gut tells me their expectations are unreasonable.

I wish ebay would bring in something that let me block all buyers based on the percentage of neutrals/negatives/ and poor star ratings they give out ... seems only fair.

pinktoedannie – that would be perfect, if you could block people based on the feedback left for others. Since it changed to a buyer can only get positive feedback, their own feedback is kind of useless.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

shipahoys_antique_and_collectable_centre — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 10:31:40 GMT

I just had the same situation which I posted on the Powersellers Board earlier this week. Buyer has left something like 24 negs for sellers, and I elected to send the item rather than refunding and blocking. This shocking buyer has now opened a dispute this afternoon, item not as described. You are in the privileged position of inspecting the feedback prior to sale, whereas mine was a buy it now, and will probably get a neg whether irrespective of whether I had sent it or cancelled. Buyers who have a high percentage of dishing out negs should not be entertained, and are more trouble than what it's worth IMO.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

davewil1964 — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 11:26:49 GMT

pinktoedannie – that would be perfect, if you could block people based on the feedback left for others. Since it changed to a buyer can only get positive feedback, their own feedback is kind of useless.

You can block any member you wish to block

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

greylion2013 — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 23:00:55 GMT

You can block any member you wish to block

You have to do it for each individual buyer though right? I think pinktoedannie meant an automatic block for buyers who have a left >x% negative feedback for others. Like how you can block all buyers with 2 unpaid strikes in last 12 months.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

***super_nova*** — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 00:51:39 GMT

You have to do it for each individual buyer though right? I think pinktoedannie meant an automatic block for buyers who have a left >x% negative feedback for others. Like how you can block all buyers with 2 unpaid strikes in last 12 months.

So, what you are saying just because some buyer with low FB score has had the misfortune to buy from a number of bad sellers you would want to block them? Some people may not be very bright and keep bidding on items that are too good too be true, and get scammed number of times. Others might just have run of bad luck. If you have a very good FB and DSR, and get an undeserved NEG, it can be most likely removed.

Blocking people who leave honest NEGs would only mean that people would be too scarred to leave deserved NEGs and that would only be good for the scammers.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

greylion2013 — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 01:42:14 GMT

I wasn’t suggesting blocking buyers who had left any negatives, just a high percentage of the total feedback left.

As I buyer I have left several negatives for sellers, some really are shonky and deserve it. There are also dodgy buyers, if they have bought nearly a hundred items and more than 20% of those were genuinely bad transactions, I don't understand why they would continue to buy on eBay anyway? IMO they have unreasonable expectations, or as others suggested, are not reading the descriptions properly. I'm referring to a very small number of people, most do the right thing.

In any case, I have blocked the bidder I was concerned about and cancelled the bid. Thanks for all the advice everyone 🙂

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

*sparklz* — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 01:48:45 GMT

Another reason why seller should be able to neg buyer for non payment.

Agree with cats Waves to cats and cat)

There is the the usual ones that go on about bad FB from sellers is of no use any way so WHY leave it???

Well here is yet another thread that shows WHY it should be allowed.

This proves that some seller DO have the time and DO look at the feedback of their bidders to now have that choice to cancel their bid and block if they want to.

greylion do not hesitate to cancel their bid and block them if you do not want to risk their wrath. That is YOUR choice and option as a seller after looking at their FB.

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

***super_nova*** — Sat, 22 Jun 2013 06:20:14 GMT

I wasn’t suggesting blocking buyers who had left any negatives, just a high percentage of the total feedback left.

Yes, but if you introduce that function to block anybody who has left 20% of NEGs it will block people who may have only 5 (or less) transactions and 1 bad one, and lets face it newbies are the ones usually to get scammed. But this function would not block people who have lets say 900 good transactions and then decide to be nasty and leave 100 Negs in the row. As I already said; if somebody does leave you unjust NEG and they have a history of leaving lots of NEGs eBay will very likely remove it. 🙂

Re: New seller - nervous about current bidder

shahmink — Sun, 23 Jun 2013 03:39:55 GMT

As a buyer, I'm finding more and more I'm having problems with sellers (including power sellers) not doing the right thing. What about the buyers that want to give negative feedback but know this reflects on how sellers in the future will discriminate like you're talking about. Ultimately their feedback is a lie. There are lots of buyers (including myself) that are genuine and want easy, no-fuss transactions.