Anyone else having trouble with Fake bidders on Ebay?

[waza_p]

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?

[waza_p]

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?

[papermoon.lady]

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@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.

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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.

[papermoon.lady]

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...

[domino-710]

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@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?

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

Simples

[sandypebbles]

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 

[papermoon.lady · Accepted solution]

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

[waza_p]

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

[domino-710]

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@waza_p wrote:

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

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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.

[waza_p]

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”.

[waza_p]

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.