Bad Buyers increasing by the day - what is going on?

[sydneyvintagebikes]

Has anybody else noticed a sharp increase in bad buyers?

Lately I've had increased large numbers of buyers a) not paying for items, or b) just not bothering to contact me after they have purchased an item...or c) just mucking me around, stringing me out and then not following through with purchase?

What is going on?

[black*poppy]

There is no 180 day refund policy. Paypal have simply extended the current 45 day buyer and seller protections to 180 days. If scamming wasn't rife for 45 days I doubt 180 days is going to be hugely different. Buyers will still need to pay return postage etc.

The EBAY 30 day money back guarantee is different and can be read in the spring sellers release. Please note it is 30 days.

[vo2notco2]

Will be interseting to see how the money back guarantee goes and if buyers abuse the system.  I wish ebay could force buyers to pay for items they bid on and win and follow through with transactions or maybe ban them for life if they have x amount of item strikes, it's just that these buyers really stuff up sellers.

[lolly-j2003]

Hi there,

How do you request immediate payment? I have sold an item 2 days ago and are yet to hear from the buyer. I think i am being strung along (buyer is less than a week old with no activity). What grace period would you normally have before you offer the item on second chance?

[black*poppy]

To request immediate payment, there is an option when you are listing an item.

In the section "Choose a format and price" there is a link in blue writing "Add or remove options".  Click on this and in the next window click on Payment and there is a box you can tick to require immediate payment.  It's only for buy it now items though.

In regards to your current buyers, it's not unusual for buyers to take a few days to pay but it is very annoying.  I never contact buyers to ask for payment as I think this can make them dig their heels in more, or feel hassled, but others do things differently.  You can send an invoice which looks like it's been initiated by ebay, as a reminder.  After day 4, you can open an unpaid item case, and if they haven't paid after a further 4 days, you can close it and get your FVF back and the buyer is blocked from paying or leaving feedback.

I wouldn't do the second chance offer until the case is closed, because if the first buyer pays, you then have to cancel the transaction because the item is out of stock (or whatever the wording is, I can't picture it exactly ATM) and you will get a defect as well as leave yourself open to neg fb.  It is annoying that you have to wait so long, but it's risky any other way.

[black*poppy]

I hope ebay keeps records and ACTS on how many times buyers initiate a disputes and get refunds.  If buyers repeatedly abuse the money back guarantee then there should be some sort of investigation and/or account restrictions.

It was mentioned on another thread that the going rate of returns on ebay USA for second-hand clothing is 28%... omg...... OMG!!!

[dylan11235813]

from memory there is a clause in the policy that they look at this sort of thing, I think it is complete BS myself.

I had an ebay member make a fraudulent payment about 4 months ago and they are still a member, they did they same thing to multiple sellers.

[mitbri]

I have had many of these. I contacted ebay to be told just log a case.

ebay need to do more to deter these people, you look on their feedback and there could be 10 sellers saying

they have not been paid, but yet ebay has not removed the buyer. How many non payments does it take? to

realise the person is a serial affender. I think ebay should allow 3 and remove them

[sydneyvintagebikes]

I wait 4 days and if I have not heard from the buyer I issue an automated or manual unpaid item reminder, you can do this after 4 days.  I got sick of emailing buyers and getting strung out for payment.  Once the unpaid item reminder is issed, the buyer gets 4 days to pay, if they do not pay in that time period, they get a strike and you can re-list your item.  If you allow the buyer to string you out and give you every excuse under the sun why they can't pay you.  It will mean you're unable to re-list the item until you go through the above process otherwise you won't get your listing fees refunded.

I get sick of having to wait 8 days before I can get my fees refunded and re-list just because buyers are dick heads and don't give a dam about actually committing to a purchase and paying. 

Ebay are too scared to ban these buyers because they would be worried that there would not be any buyers left if they did this.  So it looks like Sellers will just have to suck it up and put up with about 20-30% of buyers not paying for items and not getting any kind of penalty whatsoever.

I think they should bring back the feedback system for sellers, this is the only way buyers will behave.

I also have a lot of blocks on my listings, you can set this up, eg. block buyers who have had x amount of unpaid item strikes within 6 months or longer, this hopefully weeds out a few bad ones.

[lousbloomingarden]

Could be a coincidence but I had the same thing happen on the one day. First one didnt give a reason at all . He paid for it on the Sunday and by Monday morning just wanted a refund. Dropped the usual feedback word in his message ( which is my PET HATE) The other one said his wife clicked on it accidentally...... But that rarely happens and I get 2 on one day...Somethings fishy...

[sydneyvintagebikes]

black*poppy's advice is the best so far....

I quote:

" In regards to your current buyers, it's not unusual for buyers to take a few days to pay but it is very annoying.  I never contact buyers to ask for payment as I think this can make them dig their heels in more, or feel hassled, but others do things differently.  You can send an invoice which looks like it's been initiated by ebay, as a reminder.  After day 4, you can open an unpaid item case, and if they haven't paid after a further 4 days, you can close it and get your FVF back and the buyer is blocked from paying or leaving feedback."

This is the absolute best advice for sellers.  The main point is that you don't have to waste time emailing buyers asking for them to pay and the above system forces them to act, the best part is that they can not leave retalitory feedback which is what a lot of buyers want to do when they have to committ to a purchase that they didn't really want in the first place..

Still annoying that we have to wait 8 days to re-list if they don't want it.  I think ebay needs to cut this down to 6 I think that is enough.