Delicate subject, for sellers on forums

[adornedau]

Hi all,

Just after a bit of advice from other sellers who reply to messages on the forum. I may be a tad paranoid here, but I think I may have been targeted by less than ethical 'buyers/buyer'. A large proportion of my buyers are lovely people and it's great to do business with them, but since posting on the forums I've had a spate of buyers with 0 feedback either buying an item and not paying or buying it and then saying my listing is not clear that it's a sewing pattern and not an actual dress. It is suspicious to me as it is something I mentioned on the forum last week. Has anyone else found that they have been targeted like this? Am I just being paranoid?

I have seen mentioned that you can block a score 0 feedback buyer without phone verification? Is this true? If so, how do you do it? I have the usual blocks in place but haven't seen the option for that one. If I do a mutual cancellation, it means it frees up my item to be sold again quicker but does it in any way stop them from doing it to someone else?

Would just appreciate some advice. I'm feeling quite down about the Ebay selling experience due to problems with sign in loops, rising fees, the inability to do anything on a Friday and now a marked increase in the unpaid item or buyers not reading descriptions/titles cases. What is wierd is that I didn't even get notification of this latest 'mistake' sale, not on my phone, ipad or by email, except it does show up in my awaiting payment screen, had the buyer not messaged me about what size dress they wanted, I would not have known the item sold. This has happened a couple of times in the past month too (the lack of notification thing that is).

[k1ooo-slr-sales]

I think that if someone was going to target you, or your listings, they would not do it by being non-payers . . . . . they would pay and then neg you and/or trash your DSRs. Now that would really hurt you.

I would set up another eBay ID and use that new ID for posting on the boards if you genuinely feel that you are being targeted because of some of your posts.

I hope it all gets sorted for you.

[digital*ghost]

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@adornedau wrote:

What is wierd is that I didn't even get notification of this latest 'mistake' sale, not on my phone, ipad or by email, except it does show up in my awaiting payment screen, had the buyer not messaged me about what size dress they wanted, I would not have known the item sold. This has happened a couple of times in the past month too (the lack of notification thing that is).

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The notifications are all over the place at the moment, and I often get payment notices from PayPal before I get the eBay notification. Earlier this evening I got a "Your item sold!" email from eBay, and when I went to check the sale record I realised it was for an item bought, paid for and sent a week ago. 

Re: posting on the forums... Many people don't experience any problems using their selling ID, some do. All I will really say about it is that there are all sorts of people on forums, including the kind that occasionally think interfering directly with a seller's listings / account is ok, and I would encourage anyone to post here with whatever kind of ID they feel most comfortable posting with, be that a selling, buying or dedicated posting ID.

[adornedau]

Well at least I'm not the only one to have the notification issue then, means it's not anything 'wrong' my end or with my account, just another glitch. I'm just making sure I check my messages repeatedly as I'm worried the next notification to 'go missing' will be a message one. I always feel a bit lame saying it was an Ebay glitch, I know some people use excuses to cover up their lack of service (or as a buyer lack of payment) and I've probably had the family emergency one the most so I tend to view it with a certain amount of skepticism (especially for a single buy it now item), as do most people I think, but another one is 'my computer/paypal isn't working' or 'I can't pay for the item online, you have to accept cash sent in the post or a money order'.

Even when I've been in hospital (ED not something scheduled) I've tried to send a message or email to a buyer with my phone saying I can't get to a computer, but will contact them again (usually to combine an invoice) asap (and wince when I read it because it just sounds fake!). That's probably why I always give people a chance. I'm trying to find the balance between being reasonable as I know stuff can pop out of nowhere and hit you for six, and offering good service but not being taken advantage of.

A site I've been looking at for selling on has a clear rule of 5 days for payment (or other arrangements made and agreed to) or you're booted off and 5 days to post, or again booted off, sellers agree to having the exact physical item available for immediate postage. No back ordering allowed. It has a zero tolerance to buyers who don't pay or arrange for cancelling a transaction for legitimate reasons. Granted you could keep making accounts, but you'd have to supply a different name and email address every time which is a fair amount of work for someone who is just trolling. It looks like there is far more protection available to sellers and buyers and with the policy updates to Paypal coming into force on October 11, you will also have seller protection outside of Ebay! Food for thought really, Ebay gets it's money from the sellers and if they continue to provide poor service that impacts a sellers ability to sell then people are going to look for alternatives!

[digital*ghost]

I know exactly what you mean about how things can potentially sound to buyers... A while back, I decided I wouldn't include that sort of thing in messages unless asked directly or it seemed further explanation would be beneficial. These days, if necessary and depending on the circumstances, I leave all personal circumstances out of messages and say something simple like 'due to unforseen circumstances', and concentrate the focus of the message on information that is more relevant to the buyer (what can / will be done, when etc). 

Most of the time, nobody needs or wants the "unforseen circumstances" explained, they just want to know what's happening with their purchase. 😉