on 11-01-201910:01 AM - last edited on 13-01-201910:55 AM by luna-2304
I have been frustratred by the lack of support from EBAY in respose to leaving NEGATIVE feed back to repeat offenders bidding and not paying for goods, maybe we should name and shame on COMMUNITY NOTICE BOARD or on EBAY ANNOUNCMENTS this may help us to limit our time wasters
on 11-01-201910:18 AM - last edited on 13-01-201910:55 AM by luna-2304
Firstly naming n shaming on this public forum is not allowed.
Neg feedback hasn't been an option for sellers for more than 5 years and even if you left a neg, it doesn't stop the buyer from buying or bidding in the last minutes of an auction.
If you read the instructions on eBay selling you will see there are proper procedures in place for sellers to use.
If you open and close unpaid cases for buyers you get your fee back, buyer gets a strike and you are free to relist.
If a buyer has 2 or more strikes on their account they cannot bid or buy from all sellers with blocks in place, far better than the feedback system, don't you think ?
Go to account - site prefs - buyer req then show n edit and set your blocks to weed out serial non payers.
Also add any non payers to your BBL so they can't purchase or bid again. Simples.
I have been frustratred by the lack of support from EBAY in respose to leaving NEGATIVE feed back to repeat offenders bidding and not paying for goods, maybe we should name and shame on COMMUNITY NOTICE BOARD or on EBAY ANNOUNCMENTS this may help us to limit our time wasters
No, doubt it would help.
Non payers like to browse & bid but I don't think many of them would bother visiting a community noticeboard, hardly anyone does, so if the aim is to shame them, they'd be oblivious anyway.
If the aim is to stop them, then you're going to have to block them on your account so they can't bid with you again. Don't bother giving them any feedback at all as even if you put a non flattering comment, all you're doing is pushing their positive feedback score up & making them look better (at first glance). Better to keep their score as low as possible.
Sorry - this turned into a much longer reply than I realised. It did this on its own! My fingers were being remotely controlled by a finger-hacker... or something...
eBay isn't a level playing field, and unfortunately sellers don't now have the emotional cathartic release of being able to red-dot a non-paying bidder, a fraud-attempting buyer, a pushy buyer demanding free postage to Far Distant Woop Woop when you list items for local pick-up only, a buyer who performs the old switcheroo manoeuvre by claiming Not As Described and sending back a faulty old version of what they bought, a buyer who cold-bloodedly instructs their bank to initiate a chargeback, and so on.
You can't warn fellow sellers on eBay that the buyer is a problem.
You can't shame the buyer with a well-deserved pithy feedback comment detailing the bad behaviour.
You can't even put a mark on the buyer's forehead so that their sins are made known publicly.
In terms of public status and public awareness, the buyer will get away with it. And yes, that's frustrating. I don't underestimate in the slightest how infuriating that is.
The only way to cope is to accept that you can't give the buyer negative feedback, but that you can use the tools at your disposal to
minimise the risk of non-payers
prevent a non-payer from bidding on your items or hitting Buy Now on your items
ensure that the non-payer is more likely subsequently to be barred from buying from many sellers on eBay
understand that 100% feedback percentage for a buyer means absolutely nothing, since no buyer can receive negative feedback
have risk mitigation in your selling behaviours, and
act appropriately if a buyer tries something post-sale so that you continue risk mitigation.
To minimise the risk of non-payers AND prevent a lot of non-paying bidders from bidding for or buying your items,
make sure that your Buyer Requirements are set to block buyers who have received 2 item strikes within the last 12 months. (That's the highest setting.) See all the details in this post.
You can also require immediate payment; this means that your item isn't sold until the buyer pays. To implement this, you must enable ONLY PayPal on your listing, so bear that in mind. (It's not appropriate for pick-up items, obviously.) Details are in eBay's How immediate payment works page.
To ensure that non-payers are as likely as possible to face a consequence (being prevented from buying from a lot of sellers on eBay),
you must have a non-paying bidder/buyer policy in place, which you follow strictly. You can see your options in eBay's Resolving unpaid items with buyers page.
If a buyer doesn't pay within 4 days, decide whether you will send a reminder or whether you will simply Report an Unpaid Item. You can set up Unpaid Item Assistant (which will automatically open an Unpaid Item Report if no payment's been received the instant that 4 days have elapsed). eBay say that it's for high-volume sellers, but I (who am a buyer only, not a seller) just checked on my account, and I can enable Unpaid Item Assistant. Note that Unpaid Item Assistant requires that you enable PayPal ONLY on your listings.
If you prefer handling it manually, set up some way of being aware or notified of any non-paying buyer, and decide whether you'll message the buyer with a friendly little reminder, or whether you'll open the Report immediately. (Setting up a spreadsheet in Excel with automatically calculated payment-due date notifications (calculated from the date and time (to the very second) of purchase can be done, for instance. Just check the spreadsheet every so often; you can have the required cell turn red, for example.)
However you keep yourself informed about unpaid items, work out how you want to deal with them and then follow your policy as part of your standard procedure.
Being consistent is key. Use your judgement when it comes to sob stories, but remember that buyers have at the very minimum 8 days to pay, which is plenty of time (Four days before you can report an unpaid item; four days before you can close the unpaid item report.) Do not fail to close any cases: eBay say: ❝It's important to close out any unpaid item cases. If you don't close an unpaid item case within 36 days, we'll close it for you, but you won't be eligible for a final value fee credit. Also, if we close a case, the unpaid item won't be recorded on the buyer's account.❞
If you find mention of a buyer who has a clear history of bad behaviour (for instance, some sellers might have commented in the feedback, or the buyer has given a LOT of red dots to sellers, or the buyer's feedback comments are suggestive of having claimed non-arrival of item and refund for a LOT of items), you can add the buyer's username to your blocked bidders list. Also, ensure you add the username of any past or present problem buyer that you've experienced.
If you're selling items that are reasonably pricey, you should ensure that the postage options you enable for that listing are appropriate. Decide at what dollar figure you want to enable only fully tracked and insured postage, possibly with signature on delivery. (This way, you're protected against chargebacks and claims that the item hasn't arrived, as long as you do everything else required of you for seller protection.) For less costly items, it's recommended that you "self-insure" by adding a little more to the postage price than the actual cost plus eBay's GST on the postage, so that you can reserve the "little more" in a jar or box or till or your PayPal account; you'll call that extra amount your self-insurance so that you can cover any losses or issues.
Only post to the address on the order; if you don't, you're not covered by PayPal Seller Protection. You should make the most of eBay's Seller protection policy and PayPal Seller Protection. Bear in mind that some of the eBay Seller protections are a load of gibbon offal (in my opinion; e.g., buyers can't give you negative feedback if you automatically accept returns on any item that a buyer claims is not as described - which is as good as saying "Rent my items for free"... Is receiving one red dot such a deal-breaker for your right to assess a claim of Not As Described on its actual merits?)
Use your discretion and judgement if a buyer requests something extra post-sale. You do have Seller Protection if you refuse the buyer's post-sale request or demand, so if you can't accommodate the request (or just don't want to), don't feel you must do so. But of course keep all of your communication with your buyer absolutely professional and as businesslike as possible; eBay both can and do read eBay messages.
Oh! and package appropriately. If selling fragile items, you need to package with loads of protective packing peanuts or bubble wrap or scrunched up butcher paper PLUS use double-boxing. The item should not be able to move inside the protective materials.
Hate to break the news to you, but your 1988 $1 Australian coin #52, isn't a $1 coin. Sorry.
Hate to break the news to you, but you ARE liable if something is lost or damaged in transit. Sorry.
Hate to break the news to you, but not only are false positives a violation of eBay policy, which could see you get sanctioned, it's pointless because only you can see who the buyer is. Who are we steering clear of? Complete waste of time. Sorry.
Yes, not being able to respond in kind can be frustrating - I copped a buyer who purchased an item on the evening of December 18th, and contacted me on the 20th demanding to know why it hadn't been marked as "sent".
I pointed out our specified three day handling time, and was met with "Well, hurry up - I want it by Christmas". The buyer lives in Far North Queensland, about 300kms north of Cairns - Aust Post's listed delivery times for the region are well over a fortnight, and I'll guarantee that the buyer is well aware of it.
As it happens, even though sent by Express Post, the item arrived on Jan 2nd - and sat there awaiting collection for another week...
So, I'm waiting for the little red dot to appear. But, rather than get angry, I'll just get in touch with the eBay Customer Service rep whom I reported the conversation to, and have the red dot removed. And I've already blocked the plank from bidding on other items.
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