What to do with an Ebay bidder (1 Viewer)

[Bryan X]

I've got a few items up for sale on Ebay. On one of the items the high bidder is someone with 0 feedback who has been a member for 3 years.

That kinda concerns me. What should I do?

Cancel the bid and block the member without contacting them?

Or should I contact them to see what's up? If I do, what could I ask them that would indicate they are legitimate?

 

[BrianW]

I'm a three-year Ebay member with zero feedback. I joined Ebay just to bid on a particular auction, lost, and haven't bid on anything else since. There have been a few auctions that I considered participating in since then, but haven't really found anything I can't live without. I maintain my membership, however, in case I happen to come across that one item that will complete my life.

I know feedback is important, and I'd understanding someone having concern about me participating in an auction. Until I get some feedback, I would never, for instance, bring an auction to a screeching halt by clicking on the Buy It Now! button without first obtaining the seller's permission.

I think you should contact him and see what's up. Just ask him how he has managed to be a member for three years without getting any feedback. If he's for real, he'll understand your concern. It could be that he simply underbids everything and hasn't won a single auction. If you don't like his answer, or if he doesn't respond, you can always cancel his bid and block him.

 

[EugeneR]

I'd be a lot more concerned about someone who has just registered with zero feedback than someone who registered years ago. I'm guessing that someone didn't register three years ago with a plot to rip you off. Contact the person, they're probably just fine. Then, just use common sense - don't ship to an unconfirmed paypal address, don't accept weird checks, or at least wait until they clear.

 

[Rain]

I've had an eBay account for years as well and have 0 feedback as I have yet to buy or sell anything.

I'd at least contact the guy.

 

[Bryan X]

Thanks guys. I sent the guy an email politely asking what was up and for some contact info.

 

[Johnny Angell]

This I don't understand. If the seller has a Buy It Now button, I consider that permission to buy it now. Am I missing something?

Assuming he's accepting payment via paypal, he's going to get immediate payment from me. That's the best kind of feedback you can give the seller.

 

[Andrew Pratt]

Hey Rain nice to see you again

 

[BrianW]

Johnny, in principle, I agree with you. However, I've known several sellers whose auctions were halted by newbies (no-feedback bidders) clicking the Buy It Now buttons, and not ever get paid because the buyers didn't have PayPal accounts, didn't understand the commitment behind the button, or just wanted to engage the seller's attention for no other reason than to ask a simple question about the item being sold before "deciding to bid on it."

Yeah, that's what the button is for, but good grief, some people are just plain stupid. So I wouldn't mind taking a minute to put a seller's mind at ease with regard to my intentions and lack of feedback before effectively ending his auction.

Of course, I'd first have to get myself a PayPal account.


Missed you 'round these parts, Rain. Good to hear from you.

 

[Malcolm R]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. I've sold to a couple of similar bidders without incident.

 

[Paul D G]

Request a money order for payment due to your concerns, should he win.

-paul

 

[Jay H]

Hey, there's the nostril again!

I guess I should go register now so in three years, I will wait for another one of your items and bid on it... bwaaahahahahahaha..

Jay

 

[alan halvorson]

If you were concerned about zero feedback bidders, you should have said something in your auction description. Since you didn't, you are obligated to accept bids from them. I've run hundreds of auctions and have often found that zero feedback bidders are the best kind to have, so I wouldn't worrry too much about them.

 

[Bryan X]

Well, I did email the bidder yesterday. As of this evening, no response. According to Ebay rules, not being able to verify a bidders identidy after contacting them is grounds for cancelling a bid.

But he's not the high bidder anymore so I'm not too concerned at the moment.

 

[Inspector Hammer!]

I also don't get the big deal about clicking the Buy it Now button. You don't need anyone's permission, if you want to end an auction by just purchasing the item out right, than do so, it's completely up to you.

As long as you intend to pay the seller for the item, which of course being a member of ebay you are obligated to do anyway and that is understood by both you and the seller, I don't see the problem.

You end up paying a little more by doing that anyway, so I highly doubt that you'll anger or offend the seller in any way.

Rain, dude, nice to see them, er, um, I mean you!

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Assuming the payment isn't fraudulent. Accepting PayPal is a HUGE risk for the seller, since the charge can very easily be reversed or fraudulent, and by that time your merchandise is gone. Even if you have all the qualifications for a "protected" sale, if the credit card company reverses the charges the likelihood is that the money is gone. That can be up to four months after the auction.

As a bidder, I am very reluctant to bid on items when there are low feedback bidders involved.

 

[Johnny Angell]

I've never sold anything on ebay, so I'm not familiar with this. I had thought that paypal guaranteed payment to the seller.

How does the payment get reversed? When the buyer disputes the charge?

 

[Carlos V III]

You got to dig for it, but buried in E-Bay's rules is a statement that you can't refuse to take bids from people with zero feedback.
I know because I used to have such a statement in my description that they had to contact me prior to bidding if they had zero feedback and someone reported my auction to E-Bay and they took it down. They finally told me why it was taken down and I asked where it stated that and was just told to check the rules. I was unable to find any reference and they finally had to send me the direct link or I never would have found it myself.
I've only been burned twice in 4 years on E-Bay (fortunately for small amounts) and you can guess correctly that both of them had zero feedback!

 

[alan halvorson]

Ebay seems to have a number of rules people aren't aware of and they don't make it easy to find them. Ebay pointed out a couple of them to me and were they ever hard to find.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

PayPal states that they have losses less than half a percent, which doesn't matter a whit when it's your money that is lost. I have had to deal with PayPal as both buyer and seller, and they aren't of much help in either case, other than telling me fat out that i there is a problem, I am SOL. Buyer and seller beware.

 

[Carl Johnson]

If a seller cancels the bid of a buyer does that buyer have the ability to leave feedback? I suspect that's the case. I'm paranoid about getting negative feedback to the point that I would never risk aggravating a buyer by canceling their bid. If they don't pay then I will get the money I paid to list the item back by filing a non paying bidder report to ebay, but even then I wouldn't leave negative feedback.