What to do with an Ebay bidder (1 Viewer)

[Bryan X]

A bidder who has their bid cancelled cannot leave feedback. Only the bidder who actually wins the auction.

Now if they win the auction, but don't pay, then they probably can leave feedback. Or does reporting them as a non-paying buyer take that option away from them? Does anyone know?

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

You can't leave feedback during a dispute AFAIK.

 

[Robert Marc]

I dont know the answer Bryan, but I would like to know too. I have been in the same situation as Carl, winning bidder did not pay. It was a small item. Less than $20. Rather than risk spite feedback, I left it alone and filed a non-paying bidder report and re-listed. I will email ebay and see what type of answer they give me and report back.

 

[Shayne Lebrun]

Everybody starts with zero feedback. Use common sense and everything will be fine.

 

[ChristopherDAC]

I worry more about zero-feedback sellers than I do about zero-feedback buyers. Face it, which one is more likely to do you bad: somebody who wants what you're selling, or somebody who wants your money?

 

[EugeneR]

Exactly. I worry a little about 0 feedback buyers, but I simply won't buy anything, unless it is a very cheap item, from 0 feedback sellers.

 

[Andrew Bunk]

This is why as a seller I use Buy It Now with Immediate Payment. My auctions can't be ended unless the person actual pays.

Feedback of the buyer doesn't matter-they either have the money or they don't.

 

[Charles Smith]

Here's an older thread that's exactly what I'm looking for.


I've listed a couple of items on eBay for the first time in a very long time. I've got some established buyers who are definitely interested, and just now, along comes a zero-feedback bidder who's been a member for all of one week. The items are vintage stereo equipment and they're bidding on another couple of dozen similar things besides mine. My gut reaction is: bullshit. I wish I'd thought about this before listing the items, but apparently you can't "discriminate" against potential bidders by blocking low- or zero-feedback ones, even if they're brand new. Or can you take some steps in this regard to protect yourself?


Let's assume for the moment that the bidder is indeed up to no good. If he or she should win and pay via PayPal, and I withdraw the funds before allowing the item to be picked up (it's specified as local pickup only), then what's my risk, if any? Can some kind of reversal of funds even take place at that point, if I leave the PayPal account empty? Or would it grab any other funds that pass through PayPal?


Bidder name is tuanhong -- feel free to have a look, and please tell me if there's any particular course of action I should be taking, or if I'm worrying needlessly -- something, I assure you, I'm very good at. Thanks!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Nice bump, Charles.

And you picked a thread inhabited by some of the more interesting members from across the HTF era.


Including some posts from a member who was one of eBay experts for many years...Alan Halvorson.


Good luck with your sales.

 

[CRyan]

One thing you can always do is only ship to verified paypal users and ship signature required with a tracking number for paypal verification in case of a dispute. Of course, if the winning bidder is not verified with paypal, then you have to go through the trouble of relisting the item. I generally say that in my auctions - US only and verified paypal payment only. I have had a few things go wrong shipping outside of the US so I just don't deal with it any longer. And BTW, I seem to always attract a few 0 feedback bidders but have only had them win a couple of times. Of course, the few I did have win the auction were always not in the US (even though I always list as US only).

 

[Paul D G]

I might be wrong, but I don't think the buyer can reverse the payment on his own. He'd need to get PayPal involved.


If I were selling something I would consider valuable with pickup only, I'd probably go with Cash Only - No Exceptions.


I sold an item last year and the winning bidder (ridiculously high bid for an item I got free as a promo giveaway in the newspaper - seriously) turned out to be a proxy from Japan. Get this - this company lists eBay auctions on their own website and bidders in Japan bid via this company. The winner pays the company, the company pays me, and gives me specific and somewhat demanding instructions on sending the item. I send the item to some warehouse and the item gets remailed to the bidder. Thing is, I listed US only on my auction, but the winning bidder was actually in Japan, but I was mailing to a warehouse in Vegas. They'd then send the item to Japan. I read countless horror stories from people who were victims of this company. They weren't really scamming, just poorly run. They'd lose items (confirmed received by tracking the seller used) in their warehouse then demand money back because the item was never received, for example.


When I packaged my item I took pictures of everything, and sprung for tracking. I had no issues, but I was just as concerned as you are now. I'd maybe check with PayPal and see what their policies are. I would think that because the payment would be linked to an auction their would be some safeguards for the seller. It could also turn out to be nothing - everyone has to be a first time winner on eBay. With the pickup option at least they can't say the item wasn't received or damaged. You might even request the buyer 'sign off' on the item verifying it's in working condition at pickup - just stipulate this in the instructions to the winner after the auction is over.

 

[Charles Smith]

Thanks for the quick replies on this. I have years of experience as a buyer but very little as a seller. My listings (for some vintage speakers) specified PayPal only and local pickup only because I have a lot going on right now, with neither time nor interest in dealing with packaging and shipping items of this size and weight. I had seen "cash only" on other pickup auctions but I felt that having the money up front in PayPal was a more attractive option than waiting to see if the person shows up with it. For better or worse, that was my reasoning this time.


Actually, I just realized I didn't specify PayPal ONLY, so it appears as PayPal preferred. Boy, there's a lot to learn here.


One major reason for worry was that I know I'm in a category -- vintage audio equipment -- that's rife with overseas activity, and overseas or not, there just has to be some measure of fraud being attempted at any given time, perhaps with fraudulent buyer accounts being closed by eBay but constantly reopened.


But "local pickup only" is "local pickup only" -- right? -- so I'll at least be avoiding the shipping nightmare described above, and I will take pictures at the point of pickup. That said, I've got a few other pieces of equipment that I would be listing for shipment, so I believe I'm getting some good education here. Thanks.

 

[ChristopherG]

These old thread Resurrections get me every time. For a minute there I thought Rain was back in the fold.....