New E-Bay Crisis! Buyer with 0 feedback again!

[carolrie]

Okay, I am almost going to quit selling on e-bay. I am sorry to have to ask here again, but I have a new dilemma. Last month I sold a Nikki American Girl doll to someone with a 0 feedback rate. She acted like she couldn't figure out how to pay directly to Paypal through my e-bay invoice and I helped her along by sending an invoice through them Paypal. Luckily I included on it the auction number etc. She paid, I sent, It all seemed fine until a month later when she reversed payment. I e-mailed why with no response for two days then she e-mailed through e-bay stating she never got the item. She wold not return those responses either with the tracking number and proof that it was sent and delivered to her address. Luckily Paypal saw that I had sent to a verified address and reversed her reversal after verifying through the tracking number that the item was delivered. She dinged me with a negative feedback when she found she couldn't try to scam me.

Now I had another auction end just last night and the buyer has a 0 feedback rating. I am totally at a loss of what to do. I thought I had blocked all bidders with a 0, but I didn't state anywhere in the auction that I wouldn't take bids from them. I am so scared that again it is someone trying to scam. E-bay does NOTHING to stop this or reprimand these people at least in my last case. Is there any way I can get out of this auction or do I need to just trust it and send the item? What would you do?

 

[Tinker_]

Hmmm.. if I was in your situation, I would require any buyer with less than 10 feedback points to pay for delivery confirmation AND insurance. That way you have PROOF they got it if that happens again!

 

[mrsklamc]

Ebay and Paypal are actually the same company (quite a scam huh?) so if they refunded your paypal they should take off the negative feedback.

I don't mean 'should' as in they have that policy, just 'should' as in 'it would be the right thing to do.'

 

[rmom50]

It's so infuriating. I'm so sorry that happened to you.

 

[Tinker_]

Well, not only that but it seems to get more and more expensive to sell there! Have any of you guys tried Etsy.com for your homemade stuff? They are a lot less expensive. I have never sold there (all of my apparel is new and not handmade) but I have bought items from there, and have loved the results!

 

[CLR4321]

When selling on Ebay you can set your personal auction setting to allow only bidders with a certain amount of feedback to bid. I hope your latest 0 feedback person pays up with no trouble!

 

[carolrie]

Thanks everyone! Good idea to make them sign for it. It is a large item so I will have to ship either fedex or UPS but I will make them have to sign. I obviously tried to block them the wrong way so I will have to try again. I feel bad being so mistrusting now, but it only takes one horrible experience to ruin it

 

[GetGlowing]

I got burned by a 0 feedback buyer as well who tried to scam me out of a $100 item. I was more aware than your average bear, I think, so I eventually got my supposedly non-working item returned to me. THANK GOD. I also found out that it doesn't really matter much what you say in your listings. All the buyer needs to do is file the dreaded NSAD claim. Ugh. It soured me off eBay for good. I have a whole living room of stuff I need to sell but eBay is too expensive and too much hassle these days.

I hope it works out for you!!

 

[CarolA]

So in other words... since I never buy there you don't want my money.

Intersting view. Reminds me of why I don't play on Ebay!

As for Paypal protection. .... That means "paypal" got paid. If there is any way they will get stuck you are out of luck LOL!

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

So in other words... since I never buy there you don't want my money.

Intersting view. Reminds me of why I don't play on Ebay!

You've obviously never tried to sell things in certain online forms before. The seller gets stuck paying listing/selling fee's not too mention the hassle of dealing with new buyers who skip the instructions on how to operate on the site and then its an email exchange that is never ending on how to complete the transaction. I only sell my high priced items by having the bidders contact me first before bidding, if they do not, then they get deleted. Unfortunately, selling on Ebay and why we don't leave our doors unlocked at night is due to the same reason, people can't be trusted like they use to be. These are different times. Too many scams going around that you can't tell who really doesn't know the purchasing process or who is in Nigeria trying to scam you out of a house and home.

 

[kmvand1]

I think the demise of Paypal/Ebay is right around the corner. They are only out to protect themselves. Why do people keep doing business on EBay? How could you possibly be making any money doing it?

 

[CarolA]

You've obviously never tried to sell things in certain online forms before. The seller gets stuck paying listing/selling fee's not too mention the hassle of dealing with new buyers who skip the instructions on how to operate on the site and then its an email exchange that is never ending on how to complete the transaction. I only sell my high priced items by having the bidders contact me first before bidding, if they do not, then they get deleted. Unfortunately, selling on Ebay and why we don't leave our doors unlocked at night is due to the same reason, people can't be trusted like they use to be. These are different times. Too many scams going around that you can't tell who really doesn't know the purchasing process or who is in Nigeria trying to scam you out of a house and home.

WOW!

You seem very defensive. If you want to lock out a class of customers that's no problem it's your cash!

Personally since EBAY went to Paypal only I am gone. I will pay with paypal, but have no desire to if there are ANY other options.

I also don't want to deal with folks who assume I am trying to "scam" them when buying stuff so I guess "traditional" retail is better LOL!

 

[milmore104]

There is always two sides to every story. When I first started looking and bidding on things on e-bay I would get negative emails from sellers because I had little or no feedback. It made me so mad because I know I'm going to pay for it. Although I don't buy much off e-bay if I do get something it's something I really want. On the other side I have gotten burned by someone w/ over 1000 feedbacks. I paid for the insurance as well as delivery conf. I emailed the seller several times before bidding to make sure all terms we met. I won the items made my payment thru paypal and never recieved my items. I did eventually get my $ back but it left me stuck. I had ordered Easter dresses for my girls. A day before Easter I was running around looking for dresses for them. So just because someone doesn't have much feedback doesn't me they won't pay for the item. Yes I know there are people out there that do things like that but sometimes someone w/ over 1000 feedbacks isn't any better.

And in case you were wondering I have been on both sides of the selling/buying. I did sell one of my collectable collections I understand your frustration w/ listing fees and then not having it paid for but unfortunately it's the gamble we take selling on ebay. Just like the gamble you take getting in your car everyday and hoping the person behind you will STOP!!! Good Luck!

 

[MouseketeerOvaHere]

WOW!

You seem very defensive. If you want to lock out a class of customers that's no problem it's your cash!

Personally since EBAY went to Paypal only I am gone. I will pay with paypal, but have no desire to if there are ANY other options.

I also don't want to deal with folks who assume I am trying to "scam" them when buying stuff so I guess "traditional" retail is better LOL!

Really? I wasn't trying to sound defensive, just assuming you've never dealt with that form of business before. You said you didn't see that view of it and since I have sold on there before, I was offering you the sellers perspective. Personally, I have never run a "business" per say on Ebay but I have sold many items, including big priced items to open up my options for potential buyers since I live in a small coastal town where even garage sales are slim pickings. I have also been on the buying end of the spectrum where the buyer took my money and I never saw the product. There is obviously a glitch in Ebay/Paypal's operation but I can see why honest selling folks choose to limit their sales to those who are experienced.

 

[rflorek]

As another poster said, you can just as easily be burned by someone with high feedback as with zero - I have.

I always laugh to myself when I see these posts about buyers with zero or low feedback - we ALL started out on eBay at a 0 at one time. It was only by making transactions (and hoping for positive feedback that many don't leave anymore) that we built our ratings.

 

[kmvand1]

Really? I wasn't trying to sound defensive, just assuming you've never dealt with that form of business before. You said you didn't see that view of it and since I have sold on there before, I was offering you the sellers perspective. Personally, I have never run a "business" per say on Ebay but I have sold many items, including big priced items to open up my options for potential buyers since I live in a small coastal town where even garage sales are slim pickings. I have also been on the buying end of the spectrum where the buyer took my money and I never saw the product. There is obviously a glitch in Ebay/Paypal's operation but I can see why honest selling folks choose to limit their sales to those who are experienced.

Unfortunately, that's the problem. Once you sell over a certain amount, Ebay and Paypal consider you selling a "business". That's why they lock you into all kinds of payment options, like attaching your account to your checking account or credit card. They sure want to cover their a$$!!!! They only look out for numero uno! I was burned by them a few years back and refuse to deal with Ebay again. Guess I had better explain myself. After I had reached a certain number of sales, they insisted I upgrade to something to receive my money. Well, I never "upgraded" and Paypal kept my money, $50.00, and the buyer kept the item. I refused to give them access to any of my personal accounts.

 

[rflorek]

I refused to give them access to any of my personal accounts.

Me too. I started a separate savings account at a different local bank than my own (one that has a $100 minimum to avoid fees/service charges) and have that linked to Paypal.

 

[kmvand1]

Me too. I started a separate savings account at a different local bank than my own (one that has a $100 minimum to avoid fees/service charges) and have that linked to Paypal.

That was a good idea!

 

[mickeymaker2003]

I also opened a checking account at another bank just for Paypal. I generally only keep $25 in there at a time. I opened a savings account at the same bank that I transfer money that is in my paypal account to. The two accounts are not linked with overdraft protection or anything. If someone gets into my paypal account, they will only be able to withdraw my $25 since that is all that is in there. They could also run up my credit card bill, but those charges would be removed by the credit card company.

Paypal is convenient, but the 3% fee sure adds up in addition to the sky-high ebay fees.

 

[Disney1976]

Unless Ebay has recently changed things, you can't block 0 feedback bidders. You can block bidders with negative feedback of -1 or more, but not 0 (I guess to give everyone an equal opportunity to pay, and not block out buyers who may be new to Ebay from being able to bid).

However, having operated a couple of Ebay stores and made a bunch of mistakes, the easiest way to avoid non-paying bidders I have found is to make all of your auctions "Buy it Now" and require immediate payment. This way, if they are going to buy it, they can't NOT pay for the item.

It works very, very well.