eBay

roxx66 · ‎04-29-2016

I am looking for advice please.

I had an item sell at auction this past Monday (the 25th), and almost immediately the buyer messages me and tells me he can't afford the item right now. I've had this happen before, so I open a “Cancel Order” request and message the buyer back to tell him this. I ask him to “confirm with this with eBay asap so that I may relist the item” and thank him. He says he will and that “if its not sold by the time I have money I can maybe get it then!” I tell him, “Sounds good. Hope things are looking up for you soon. Thanks!” This was on Monday.

FF to Thursday, and he still hasn't confirmed the cancelled order with eBay, and my item is still in limbo. I msg him again Thursday to remind him to please confirm with eBay regarding this auction. He replies “how do I do that?” Not knowing if he is playing dumb or not, I send instructions (check my eBay etc). As of today, he still hasn't responded and my item is stuck, probably for the whole ten days. I see now that he was playing me as a dummy.

I feel he is manipulating me and my item so that he can keep me from selling it until he has the money. I don't want to sell to him (no trust) and my question is, would I be out of line if I blocked him from bidding when I finally do relist? Is what he is doing worthy of being reported to eBay?

The item I'm selling (although a small item with a small following) is rare, and now when I do relist, it won't carry the same selling power as it did when I first listed it. And unfortunately, he was the only bidder (although it had other watchers).

I would appreciate your advice in how to handle this situation.

Thanks in advance.

Roxx66

femmefan1946 · ‎04-29-2016

Open an Unpaid Item Dispute now. He's messed around long enough.

You can then close the Dispute (if he doesn't pay up) after 96 hours.

The dumb thing about this is that if he had attached a credit card to his Paypal account, he could have paid you immediately and probably would have the doohickey before his cc bill arrives.

And then he could pay off the card at his leisure.

I mean, really, isn't that the point of having a credit card?

And add him to your Blocked Bidder List. It's under Manage Bidders on the Site Map at the bottom of this page.

jersey..authentix · ‎04-29-2016

Well there is a bunch of things you can do.

First its up to you if you want to put him or her on a no bid list. Though you feel there is a fast one being pulled on you, it isnt for sure the case. Its only your suspicion. We have all had these issues. Usually these clear without incident.

You can keep mailing him to cancel.

if your in your time limit you can open a unpaid dispute.

You can call Ebay to get them to cancel since you have the Email stating that fact

You can simply wait for the time to expire

You can relist it and hopefully there wont be any issues if you sold it. Its a chance you take but I dont think its much to worry about.

You may receive payment from the buyer and all your concerns were for nothing..

Too many sellers rush to the decision that they are somehow being scammed , or as you say manipulated. I think its some mechanism in us to think that way, Who knows. I know I can jump to conclusions quickly as well.

decal-fx · ‎04-29-2016

@femmefan1946 wrote:
Open an Unpaid Item Dispute now. He's messed around long enough.

I don't believe you can open an UPI once you have sent a cancellation request.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-29-2016

If a buyer hasn't paid and you cancel, there might not be anything for them to agree to as the system has changed in the last year. I've noticed that with cancellations there often isn't any indication from the buyer but after approximately 10 days ebay sends out a notice saying that the item is cancelled and credits my fees. It's very likely that the buyer is not purposely trying to make you wait.

Since you have messages from the buyer that they want to cancel, you could try phoning eBay customer service and asking them if they would do the cancellation now.

As far as opening an unpaid item case...I know that once you have opened an unpaid item case you cannot change it to a cancellation so it might not be possible to open an unpaid item case since there is already a cancellation request.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-29-2016

Too many sellers rush to the decision that they are somehow being scammed , or as you say manipulated. I think its some mechanism in us to think that way,

I absolutely agree with this. I've seen a lot of sellers and buyers jump to a conclusion that there really is no evidence for.

pacificwinds6875 · ‎04-29-2016

Exactly the same thing (well almost) happened just now to me. One bidder, zero feedback, right after the sale, he was the only bidder, he says "I can't pay". Now I could ask him to accept the cancellation I initiate but I won't There is a language barrier I think and he has zero feedback). I am going to wait, open an unpaid case, then close so I get the FVFees back and THEN he is blocked - not reported.

If you have emails in your EBay system, keep the ones he has asked for you to cancel, actually keep and flag all of them, call CS at Ebay to get this cancellation finalized so you can move on with it. I had to do that a few months ago so I could relist the item as soon as possible.

It's happened quite a bit and if you relist it right away, put in your ad in small font somewhere - "Item has been relisted due to non-paying bidder". That way people know (perhaps "Watchers") that it IS the same item again and they might bid this time. You never know.

Good luck

femmefan1946 · ‎04-29-2016

For me it comes down to credit cards.

If a customer can qualify for a card, then putting off payment for up to a month is no problem.

If he can't qualify for a card, why should I think he can ever pay? He's a bad credit risk.

There are a few, and these days very few, troglodytes and curmudgeons who won't acquire a credit card. Having dealt with that sort a few times, I can't be bothered.

I'm not a bank.

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-29-2016

@femmefan1946 wrote:
For me it comes down to credit cards.
If a customer can qualify for a card, then putting off payment for up to a month is no problem.

If he can't qualify for a card, why should I think he can ever pay? He's a bad credit risk.

There are a few, and these days very few, troglodytes and curmudgeons who won't acquire a credit card. Having dealt with that sort a few times, I can't be bothered.

I'm not a bank.

I see more people who have a credit card and then can't control their spending so I would never urge someone to get one if they don't feel the need for one.

The buyer in this case isn't asking the seller to wait a month or for credit. They are at fault for bidding on or buying the item without the money but they aren't asking for special treatment as they did ask for the transaction to be cancelled. As I said in another post, the system may not be giving the buyer a way to agree to the cancellation. With so many glitches on eBay it's very possible that is the problem.

roxx66 · ‎04-29-2016

Thank you all for your valued advice. It is greatly appreciated!

I didn't file a Non paying bidder as I too didn't think I could do that as long as I had the cancellation going on. No need for it now anyway as the cancellation went through today (Yay!)

I usually try my best not to jump to conclusions, but with the way this bidder delayed confirming, even after I asked them to, twice, it was hard not to. I will however use my prerogative to block this bidder from bidding on any of my auctions. They've lost my trust.

I was thinking of putting a "Re-listed due to incomplete transaction" or something of that nature in the description when I relist so that bidders don't think something's fishy when they see another one available. Hope that helps.

Again, thank you for your advice! So glad you're all here when help is needed.

Take care!

pjcdn2005 · ‎04-30-2016

I was thinking of putting a "Re-listed due to incomplete transaction" or something of that nature in the description when I relist so that bidders don't think something's fishy when they see another one available. Hope that helps.

Honestly, I doubt anyone bidding would be worried about it if you relisted. I wouldn't bother putting anything like that in the listing.

femmefan1946 · ‎04-30-2016

I was thinking of putting a "Re-listed due to incomplete transaction" or something of that nature in the description when I relist so that bidders don't think something's fishy when they see another one available. Hope that helps.

No.

Too negative.

There are hundreds of millions of listings on eBay at any given moment. The chances of a bidder from an earlier auction finding yours again are not that great.

Your listings should always make the customer feel that everything will go smoothly, that the product is wonderful and you are the best seller on Earth and several other planets.

Also glad that your cancellation went through.

roxx66 · ‎05-01-2016

You're both right re: adding that the item was relisted. I had only added the word "relisted" in the title and description, but you both made very good points about it so revised and removed.

Thank you again for good advice!

lady.stark · ‎05-01-2016

@femmefan1946 wrote:
I was thinking of putting a "Re-listed due to incomplete transaction" or something of that nature in the description when I relist so that bidders don't think something's fishy when they see another one available. Hope that helps.

No.
Too negative.
There are hundreds of millions of listings on eBay at any given moment. The chances of a bidder from an earlier auction finding yours again are not that great.
Your listings should always make the customer feel that everything will go smoothly, that the product is wonderful and you are the best seller on Earth and several other planets.

Also glad that your cancellation went through.

I respectfully disagree. As a buyer, when an item I was watching ends with bids, and then it gets relisted, I want to know why. If it is written in the description, the better. If it is not written, I always contact the seller to know what happened.

So, as a seller, when I get a non paying bidder, I always indicate it in my listing when I relist. I always write something like "This item is relisted because buyer never paid".

hlmacdon · ‎05-01-2016

@femmefan1946 wrote:
Open an Unpaid Item Dispute now. He's messed around long enough.
You can then close the Dispute (if he doesn't pay up) after 96 hours.

The dumb thing about this is that if he had attached a credit card to his Paypal account, he could have paid you immediately and probably would have the doohickey before his cc bill arrives.
And then he could pay off the card at his leisure.

I mean, really, isn't that the point of having a credit card?

And add him to your Blocked Bidder List. It's under Manage Bidders on the Site Map at the bottom of this page.

I completely agree, but there are a lot of ebay customers out there, especially in the US who don't have credit these days and Europe is very bank transfer heavy vs credit card.