Can I cancel a transaction from a buyer with no feedback?

[pinkrosecupcake]

I am a managed payments seller, I've just had a zero feedback buyer bought my item. Buyer opened their account same day of purchase. In my item descriptions I clearly stated that buyers must have at least 5 feedbacks. I guess the buyer didn't read but anyway...

I know everybody has to start somewhere, and normally I will just ship it even the buyer has no feedback but now I am really not comfortable/confident selling to new buyers at this time, especially if it's an expensive item. And after hearing so many stories how sellers get scammed, I am not sure if I want to take the risk. Also, I offer free shipping in my listing, I will be paying the shipping out of my own pocket and it's not cheap.

Not sure what to do? Take the risk or cancel it?

If I decided to ship it, how do I protect myself if the buyer make up stories like the item is damaged or never received (even tracking shows delivered)???

If I decided to cancel it, the buyer can still leave me angry negative feedback. And will I get my fees back?

Any advices are greatly appreciated. Thank you!

[teenytrinkets]

Yes, the buyer can leave negative feedback if you cancel the transaction.

I sell to plenty of zero feedback buyers. Most of them are not scammers. Most of the scammers have great feedback, surprisingly...

Ship the item with tracking and insurance. You'll have seller protection in the event of an Item Not Received claim. Just like any sale, an unhappy buyer can open a return for any reason. Just have it shipped back and refund.

These are the risks we take selling on ebay - and the number of feedbacks has absolutely no bearing on that risk.

[ericsells75]

Sorry but I’m going to be harsh.. if you are going to cancel for no good reason as you suggest it hurts the community as a whole. Why would a buyer come back if sellers randomly cancel orders? That hurts sellers in the long run. Scammers are the exception and not the rule. If you can’t abide by eBay guidelines and policies and utilize protection options then maybe this site isn’t for you.

[ypdc_dennis]

A new buyer is usually someone who couldn't find an item available elsewhere, so end up on ebay.

Most buyers do not read the description (assuming they can find it under all the advertising that ebay adds) -- they just see the image and the title. Descriptions are especially easy for buyers to miss if they are new to ebay.

I see you sell to Canada, USA and UK.  If the sale is to Canada or the USA I would take the slight risk and ship. The UK is more difficult (and expensive) to handle if there is a problem.

If you decide to cancel, do contact the buyer to let them know why you are cancelling -- be polite and do that before you cancel.

-;-

[snoopwiz]

Sales 101. Buyer pays. Seller ships. As mentioned in the thread, use tracking, pack well. I will add managing your buyers expectations (message thanking them for their purchase, assuring them it will be well packed and when you will be shipping)  I am confident most all eBay transactions go withuot a hitch....from what you have told us, I see no reason why this would be the exception. Make your buyer happy he found you in eBay, make yourself pleased with the sale and move on to the next one.  

[ricarmic]

There are several ways that a zero feedback buyer can happen.

If the buyer uses a guest account, ie just buys and pays with their credit card, they'll have a somewhat gibberish ID with zero feedback. I have a fellow who has been buying $300 to $500 boxes from me for years EVERY time it is with a guest account and zero feedback.

My favourite "zero feedback" buyer is somewhere over 50 now and ALL of them are from me!

If you take the same precautions you would take with any buyer, your risk with a zero feedback buyer (in your selling categories I would believe) aren't much, if any higher.

One of the big dangers of reading all the horror stories here is that one comes to think all buyers are scammers. It is only the 1 tenth of 1% of problem buyers one reads about here (for most categories). 

PS I forgot to mention, if you cancel it a wayyyy bigger problem for you is the defect it will cause on your account, the possible negative feedback doesn't hurt you but defects do. 

[marnotom!]

Hate to be a wet blanket here, but I see you're selling a lot of fragrances, and you may have problems sending those through the mail at some point:

https://www.canadapost-postescanada.ca/cpc/en/support/articles/non-mailable-matter/commodities.page

[t_bjarnason]

Certainly do not cancel an order for a buyer that has no feedback/new account!

You cannot assume that they are a scammer just because of a lack of feedback. Perhaps they are a new account because they couldn't find the item elsewhere. Perhaps they've made purchases in the past and the seller simply didn't leave feedback. 

As others have mentioned, it hurts the community and the buyer would be unlikely to return to eBay. If you are that concerned, you can always upgrade the shipping to tracked (at your expense, of course). The buyer could also leave negative feedback which only hurts you. 

Lastly, rules like "buyer must have at least 5 positive feedbacks" is against eBay's over-arching buyer-friendly policies.

Scammers are usually good at what they do and are usually account with lots of good feedback. I've had several buyers with either no feedback or accounts that were opened the same month as their purchase with no issue. 

As @ricarmic mentioned, it's easy to think that all buyers are scammers as you only read about the horror stories, and never the BILLIONS of positive transaction stories.

[zee-chan]

All of my sales with issues are to buyers with existing feedback. I never had issues with zero-feedback buyers.

Let's say it's your first time walking into a restaurant/grocery store. How would you feel if the store clerk chases you out because you're a new customer there? 

[mr.special-editions]

Excellent answer teenytrinkets  I can also attest that feedback DOES NOT MATTER and in my 10 years of selling I can count on one hand how many issues I had with 'zero' feedback buyers.  Where as buyers with anywhere from 1 to 500000 feedback that's where 90% of the problems arise.

New eBayers especially buyers may be a little on edge with their purchase, if you provide them a good service they tend to be the most grateful of all buyers.  Nice feedback and sometimes they send a personal thank you message and become a repeat customer.

[ilikehockeyjerseys · Accepted solution]

New accounts aren't negative. 

Odds are, they googled for the item and the only place with it, or with it in their price range, was eBay. They signed up or checked out as a guest to buy the item. 

You are probably more likely to get scammed by an experienced account that knows eBay's policy than a guest or newly created account. 

While this person could be out to scam you, there is nothing indicating that they are or aren't a scammer. If you are selling an item that attracts a very high level of fraud like a graphics card, sure, be extra cautious. Otherwise, I don't see why you would want to cancel the transaction. 

To answer your question, if you cancel you can get a negative feedback. You will also get a defect which can hurt your seller status with eBay (top rated seller, above standard, etc).