how can I search my sales to locate a buyer that bought from me previously

[murphcrud]

Hi Guys,

Is there a method to be able to search for a buyer that I sold previously? 

I received an order from a buyer who I believe I have previously sold and had an issue with that sale.  Unfortunately, I am unable to locate when I made the sale on ebay/paypal.  I have looked as far back as I can on my messages as well, but cannot see any info on this buyer. 

So I ask is there a search method where I can enter the buyer's name to locate if and when I previously sold this buyer?

Thanks guys

[momcqueen]

Can you find the buyer in your Feedback Left For Others?

If a buyer gives you a hard time, it's best to add then to your Blocked Bidder list promptly. 

[murphcrud]

I cannot locate anything about this buyer ---anywhere. 

He is not giving me a 'hard time' - nothing like that.  I think that I recognize the address as it is not a common place that I ship to, but I do know that I shipped to this province previously.  Perhaps I am paranoid about someone telling me that they never received

an item and this is the same buyer.  I will check that avenue.  

[silverpinups]

I wouldn't worry about it, he or she didn't leave you negative feedback the first time so just "insure" you ship the item with a tracking number and take out insurance for the full value.

Done, no worries, no stress......  

[zee-chan]

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@murphcrud wrote:

Is there a method to be able to search for a buyer that I sold previously? 

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I never delete my e-mails (except junk mails). If you're like me, would you happen to have the info in your e-mail box and can you do a search in it?

[murphcrud]

$10 + Shipping with tracking for a $15 item makes no sense. Thanks anyway

[murphcrud]

Checked my e-mail box. Nothing there to help in this matter. Thanks anyway.

[momcqueen]

I save all my Sales Records as PDF after shipment. That would help going forward.

There's been times when a buyer's user name or address has sounded familiar, and if they're repeat customers (even from a year ago) I like to be able to acknowledge that so if something trips in my memory such as in this type of instance, I'll search: (a) my Feedback Left For Others (b) email for keywords and (c) PDFs of my previous Sales Records.

[rose-dee]

If your buyer paid with Paypal, their name and email address will be on your Paypal records.  If you know the approximate date, just run down the Paypal transaction list until you find the name/email.  

You can sort your Paypal records by type to only show amounts paid to you, and those records are retained much longer than the Messages in eBay. 

[rose-dee]

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@mjwl2006 wrote:
I save all my Sales Records as PDF after shipment. That would help going forward.

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That's a good idea for accounting purposes, but it might be awkward if you have to search hundreds of PDF documents to find one name or email address (unless perhaps you have all the PDFs strung together as one long document).  

I find the Paypal list is a lot quicker and easier, since it can be sorted by whatever is needed for a particular search.  That information can also be downloaded in CSV format for permanent off-Paypal storage.  I do this at the end of each year, keeping all the years in one folder, and I then "flag" with highlighting on my lists any buyer who subsequently returns.  It's a simple matter of a few seconds to zoom down the list or enter the name using "Find".  

Since I deal almost exclusively in Paypal payments (at least on eBay), this method works well to easily keep track of repeat eBay customers.  Of course, cash purchases or other types of payment won't be captured on the Paypal records, so this may not work well if a seller has a lot of those sorts of transactions.  

I want to say, just in passing, that although this procedure may be needed to occasionally identify a former problem buyer, that's not the main reason I keep such records.  Repeat customers are normally a very good thing!  These lists help to prioritize my marketing to people who are most likely to return. 

[momcqueen]

Yes. I do same with PayPal but it's my final go-to. The email record, or PDF works well. My file structure allows a search of text within the PDF. It's easily found.

eBay Paid and Shipped as a cvs of done monthly will also track that data. I find it easier to work with it over PayPal; it's more complete since I do accept other payment sources for Local Pickup.

[ricarmic]

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@murphcrud wrote:
$10 + Shipping with tracking for a $15 item makes no sense. Thanks anyway

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If it's 'only" a $15 item, its a great example of something that you'd cover from cookie jar insurance anyway.

If they cause problems this time block them right away....

My mantra is "burn me once shame on you, burn me twice shame on me"....

I have a special place I file all emails from MIA packages, and problem customers so I can look there when my "spider senses" are tingling. It has helped because I've had problem customers come back with different names, same address, different address same person before.....

My spider senses tingled just today, buyer showed up buying from a different site, but I can't find anything on them.... they're from Brazil so that almost always sets off the spider senses on its own...

Hopefully all goes well for  your sale!

[jt-libra]

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@zee-chan wrote:

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@murphcrud wrote:

Is there a method to be able to search for a buyer that I sold previously? 

---

I never delete my e-mails (except junk mails). If you're like me, would you happen to have the info in your e-mail box and can you do a search in it?

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I do delete a lot of my e-mails but not eBay related ones.  Those I file by year in one of my folders.  So first I will do a search in e-mail, like zee-chan and, if nothing shows up, I search directly from the Search button on my Windows desktop screen.  If the name is in your system, it will show up, whether it appears in an e-mail, PayPal, an eBay listing or even a Word document.

[silverpinups · Accepted solution]

$10 + Shipping with tracking for a $15 item makes no sense. Thanks anyway

If it's a cheap item your selling then roll the dice.... if the buyer becomes problematic then give them a one way ticket to your "block bidders" list.

[pjcdn2005]

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@rose-dee wrote:

If your buyer paid with Paypal, their name and email address will be on your Paypal records.  If you know the approximate date, just run down the Paypal transaction list until you find the name/email.  

You can sort your Paypal records by type to only show amounts paid to you, and those records are retained much longer than the Messages in eBay. 

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If you know the name, you can also go directly to PayPal Activity, type the name, pick a date parameter and click on search.  It will take you to transaction(s) from that name in that time period.

[murphcrud]

Thanks everyone.

All good ideas.  Depends how detailed we want to get to track our sales/purchases.

Unfortunately, in my case, I don't know the customer's name or email address.  I just recognized the city/town with a Box number address.  I do not know if I had sold him in the past year or two.  Having to go on PayPal and physically look at each sales transaction to obtain a physical address is quite time consuming.  Of  course, I would know and recognize some of my customers from the sales list which I wouldn't have to look at as I sometimes recognize a transaction date or amount that identifies the purchasing customer from the sales list. 

The one reply that was given, is exactly the way that I handle (d) these type of sales (small amounts).  "Burn me once, shame on you, burn me twice, shame on me", put 'em on the no sell list and there won't be second 'shame on me' scenario.

[ricarmic]

It might be a good idea to start a new file folder in your email where you file the emails from problem buyer transactions.

This is how I caught a problem buyer in China. They burned me once a year for 3 years, each time about the same time of year with a different userid, name and presumably address (it was mostly in Chinese) however the "postal code" was the same.

When year 4 came around and I finally realized it was the same "person" I called eBay and they undefected me for cancelling the transaction. They also knew that 3 of the 4 were the same person so they do have some sort of tracking stuff in place....the only reason I was able to figure that out is my trusty "problem buyer" email folder....