Can Non Paying bidders legally leave neg feedback?

[kidsndolls]

Hi-I had a buyer buy an item for 300.00. No communication, until finally he emailed me and told me that somebody took him for a lot of money and now he doesnt trust , so sorry he will not finish and pay for his item. (Even though My reputation speaks for itself!!) So, he doesnt pay..and then leaves me a negative feedback saying that I was misleading and bad to work with! I didnt even work with him, ....misleading??? He is insane! Is there any retrubution??? If anybody knows if I can get this negative removed, please let me know?
Thank you!!

[whoscloset]

File a NPB to get your fees back. If he doesn't respond his FB will be removed.

Also, pull his contact information and try calling him at home. If his phone number is incorrect then you can have the neg removed for false contact info.
Monique

[audioshack]

The neg has already been removed by mutual agreement.

[vesivus]

Yes, it is legal. It seems you got rid of your neg recently, but we've just been neg'd by a customer who complains that our shipping is too high even though it was clearly explained in our auction.

Heh heh. Some people just won't be reasonable no matter how nice you are to them.

John

[futuretech_liquidations]

Ya we too have been a victim of these types of buyers who bid on items just so they can leave negative feedback.

Recently we had a buyer refusing to pay because we collect taxes outside of our province -- they called us thieves and are threatening to report us to Revenue Canada...go figure eh!

Needless to say they have left us a NEGATIVE FEEDBACK, I am appealing to eBay but I doubt anything will happen.

[d2magic]

If a bidder didn't pay you, the negative feedback he left can be removed when you run a Non payment bidder claim on ebay. After that (must be after ur runing NPB),you will be able to leave him a NEGATIVE. A NPBed bidder has no right to leave seller negative feedbacks.

[zarzuella]

Not absolutely true.

Non-paying bidders who respond to the UPI CAN leave feedback. Only those who do not respond cannot leave feedback. Ann

[futuretech_liquidations]

This is another loophole in the eBay system that needs to be closed -- if a bidder does not go through with the transaction and nothing has been paid and nothing has been shipped then why even allow either party to leave a FEEDBACK since no tranaction has occured.

eBay should be well aware that scammers and scumbags alike know about this loophole and purposely go about using it to discredit legit sellers reputation.

It takes alot of positive feedbacks to get rid of a negative one, especially because of the formula eBay uses to derive your percentage figure.

Ebay needs to close this loophole ASAP but I doubt they will since this would cost them monies.

Also, the 8 day waiting period before you can chose to NO LONGER WAIT OR COMMUNICATE with a deadbeat buyer so that you can claim your credits is way too long. As a seller we should have CONTROL over how long we want to wait for a BUYER to pay -- even if you put in your auction terms that they must pay within 3days and/or 2days following auction enddate...they still have the 8 day window to stall.

Again, why is eBay controlling our payments -- they should be as they put it a facilitator for selling and buying and NOT a regulator of our terms and condition for items we sell let alone controlling how quickly we get paid.

TIM @ FTL

TIM @ FTL

[youreinthebook]

Not a loophole.

If a seller only accepts money orders and/or cheques and a buyer sends the payment via mail but the seller turns out to be unscrupulous and pockets the money without shipping the item, shouldn't the buyer be able to leave negative feedback against that seller?

[jakeeangel]

Exactly!

And your idea of 48 hour UPI you posted to Jordan on the Selling on eBay board is beyond ridiculous! There are people that mail in payment even in this day and age of immediacy. Some sellers jump the gun and file UPI/FVF giving a buyer a strike even when allowing 8 days for mail. I find that it can take almost 2 weeks to get payments that are mailed in from the US.

---

[futuretech_liquidations]

Ok, I agree 48hrs is not reasonable given the different payment options some sellers offer.

However my comments was in reference to situations where you have a buyer that has either changed their mind and/or admits upfront that they do not want the item (for whatever reason).

Clearly these transactions can be resolved quickly, painlessly and also more cost efficiently than the current method in place.

There is no reason whatsoever for an 8 day waiting period since no payments have been made, nothing has been shipped and/or will be shipped.

JUST WASTED TIME ... and time is money!

[wsboyd]

If a Buyer claims not to have Received the Item in 8 days,
wait almost the full time allowed to Reply to eBay.

Every delay helps give time for it to arrive.

WSBoyd

[canextrade]

I resolved most of the concerns about anything by creating a separate page called "terms" to which a link is included in every listing. In case of problems or questions about shipping time, handling, delivery etc. I always direct the client to the page so I don't have to write assays any more. In case of damage during the transportation, return, delivery time and so on all of it is specified in details so situation is clear prior to entering in to the agreement. My term page is constantly evolving based on new experiences so if you guys have encountered other problems, I look forward to your suggestions. On the other note, I develop my policies because ebay is lacking clear definition of the agreement between buyer and the seller. Instead they have some kind of layer sifer code no one understand while the purpose of my agreement (terms section) is to define the procedures and responsibilities of both parties involved.

It think it might be a good idea to develop by all of us a single stanrad term page so most questions, problems and procedures are clearly defined the same way by most of us sellers.

[youreinthebook]

Terms having to do with returns and refunds are only good up to the point of a PayPal claim or a credit card chargeback. Then you can throw all your well-intentioned terms out the window because PayPal and credit card companies could care less less about your terms.

In the same category are sellers who offer shipping insurance as an option and claim in their 'terms' that no refunds can be given for items lost in transit unless the optional insurance is paid. Many sellers don't seem to realize that shipping insurance protects the seller, not the buyer. Either that, or they are trying to coerce an additional fee from the buyer. Either way, it is a questionable business practice.

[canextrade]

Well, Paypal won for me a chargeback case based on the conditions of the agreement (my terms page). They were very specific to provide information about all aspects of the agreement. After all the buyer agrees to the conditions by making the payment and that is stated by ebay itself. Eventually the purchaser was forced to deal with the claim according to the agreement and money was refunded to me. PayPal fee was only 10 dollars while the transaction value about 300.
Concerning the insurance, my insurance policy covers damage during the transportation and I always ship the replacements free of charge and pay the shipping cost providing the damaged goods are returned to me. In my line of product there is a lot of market for broken ceramics among mosaic artists so the loses are covered be reselling broken goods. On the other hand indeed the insurance is the other way to coerce an additional fee from the buyer and I dont see any problem with it nor my clinets. I used to pay a third party to insure packages but some time ago I decided to do it on my own. Dealing with claims is more eficient, faster and I can make some extra money instead of paying the insurance company.

[zarzuella]

canex, you may want to review ebay's rules on the self-insurance issue:

Excessive Shipping & Handling


Sellers may charge reasonable shipping and handling fees to cover the costs for mailing, packaging, and handling the items they are selling. While eBay will not prescribe exactly what a seller may or may not charge, eBay will rely on member reports and its own discretion to determine whether or not a seller’s shipping, handling, packaging, and/or insurance charges are excessive. Shipping and handling fees may not be listed as a percentage of the final sale price.

Sellers who want to be sure they are in compliance with this policy may charge actual shipping costs plus actual packaging materials cost (or less).

In addition to the final listing price, sellers are permitted to charge:

Actual Shipping cost: This is the actual cost (i.e. postage) for shipping the item.

Handling Fee: Actual packaging materials costs may be charged. A handling fee in addition to actual shipping cost may be charged if it is not excessive.


Insurance: Sellers offering insurance may only charge the actual fee for insurance. No additional amount may be added, such as “self-insurance”. Sellers who do not use a licensed 3rd party insurance company may not require buyers to purchase insurance. Ann

[canextrade]

Thanks for policy update and indeed it might seam I am walking on the edge of legality. However, the statement "company may not require" opens in my mind as almost all policies on eBay grey area so I will continue charging all extra costs as long as my competition is not going to improve their marketing methods especialy those who sell Mexican products directly from Mexico. On there other hand it seams 99.9% eBayers belive lowering the price and covering other fees that should be paid by the client will bring more profit while this is truth within already saturated discount distribution channel level, all products can be positioned on the market in value added category providing they are supported with adequate marketing technique and extra service. In other words there is always a market for the identical item within every socioeconomic group but people belonging to each level will be looking for it in different distribution channels so here goes the price, insurances, fees. All of this is possible beside the product quality if extra service including charging for insurance are available so actualy providing safety for the client brings more qualtiy clinets and eliminates the "cheap" once who cause only trouble.

I guess those are a few of my thoughts about my experience on eBay. In general it was great. With gaining experience in marketing methods on the line based on experience I had already as a consultant my eBay costs are going down and profit goes up. eBay has been a great platform for marketing and it alows at least in my case to spend long Canadian winter in Mexico and continue working from there.

[jenzaka]

How is this "term" working out for you?

eBay
Feedbacks

8a. The buyer is prohibited from leaving negative feedback concerning delivery including delivery delays unless the seller is unable to prove shipping (excluding freight delivery) within seven business days from the payment date excluding holidays in the shipment origin country.
8b. Damage Replacement Policy will become void in case the buyer posted negative feedback in relation to any damage occurring during transportation (applicable for purchases on eBay only).

This would be great if it could actually be implemented. I am pretty sure that any E-Bay or Paypal dispute opened in regards to damaged goods isn't going to be closed solely based on the fact that the buyer left negative fb....regardless of your terms and policies.

[tobyshitzu]

Any conditions for feedback is a listng policy vioaltion
http://pages.ebay.ca/help/policies/feedback-terms.html

[canextrade]

Perhaps it is a listing policy violation, however the buyer leaving negative feedback regarding the lost package or delivery delay even though it was shipped according to the agreement is a disgrace. I will change the policy only after ebay prohibits buyers from leaving negative feedbacks for delivery delays caused exclusively by the carriers or US customs. They should conceder creating a feedback forum dedicated to USPS, Canada Post, Servicio Postal Mexicano, FedEx, US customs, etc. so frustrated buyers can vent their anger there. I agree with the statement that the whole idea of having any policy on ebay is not going to prevent people from doing whatever they wish to do, however I found to be a strong deterrent and that is good enough for me understanding perfectly it is impossible to eliminate problems, just to minimize them. On the other hand it is important to remember that having well defined policy in place might determine the outcome of any court action against you and since we are in business any legal action must be always anticipated. I move a lot of cargo directly from factories in Mexico to the clients in the US as freight that doesn't carry any tracking numbers just standard commercial documentation so sooner or later I will encounter dishonest party trying to rip me off. Then papal or ebay will not do any good to me regardless their own policies but having the contract written prior to entering into the agreement will most definitely determine the outcome in the court. Just keep in mind as any commercial operation ebay policies protect ebay and no one ells so my company policies do exactly the same.