New NPB Process Coming to Ebay

[mahsauction]

Just saw this in the announcements

***Coming Soon: New Unpaid Item (Non Paying Buyer) Process***
Date: 05/06/04 Time: 03:56:10 PM PDT


Over the past few months, we have been soliciting input from the Community on the development of a new Unpaid Item process (formerly referred to as the Non Paying Buyer Process). This new process will be introduced in the next few months and is the latest in a line of initiatives eBay is pursuing to help sellers experience even more successful transactions with a minimum of unpaid items.

The new Unpaid Item process introduces a set of product and policy enhancements that enable sellers and buyers to successfully complete a transaction and reduce the amount of work required to file for Final Value Fee credits.

Features of the new Unpaid Item process include:

* New buyer and seller communication system, where members involved in a disputed transaction can communicate directly with each other right on the eBay site to help complete the transaction. Since buyers and sellers communicate via the eBay site, the risk of buyers not seeing payment reminder emails is reduced.
* New Unpaid Item 'Dispute Console' for sellers to better track and take action on their Unpaid Items.
* Shorter waiting period for Final Value Fee credits – from 17 days to 14 days or fewer – and an immediate filing option if both the buyer and seller mutually agree not to complete the transaction.
* Immediate, one-step Final Value Fee credits in the event sellers encounter suspended buyers or buyers from a country to which sellers designate in Sell Your Item (or other listing tools) they won't ship.

eBay will also be including the new Unpaid Item process in the API in order to enable third party software providers to take advantage of the feature.

We encourage you to familiarize yourself with the new process by reading the Frequently Asked Questions and by visiting the Unpaid Item Process Tour. We also encourage you to give us your feedback on the new process by emailing us at unpaiditem@ebay.com. More information on this new process will be provided as we draw closer to launch.

eBay's Approach to Unpaid Items
These initiatives to help sellers complete transactions with a minimum of unpaid items include current features, such as simplified payments with tools like Immediate Payment on Buy It Now listings, and future changes including the development of buying limits and remedies to ensure responsible buying; future tools to improve communication by ensuring contact information is up-to-date and that spam filters don't interfere with transaction emails; and new methods of better educating buyers when they are committing to a purchase.

In addition to eBay tools and policies, selling strategies also play an important role in reducing unpaid items. We will be hosting a workshop on Tuesday, May 18th at 11:00 PT to discuss ways that sellers can reduce Unpaid Items and answer questions about how this new process will work. Stay tuned for more information about this workshop, and we look forward to seeing you there.

Regards,
eBay

[mahsauction]

No comments by anyone?

[shooger]

I don't know what to say. They've disappointed me so many times, I'm having a hard time getting excited about it. I sure hope it's as good as it sounds, but I have very (VERY) little faith in eBay these days. We'll see.

[brownboxit]

shooger I agree with your comments 100%

at this point with ebay racking in record fees while sellers have racked in record costs ebay needs to sell my business on working with them now, not the other way around. After so many years i thought ebay would be gaining legitimacy, not becoming the pirate's den.

[amberwoodottawa]

I agree, I agree.
I had an auction a guy bid on and won, I knew I was going to have a difficult time collecting.

After I file NPB notice, wife emails me and advises that husband used his c/c and racked up $5,000 in eBay purchases in a little over a month (all items between $25 and $300). She will not let him use her card and he has no money.

So here I am waiting for another 10 stinking days to get my fees back due to the procedures in place.

I've said it before and I say it again, a PS knows when they are not going to get paid. You cant get blood from a stone, so why put us through any stupid waiting period under the belief that there is simply a misunderstaning between the buyer and the seller and they can work things out.

We need to get on with our business, not play stupid games of pretending that a NPB is all of a sudden going to pay us.

And when that rare case does happen that we coerce a NPB to pay, they become the Buyer from Hell and raise 4 million complaints about what we sold them (happened to me one time and ended up being a neg, not worth the sale at all).

Malcolm

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

Personally, I think the BIGGEST thing they could do to "reform" the NPB system, is to refund the listing fees as well as the FVF. But, I doubt that'll happen since it's a huge cash cow for them.

Jaqui

[mahsauction]

I think the listing fees are now being refunded as of 2/04 with certain stipulations.

http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/npb-relist-faq.html

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

Hi,

Thanks for letting me know...I had not seen that at all! This is good news.

Next on the list....stop NPB's from being allowed to leave feedback!:-)

Take care,

Jaqui

[mahsauction]

I heartily agree Jaqui. Even better would be to not have any NPBs (yeah right).

Terry

[phoenix_top_drawer]

Jaqui, I agree
The NBP ability to leave feedback is downright scary.

Joanne

[doc_scribe]

gem-n-i-gemstonz, I thought that once you filed the FVF and it had been credited to your account, that automatically prevented the NPB from posting any feedback for that item. I thought I read a post to that effect either here or the U.S. PowerSellers board.

[amberwoodottawa]

doc_scribe
I am also not 100% certain however I believe that if a neg has been given (or a positive or a neutral) it stays although I dont think it will have any affect on your FB score.

Malcolm

[doc_scribe]

Yes, I understood that any feedback left before the FVF was filed, stayed. However, once that FVF has been accepted by eBay and credited to your account, I think there *may* be some kind of 'lockout' that kicks in for that specific item #. Although not absolutely sure about this myself, I did have one NPB recently who I FVF'd before she could leave any feedback, and after receiving the eBay warning she tried to do so, but said the system wouldn't let her...so of course, she just got right ornery with me in her e-mail instead. A hearty laugh though instead of a red mark.

Someone--again I think it was on a U.S. PowerSellers thread--suggested that this has become the best way to handle NPB's, not even bothering to neg them in FB. That way, you get your fees back, and they get a warning--and of course, after three of those, if they haven't smartened up, they're NARU'd anyway.

Again, assuming that FVF tip is correct, the only downside of such an approach is that you won't have any opportunity to warn the rest of the selling community...a renegade buyer will still have at least two more chances to mess up someone else's auctions.

[mahsauction]

I wonder if we can get a Pink to confirm this.

[muminlaw]

I'm beginning to think that just maybe Pinks are an urban legend. They sure don't respond very fast here!!!

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

Hi guys,

I was out of town, and so didnt get a chance to see your replies.

I dont think there is a way to "lock out" the feedback after a FVF has been filed. My only neg is from just such a situation.

I had filed both the NPB and FVF on 2 auctions from one buyer. After I filed, I neg'd the guy. Didnt hear back for a couple of months, and then one day it turned up....he neg'd me with one of the 2 feedbacks, and the other he left as positive, but the comment "bad seller".

I wrote to ebay to ask about the same thing, and I had also heard that they dont permit retaliatory negs(I had heard they would suspend a user for this). But, they said, "Sorry, we dont get involved in this". They refered me to Square Trade, and the guy flatly refused to allow feedback removal.

I really think that they should make a point of not allowing the buyer to leave feedback in these cases. AND, they should make it well advertised. I am sure it would really discourage bidders from doing this kind of thing. However, then the ones who would ordinarily just not pay, might start to do a lot of chargebacks. What do you think?

Jaqui

[doc_scribe]

If what you say is true Jaqui then I probably got real lucky with those FVF's that didn't leave any feedback. Possibly they were just too stupid to realize they still could, or receiving that eBay FVF warning simply stopped them in their tracks.

In any case, leaving that FB option open to an NPB after the FVF has already been filed and credited is a loophole that should be closed at the earliest opportunity...if for no other reason than its recondite logic.

[gem-n-i-gemstonz]

I agree Doc_Scribe. It is hard to understand.

Although, Malcolm does make a good point in another thread... that if a seller tries to charge a ridiculous fee for shipping, there should be a way for a buyer to protect themselves there too. But then, we'd probably end up with buyers claiming a $2 shipping fee was excessive. I think overall the instances of sellers charging too much for shipping probably occurs far less than NPB's happen.

Jaqui

[shooger]

There is no such "lockout" for buyers you've FVFd. The only way to prevent someone from having the ability to do whatever they want to you is to have them banned (NARUd). This can be done by proving their contact info is incorrect, by being the third seller to FVF them, and a few other obscure methods. If you're the first or second seller to FVF them, you're SOL.

[doc_scribe]

SOL = Short Of Linguini??? 😉