10-18-2024 03:37 PM
Hi everyone,
So here is a question do you buy from a seller with zero feedback? Do you give the new seller a chance to gain feedback?
Do you view the items listed and go "this is too good to be true" it is all counterfeit/fake/imaginary/a scam and/or maybe the seller will just disappear after purchasing the item forcing you go to through the small annoyance of doing a claim.
My experience with a new seller so far - the seller disappeared (unregistered on ebay as a seller); the item never came by the expected date and I got a refund after making a claim. Was it a good deal - yes in general - was it a great deal - nope - I would have saved a total of $10 if I had bought from a store for the item - so a deal but not a great one.
So do you buy from new sellers or seller with zero feedback?
10-18-2024 03:53 PM
Much depends on seller location and the item/product and how badly the item/product is wanted/needed...
Although I personally have not purchased from a 0 feedback seller, I have sold items to many a 0 feedback buyer...
Everyone, whether buyer or seller, starts at 0 and each must build trust, reputation and respect...
it all comes in time and with patience..
and No, NOT all 0 feedback sellers are bad apples...but one does have to approach any seller with caution if there is nothing to gauge their selling performance...
10-18-2024 06:43 PM
A lot depends on the type of item, and whether there are other alternatives available.
There are many good reasons to not buy expensive items from zero feedback sellers, not the least of which being that scammers often list expensive items at fire sale prices as bait to attract potential victims, and then make it as hard as possible to actually get a refund.
And even otherwise honest, new sellers may encounter lots of potential problems selling for the first time and actually delivering the goods, and such sellers may require a lot of additional hand-holding to get through a transaction. And that is if the seller is not planning to drop-ship the item from someone else who turns out to be a scammer.
In general, you can avoid a lot of headaches by choosing to purchase only from established sellers that have recent and past positive feedback as a seller for selling items in the same category that you intend to buy. If someone is selling a dozen apple watches, but has no feedback, or only has feedback as a buyer, or only has feedback for selling dress patterns or fishing lures (actual examples I have seen), perhaps wait until they have a track record of positive feedback for selling electronics before you buy from them.
You might miss out on a good deal from a new seller once in a while, and nothing can guarantee that you won't still run into an issue anyway, but you can avoid a lot of potential problems by choosing to do business with established sellers. Anyone can put together a listing that looks nice -- it is not hard at all to simply copy an existing listing -- but it is much harder to create a history of consistent sales and positive feedback.
For more experienced sellers, you can learn a lot about the sort of seller you are dealing with by checking the seller's feedback page to see where the seller is registered and to notice if the seller has any negative feedback. If you see negatives indicated in the table of recent feedback, you can choose to exclusively see each type of comment by clicking on the numbers shown in the table. Reading negative or neutral comments can often tell you if a seller has a pattern of problems with items not matching the descriptions, canceled orders, late deliveries or item location misrepresentation.
If a seller has a pattern of too many serious negatives -- or just not enough positive history -- it is often better to find another seller with a better track record to do business with.