eBay

paintbluedylan · ‎02-09-2017

If I could catch private feedback bidders in time I would block them but continually their bids come in seconds before auction end. I'm forced to sell to a questionable buyer. So far none of these buyers have been willing communicators.

recped · ‎02-09-2017

Questionable in what way?

"What else could I do? I had no trade so I became a peddler" - Lazarus Greenberg 1915
- answering Trolls is voluntary, my policy is not to participate.

ypdc_dennis · ‎02-09-2017

@paintbluedylan wrote:
If I could catch private feedback bidders in time I would block them but continually their bids come in seconds before auction end. I'm forced to sell to a questionable buyer. So far none of these buyers have been willing communicators.

Public or private shouldn't make much of a difference.

You should have the usual blocks in place to weed out those who don't pay.

If worried about INR (Item-Not-Received) claims use a tracked shipping method.

...

Consider using calculated shipping for your auctions. If you know the size and weight of the parcel you will be shipping out -- then eBay.CA can figure out the Canada Post cost to the buyers location, instead of using a flat rate. And you can buy the shipping label through paypal for a discounted rate.

-..-

femmefan1946 · ‎02-09-2017

Since only sellers can get negative feedback, and purchases are masked, there is little reason for a buyer to have private feedback.

As suggested, use your Seller Preferences to Block bidders with bad track records.

If your buyer does not pay (and verify the payment in your Paypal page, don't trust a random email), after four days (96 hours) you can open an Unpaid Item Dispute and close it four days later.

The deadbeat gets a Strike. You get your FVF back.

Another way to avoid problems is to turn this account into a Selling Only account and open a new one for buying. It is generally not a good idea to buy and sell similar items on the same ID. People make comparisons and find your suppliers for one thing.

i.am.vivian · ‎02-09-2017

paintbluedylan wrote:
If I could catch private feedback bidders in time I would block them but continually their bids come in seconds before auction end. I'm forced to sell to a questionable buyer. So far none of these buyers have been willing communicators.

What do you mean by "willing communicators"? And why do you need to "catch" them?

Do these "questionable buyers" invariably turn out to be the only ones that cause problems for you? Are they notably more trouble than other buyers?

If you tighten up your blocks as much as possible you will be doing the very most to block problem users,

http://pages.ebay.ca/help/sell/manage_bidders_ov.html#set

I can think of ONE way to avoid "private feedback" buyers and that is to have your items priced higher than what they need to be, and use Best Offer, without any auto-accept. That way when a "pf" buyer makes an offer you can quickly decline and block them! lol!

But then, if they just buy it at full price to begin with, there you are at square one, money in the bank and frightened of the person who put it there.

Personally I don't see anything wrong with "pf" buyers. There is a lot of odd stuff and kinky things available for sale on eBay and maybe they just think what they buy is nobody else's business, least of all yours.

If you are thinking they went "pf" because they are hiding all the nasty red negs they left for other sellers, that's the darnest thing about it. Those are the ones who are pleased with their negs, happy to tell the world about their 'injuries'. The same way that sellers, who wish they could leave negs for buyers they don't like, would be proud to let everyone see who they negged and why.

With EVERY buyer, you can do a lot to reduce problems by always being VERY nice & polite in your communication, and sending a very pleasant word to tell them it is on its way AFTER you have mailed it.

zee-chan-jpn-books · ‎02-11-2017

One of my most recent sale was to a private feedback buyer with 600+ feedback. I raised my eyebrow a little bit wondering why but just proceeded to mail as usual. I actually had to delay a little bit and mailed 3 days after she bought it because I was too busy with work, as the item sold was a paper-craft item so I had to make a new one.

One week later I received a pleasant message saying they really liked it and thanked me for shipping it so fast (arrived in UK 6 days after mailing date), along with positive feedback. I really don't recall ever having problem with private feedback buyers but they are also few and far between.

ricarmic · ‎02-11-2017

I think that some buyers still believe that people can see what they've been buying if they don't make it private (as was the case years ago when one could see who the buyers were).

I know for sure in my (stamp) world buyers were assuming private feedback for that very reason, they didn't want others to find their sources.

I know that some sellers were using their selling ID to also buy, and adopted private feedback for that reason (all of them that I watch went back to regular style after the ebay change making it private).

I don't care if the buyer has private feedback or not.

i.am.vivian · ‎02-11-2017

ricarmic wrote:
I think that some buyers still believe that people can see what they've been buying if they don't make it private

People CAN see, it just takes more effort,

ricarmic wrote:
I know that some sellers were using their selling ID to also buy, and adopted private feedback for that reason (all of them that I watch went back to regular style after the ebay change making it private).

You mean they alternated their selling ID to a buying ID. People can't sell with private feedback. Resellers might continue to have a buying ID and want it private because they flip their purchases and it IS possible to find out what they buy.

Sometimes a seller might change an ID to a buying-only one if they RECEIVED negatives so as to 'whitewash' the ID for a year, especially if they got 6 or 8 red donuts from the same buyer and can't get them removed. It doesn't count but it looks terrible. Good reason to go private yet no fault of the account holder.

Nowhere in the old posts have I come across a thread about private fb buyers causing any problems so obviously they have reasons for doing it that has nothing to do with bad behavior. Lots of gripes and rants, but not about this. I think the OP was worried about nothing.