Potential Buyer sends confusing Message

[katlover1952]

I had a strange message from a potential buyer this weekend. She messaged and said she "would like to bid on your items but it say that you do not have a linked paypal account can you tell me how to go about bidding". I did message her bank & asked her if she was able to bid or if it would not let her placed the bid but have not heard back from her as yet. I have had other bids/sales over the weekend so not sure what this was all about. Anyone have any ideas what she is talking about?? She appears to be a fairly newbie only 7 FB.

[pjcdn2005]

It means that you are blocking buyers without a Paypal account so if they have Paypal and it isn't linked to their ebay account, they can't make purchase from you. I've never used that block as it also blocks people who don't have a PP account but who are going to pay with their credit card through PP...they don't need an account for that.

If you go to account-site preferences-buyer requirements and click on edit, the top requirement is to block buyers without a PP account. If you uncheck that feature it will apply to anything new that you list. (then click on apply at the very bottom)

It does say that you can disable this per item on the sell your item form but I don't see that on the form..perhaps I'm just missing it but if you find it please let us know where it is.   If you want to allow this buyer to make the purchase, try adding her to your buyer block exemption list. 

https://offer.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BidderPermitLogin

[momcqueen]

I don’t restrict sales to PayPal-account holders, I’d rather sell the item to a person using Guest Checkout than not. Remove the block. If you don’t have one prohibiting non-PayPal-account-holders enabled, then perhaps there is another glitch at play.

[recped]

The block against users without a PayPal account goes back to the days when checks and money orders were still allowed.

The only reason to use it these days is if you are selling high scam items (phones) or if you attract a lot of thrill bidders.

[katlover1952]

Thanks did not know that I was in fact using this. Will go check it out.

[katlover1952]

I checked and yes I did have it set to block buyers without paypal accounts. I did edit this and noted at the bottom it there was a box that said "apply above settings to active & future listings" so I assume by checking that it would change it on everything currently listed and going forward.

It did also say on the box to edit blocking buyers that you could change it per item but when I noticed the other option at the bottom I did not bother to look for that.

Thanks for your help. Not sure why I ticked this box in the first place!

[ricarmic]

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@katlover1952wrote:

I checked and yes I did have it set to block buyers without paypal accounts. I did edit this and noted at the bottom it there was a box that said "apply above settings to active & future listings" so I assume by checking that it would change it on everything currently listed and going forward.

It did also say on the box to edit blocking buyers that you could change it per item but when I noticed the other option at the bottom I did not bother to look for that.

Thanks for your help. Not sure why I ticked this box in the first place!

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This reminds me of a funny situation I had a while ago, I had a setting on our internet account set an odd way. It had been set that way since 2003. The support person wanted to know why I chose to set it that way! Some days I can hardly remember what I had for breakfast let alone settings I picked 15 years ago!!!!!

[recped]

Not sure why I ticked this box in the first place!

Possibly because for years it's been frequently suggested on the boards. Unfortunately the people who suggest it don't understand the ramifications. There is another block that is also suggested and that is to block foreign currencies with the thought that this blocks foreign buyers. IT DOES NOT! In fact it does absolutely nothing because buyers can ONLY pay in the currency of the listing.

It's another holdover from years ago when buyers could pay directly from PayPal without any eBay checkout (which didn't even exist at that time). In that case a buyer could send foreign currencies which would mean the Seller paid the exchange fees instead of the buyer.

[katlover1952]

Thank you.  I have likely had this for quite some time but like ricarmic I have trouble remembering what I ate for breakfast so can't remember for sure.  With me it is an age thing. LOL

Anyway appreciate all the help with this issue. I did message the potential buyer back but likely she has found something she likes better now!!

[pjcdn2005]

Yes the box at the bottom does say apply to future and active listings but the box that you unchecked requiring a PP account also says - (Note: This block only applies to future listings and can be disabled per item on the Sell Your Item form.) 

Another seller was having a similar problem recently and when they did uncheck that box, their buyer was still not able to pay. I suggested that they put the buyer on the buyer requirements exemption list, I don't know if that helped or not.

[pjcdn2005]

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@recpedwrote:

Possibly because for years it's been frequently suggested on the boards. Unfortunately the people who suggest it don't understand the ramifications. There is another block that is also suggested and that is to block foreign currencies with the thought that this blocks foreign buyers. IT DOES NOT! In fact it does absolutely nothing because buyers can ONLY pay in the currency of the listing.

 Exactly!  I've mentioned that a few times on the US boards but I doubt that anyone believes me there.

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[katlover1952]

I did put the buyer on the list as you suggested but have not heard back from her so don't know if it worked. Guess I will have to look for how to do it on an individual basis. You would think there would be some way to change all your listings. A lot of work otherwise.

[around_again_records]

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@pjcdn2005wrote:

It means that you are blocking buyers without a Paypal account so if they have Paypal and it isn't linked to their ebay account, they can't make purchase from you. I've never used that block as it also blocks people who don't have a PP account but who are going to pay with their credit card through PP...they don't need an account for that.

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Sorry for coming in a bit late on this.

I have blocked Buyers without a Paypal account because well I just don't want a hassle with payment methods that I would not know how to deal with. Paypal is easy, everything is looked after for me - no worries.

I checked my blocked buyers report, and sure enough there are some transactions that were blocked because buyer did not have a paypal account.

So my question is: If a purchase is made and buyer does not have Paypal. Do I have to do anything or know anything as to how to deal with the payment process or is everything done automatically for me.?

What kind of situations might I expect?

[momcqueen]

"So my question is: If a purchase is made and buyer does not have Paypal. Do I have to do anything or know anything as to how to deal with the payment process or is everything done automatically for me.?"

If the buyer does not have an existing paypal account associated with their ebay user ID, they won't be allowed to make the purchase if you have them blocked.

If you do not have them blocked, as I do not and never have, they'll just use their credit card or debit card and it will be processed via paypal like no big deal. Or they'll ask to send you a cheque which needs to clear before you ship, or ask for Local Pickup and pay cash.

I'd encourage you to eliminate the no-paypal block. You're losing out on sales for no good reason to my mind. Payment is payment. It's not like a no-paypal block eliminates buyer chicanery. 

[pjcdn2005]

As mo mentioned, taking the block off shouldn't make any difference as to how you handle the sale. Buyers can pay with a credit card and PP processes it so you aren't involved in that at all.

[momcqueen]

(Buyer chicanery like asking if you do trades.)