Reasons behind blocking buyers

[ricarmic]

This came up in a different thread so I thought I'd put it in its own thread if there's to be any more discussion.

Generally my own reasons for blocking are related to time and cost/risk factors.

The majority of the time once I've permanently blocked a buyer I won't unblock them nor respond to any communication from them after blocking them (other than temporary blocks of course).

Too much time/trouble:

-returns generally but depends on the situation

-cancels purchase, depends on situation

-partial refunds when they’ve selected an unreasonable (IMO) amount (I always leave the partial refund amount up to the buyer, I have had surprisingly few people get blocked for this, maybe 3 in the last 24 years)

-asks a zillion questions, especially if they were answered in the title or description and/or the item is of low value (rarely)

-type of questions asked, especially if overseas, ie spider senses based (rarely)

-stupid low best offers (rarely)

Too much risk:

-INRs generally I block unless it was a repeat previously successful buyer

-SNADS unless it is or could be my fault

-leaves negative (generally) or neutral feedback (sometimes), a lot depends on the situation

-complain about the item before they purchase it (yes this has happened!!!)

Temporary blocks:

-sometimes I’ve had international buyers purchasing a few days apart. I usually let them purchase a 2nd item but I ask them to wait to purchase any more until we know I can get stuff safely to them. If that doesn’t work I’ll put a temporary block on them until stuff starts to arrive ok. Have maybe done this 2 times in 24 years.

-almost always as soon as a case is opened I put up a theoretically temporary block. If the item arrives in time or something “ok” results, I’ll pull the block. It is rare for me to pull the blocks.

-if a buyer repays after having been refunded for an INR I will pull the block of course

-if the situation is resolved ok and/or buyer removes negative/neutral feeback the block is pulled

[regs43]

I block people who

1. Leave Negative Feedback

2. Neutral if its really negative and not my fault

3. People who buy stuff and never pay (more then 1 time, I had someone do like 20 items)

4. People who want to return with INAD or SNAD ( I have had 1)

5. People who ask way to many questions and give a weird vibe

I have a list of like 200 people at this point, half I don't remember who they are unless I were to search their username i my email and it would jog my memory

[rocketscollectibles]

I think i blocked like 10 buyers in 2 years. I probably got blocked more often than i block people. I only block really if someone cause me trouble after sale, argue agressively, if i suspect a false claim, or if i'm harrassed. I block for legit reasons. On the other side i got blocked many times very weirdly. Last week i made an offer to someone overpricing and added a note in the offer 'offering market price'. Seller contacted me to ask why i don't buy elsewhere, i answered his question and he blocked me. His listing was up since 6 months, and i offered market price. Some sellers really block for everything and anything. Just by ego or maybe because they want to show they have the control. I personally think this is an issue on eBay. A lot of sellers make an abuse of the feature. But in buyer shoes, we cannot block sellers. I wish we had a feature where as buyer we can block bad sellers and hide them from our searchs. I would clearly have a longer list of sellers blocked than buyers to be honest. 

[recped]

On my various selling id's I have added ONE name to my BBL in the past 10 years, blatent feedback extortion (failed) was the reason.

Prior to 2008 I used to BBL buyers who didn't pay but that was when eBay provide a one-click BBL link when you closed a NPB  dispute.

[joels-retrocade]

I copied a huge list from a blacklisting website.  I block anyone who returns or says they didnt receive the tiem.  I also frequently block posters from the boards.  It seems like the people who are the hardest to deal with are usually completely oblivious to that fact lol.  They'll come to the boards with a rediculous complaint; I check their feedback left and block them lol.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

While I am always more than happy to answer questions or assist buyers, I might pre-emptively block a buyer if they ask dozens of questions and their line of questioning makes me believe that it would be impossible for me to deliver a satisfactory transaction to them. This obviously rarely happens, maybe once a year. An example of this, someone once asked me to confirm whether anybody in my household had been sick over x amount of time because they themselves did not want to risk getting sick from handling a DVD they received in the mail. So it takes a lot, I don't just mean someone asking to clarify about the condition.

Otherwise, if someone leaves a tremendous amount of bad feedback, or has a lot of comments from sellers pointing to issues, I will block them.

I do block buyers who report INRs, unless it is a repeat buyer who has had many successful transactions in the past. This doesn't mean that I think the buyer scammed me, but there is no way for me to know how frequently they have issues receiving their mail. Unfortunately, the few bad apples ruin it for everybody because while INRs are very rare, scammers tend to try to hit sellers for multiple items in a row before the seller catches on. 

[msau4301]

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@rocketscollectibles wrote:

 I wish we had a feature where as buyer we can block bad sellers and hide them from our searchs. I would clearly have a longer list of sellers blocked than buyers to be honest. 

---

Not sure if this would help as I guess you would have to do it every time you searched but if there is someone you really don't want to see, looks like this is the way:

"You can use the Advanced Search page to exclude a seller's items from a particular search. You can exclude multiple sellers by separating the seller usernames with a comma. Go to the Sellers section, check "Only show items from", choose "exclude" then enter the seller username(s)."

On separate note re original post, for myself I usually only block buyers who:
- have not paid and I had to open case to cancel

- complained about issues with item wanting a partial refund when condition notes covered it (along with the 15 photos) UNLESS it's a repeat/regular buyer and they are usually reasonable

- anyone who is rude or disrespectful

[38e_avenue]

I follow basically the same rules. I have +300 on my list ....  🙄

[electronicifycanada]

Block list is kinda pointless cause a buyer can just create a new account and buy from you.

I ended up coding a system that checks every buyers address to a blocked address list. Then if it finds a match it notifies me. I can make it auto refund but I haven't yet. I have been considering licensing it and letting the public have it.

[ilikehockeyjerseys]

You are correct, but there are two things to consider.

1) Most people here aren't selling high risk items. While I have had people try to make new accounts, for something with an average sale price of $30, it is beyond rare. You're not going to encounter many people who would go through the hassle of circumventing eBay to get a free item. Especially when they can just steal it from one of the many other sellers who have it up for sale. They just move on to someone else who doesn't realize their account is toxic.

2) It is easier to get eBay to back you with a cancellation if you can point out they are blocked on another account. That way, you can cancel due to problem with address and avoid a defect. Even if you had an issue with the buyer before, if you never put them on the blocked list, you don't have an out to cancel from their new account.

Your software would be useful for people in high risk categories. Most other categories, you can count on one hand the amount of bad actors. It does happen that people steal items, and it sucks when it does - but it is such a thankfully minimal issue that it doesn't merit a lot of time and consideration when that energy can be used to improve other areas of an eBay store.

[ricarmic]

Like @ilikehockeyjerseys in my categories repeat offenders using different accounts appear to be rare.

You've likely seen my annual "cookie jar insurance" results, in the worst case I would find a repeat new account type offender that way. So far that hasn't shown up.

The only repeat offender I've ever had (that I know of) was about a decade ago from China. They used different accounts, names etc, the only way to "note" them was they were all in the same "zip code" and there were months even years between events. (they also had a particular way of doing things that's how I eventually figured them out, took me 3 years and about 4 losses to figure it out).

[rocketscollectibles]

I ended up coding a system that checks every buyers address to a blocked address list

What if the buyers move of adress? What if a new person move at this blocked adress? 

[needsmorerobots]

I've blocked more sellers than buyers over the years.

I'll block buyers if, more than once, they don't pay for an item or claim a product they ordered never arrived.

The sellers though are different. I've blocked a seller for cancelling my purchase (and said I requested the cancellation when I didn't). I've also cancelled sellers who take my money and never send a product or send me products that are listed as brand new but turn out to be used garbage.

Example of two sellers was a newer seller from my area who sent me used garbage (after claiming it was brand new) but never reposnded to my complaint and one from the east coast of Canada who did the exact same thing only his reponse to me leaving negative feedback was a threat.

[teenytrinkets]

I belong to a Blocked Bidders group on Facebook. It's really more to have a knowledge base of bad buyer transactions, but I do block the weirdos.