Should I allow a buyer who joined today with no feedback?

[broncasra]

I'm new to selling.  I have an item for sale for a few hundred dollars.  A buyer just bid who created his account today and has no feedback.  Should I be worried or possibly cancel his bid?

Any advice appreciated.

Thanks

[heartovermind · Accepted solution]

Is the ID a scrambled type one with random letters/numbers?

I had the same nervousness with one... then others explained it was a person

who does not keep an ebay account who got an ebay-generated user ID to make the one purchase...  apparently more common now for those who don't want to keep an ebay account... transaction went off without a hitch and she was happy with purchase... though never returned to ebay to leave feedback.

perhaps others here can explain the format of the user id and reason they do this

[zee-chan-jpn-books]

Where is the buyer located? Is it within Canada and US? If it is, it should be okay - just make sure you ship with tracking and insurance since your item is expensive.

[broncasra]

Thank you for the reply. I will go ahead with the sale.

[reallynicestamps]

On your next listing, use the Advanced Sell Your Item form.

This will allow you to Block bidders from overseas, which is where most of these scammers are. 

The form is longer and more detailed. This is a Feature not a Bug.

You can also use your Seller Preferences (see Site Map at the bottom of this page) to automatically Block bidders with Unpaid Item Strikes.

It's not a good idea to start off selling with high value items. You are restricted in the number and value of items you sell, so it is better to learn on cheap stuff that doesn't hurt your pocketbook if things go sideways.

Your customer's payment is Held against your good service for 21 days, you can use the Held funds to buy a shipping label which has a five percent discount from PO counter prices.

Come back if you have more questions.

[mcrlmn]

If costs permit, I would strongly recommend you ship this item with tracking/signature required for receipt.

[marnotom!]

Just out of curiosity, why or how would the protections you have in place against loss or fraud committed by established buyers be inadequate for a new buyer?

[broncasra]

First,  I am new to selling so I have much to learn.  Second, it is my understanding that ebay tends to protect buyers to a greater degree than sellers.  For example if the buyer pays for an item and I ship it, my fear is that the buyer could claim to have never received it or could claim that it is not as described.  In those cases I could lose the item while the payment is returned to the buyer.  A new ebay account holder would have nothing to lose if this is a throw-away account.

Remember, your question is about "established buyers".  Someone who created their account yesterday with zero feedback is not established.  Fraud could be committed and they could just walk away from their account.

[ricarmic]

For a $305 item, I think virtually everyone would send with tracking, as it appears you are. This protects you from the INR (not received) claims.

All transactions are open to not as described, there is risk in every selling transaction. I'm not familiar with the customer base for what you are selling, but it is a probably a lot safer in this regard than cell phones for example.

It may be worthwhile to focus on selling the less expensive stuff till you gather a good base of experience in the trustability department of your buyer base and the potential pitfalls.

Many buyers can't be bothered to maintain an account, they just pay via credit card as they buy (these are the gibberish ebay ids), I've had at least one customer purchase maybe 10 times, each time with a new zero feedback id.

My favourite zero feedback buyer is in the 40s now and ALL of them are from me!!! Good thing I let them buy from me the first time!

[mrdutch1001]

Caution in selling practices is one thing, but if sellers are going to be intimidated by every 0 feedback buyer that comes along, they'd never get past the first sale. Perhaps limiting your shipping destinations to within Canada only or within Canada and the USA only, you will gain more confidence in being a successful seller.

[cumos55]

Everyone on eBay starts with zero feedback. We all did...

A very scrambled ID means that the buyer is a guest buyer.  Guest buyers are eBay's new approach  to having buyers on eBay.