What Do Ebay Do To People That Don't Pay?

[WW-nut 0]

If I bid for something on Ebay, I bid to buy and if I'm the winning bidder I always aim to pay almost instantly once the auction has finished. Though it seems some people think differently to me.

Over the years I've seen many items relisted due to a non-paying winning bidder or some kind of misunderstanding between the buyer + seller. Is this really the case? Could the seller have a second Ebay account and bid this item up and if he unfortunately wins it, he then just relists it. Maybe, maybe not, but I do wonder what Ebay does to those time wasting buyers that don't pay up. Surely they should force them to pay or ban them. Though I've got a feeling they do pretty much nothing.....

Just remember these non-payers affect everyone who uses Ebay as these bids inflate the items final value.

[loaded 4]

Hi,

I rarely do auctions anymore, but I do BIN items which have been bought and then not paid for. It is quite irritating, as I relist the item then get floods of questions from people asking why I relisted it, what happened, is it the same etc (despite having this text in the advert)

There isn't much that can be done about people doing it, but I have been told after buying something that I live somewhere where they don't ship, for example and although I have a network set up to handle this freight in the US and UK for example, some won't even allow that, so they might end up relisting if they won't budge on shipping here. That said, I never check up to see!

P.

[Jonny Retro 12]

... Could the seller have a second Ebay account and bid this item up and if he unfortunately wins it, he then just relists it. Maybe, maybe not, but I do wonder what Ebay does to those time wasting buyers that don't pay up. Surely they should force them to pay or ban them. Though I've got a feeling they do pretty much nothing.....

Just remember these non-payers affect everyone who uses Ebay as these bids inflate the items final value.

Yes, it's called "shill" bidding - it's illegal in some countries, legal in other - but I don't know of any auction house that professes to be reputable that allows it.

It's very definitely against ebay rules - but this doesn't mean that it doesn't go on. eBay allows people to have multiple accounts (which does make sense in some circumstances, like having one account for private use, one for "business", or one for buying, one for selling), which I suspect makes policy this harder - but they can always get a "friend" to do it. I have reported suspect bids in the past, I don't bother any more.

As for eBay doing soemthing about non-paying bidders - sellers have the option of going through a reporting/fee recaliming process, but they have to feel so strongly about it that they're willing to take negative feedback & punitive Detailed Seller Ratings from the buyer - which may or may not get removed - without, remember, the option of leaving negative feedback themselvs.

You can block bidders who have 2, 3, 4, or 5 unpaid item strikes in 1, 6, or 12 months - I have mine set to 2 strikes in 12 months; you can also block bidders who have a feedback score or -1, -2 or -3.

If everyone did this, it probably still wouldn't help, but if you want to try, the options are tucked away under the "My eBay" drop list, "Account" option, "Site Preferences" link, "Show" link under "Buyer Requirements", "Edit"...

WW-nut, I will also PM you - I suspect you posted re a specific eBay lot - If so I have the same suspicions

[Swarm 242]

Yes, it's called "shill" bidding - it's illegal in some countries, legal in other - but I don't know of any auction house that professes to be reputable that allows it.

It's very definitely against ebay rules - but this doesn't mean that it doesn't go on. eBay allows people to have multiple accounts (which does make sense in some circumstances, like having one account for private use, one for "business", or one for buying, one for selling), which I suspect makes policy this harder - but they can always get a "friend" to do it. I have reported suspect bids in the past, I don't bother any more.

As for eBay doing soemthing about non-paying bidders - sellers have the option of going through a reporting/fee recaliming process, but they have to feel so strongly about it that they're willing to take negative feedback & punitive Detailed Seller Ratings from the buyer - which may or may not get removed - without, remember, the option of leaving negative feedback themselvs.

You can block bidders who have 2, 3, 4, or 5 unpaid item strikes in 1, 6, or 12 months - I have mine set to 2 strikes in 12 months; you can also block bidders who have a feedback score or -1, -2 or -3.

If everyone did this, it probably still wouldn't help, but if you want to try, the options are tucked away under the "My eBay" drop list, "Account" option, "Site Preferences" link, "Show" link under "Buyer Requirements", "Edit"...

WW-nut, I will also PM you - I suspect you posted re a specific eBay lot - If so I have the same suspicions

Thanks Jonny I just activated those options

Stuart.

[RA1028 3]

It happens all the time. What is more irritate is when you ask them if they want to cancel the transaction, they never reply so end up had to give them an unpaid strike. If they can simply reply and say they change mind, I am happy to cancel it.

[WW-nut 0]

Jonny Retro - I've wondered for many years what happens to non-payers, but yes you're right in thinking what prompted this thread. PM replied to.

Cheers,

Nige

PS thanks for letting me know how to block bidders, v.helpful. I've bought many things over the years, but have yet to actually sell anything. Though with not much storage space left I'll have to sell a few things later in the year.

[zakspeed 187]

I've just had my first 'attempted' non payer. he bid on item / won it then I recieved an email within minutes of it ending giving usual story / sorry no money etc. I gave them the benefit of the doubt so offered to next one down - they didnt reply (so dont want to deal with them either!!)

Then received listings bill from ebay and placed a 'non paying bidder' (what a long draw out affair that was)

Then contacted original buyer again and played on his better nature and offered to throw some extras in the auction if original price paid - they accepted and paid, threw a few bits / parts / radio etc. I wasn't fussed as I got a good price / buyer was happy eventually - glad I didnt have to go through all the hassle of getting money back etc..

both the above buyer and next down list are now on my blocked list..

Took nearly 4 weeks from auction ending ...

in answer to the original question - they get a slapped wrist (so many times in one year - hardly punishment) I think this has increased since sellers couldnt leave bad feedback

[WW-nut 0]

I've just had my first 'attempted' non payer. he bid on item / won it then I recieved an email within minutes of it ending giving usual story / sorry no money etc. I gave them the benefit of the doubt so offered to next one down - they didnt reply (so dont want to deal with them either!!)

Then received listings bill from ebay and placed a 'non paying bidder' (what a long draw out affair that was)

Then contacted original buyer again and played on his better nature and offered to throw some extras in the auction if original price paid - they accepted and paid, threw a few bits / parts / radio etc. I wasn't fussed as I got a good price / buyer was happy eventually - glad I didnt have to go through all the hassle of getting money back etc..

both the above buyer and next down list are now on my blocked list..

Took nearly 4 weeks from auction ending ...

in answer to the original question - they get a slapped wrist (so many times in one year - hardly punishment) I think this has increased since sellers couldnt leave bad feedback

What a palava to go through Zakspeed On reading Jonny Retro's post what surprised me is that Ebay allow you to block bidders with 5 unpaid strikes! So how many strikes can you get before you get banned and then presumably set up another Ebay account :big thumb down:

You're definitely right, a lot has changed since sellers can't leave negative feedback and as I said above these time wasters affect all users of Ebay as they inflate prices.

[loaded 4]

One thing I do is cruise the forums for info on bad buyers. One thing a seller can still do is ban bad buyers and they go straight on my blocked bidders list.

You can have upto 1000 there

Paul.

[Jonny Retro 12]

Thanks Jonny I just activated those options

... thanks for letting me know how to block bidders, v.helpful. ...

No problem There's also another option that let's you block specific bidders: http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/block_bidders.html

Whoops, bit slow there

[loaded 4]

Happens to me all the time

[SKIPP 0]

Hope they didn't screw up your rating,

one of ebays many pitfalls.I only

got burned once so far.Knock on wood.

skip

[TWINSET 1793]

I just list everything now as BIN requiring instant payment - if they don't pay as part of the bid, it doesn't sell.

[RA1028 3]

I just list everything now as BIN requiring instant payment - if they don't pay as part of the bid, it doesn't sell.

This is a great way to avoid non paying bidder especially if you sell a single item. But if you sell multiple items and willing to combine shipping. Make sure your audience know about it.

[loaded 4]

Yes, I agree, that is why I don't do it.

The amount of non buyers I get is very small though.

P.

[mooter 1]

I have lots of eBay conspiracy theories! Do you think some competitive sellers are the non-paying bidders?

Imagine I'm selling a Monster Beetle (God forbid...) and it's the only good condition shelfer up for auction in a 7 day period apart from say, one other. I bid up the other auction to what seems like an over the average price. If I send the other auction sky high it can only reflect better on mine and it will also put others off the competitors auction, therefore pushing them towards my auction instead. If I win it then I just don't pay!

I think it goes on anyway.

I've also noticed a trend with somone putting in a really silly bid just to see where someone else's maximum is and then retracting that bid automatically almost immediately afterwards citing a typo as an excuse. This allows them to see the current high bidder's maximum bid and then get ready to snipe it at the last moment. I think some sellers also use this tactic to push up the price in certain cases - if the current price is for example £20 and I'm winning, but my max is £50, once someone else has come in above me and then retracted their bid the auction will be left on my highest bid at £50, not back to the original £20 before Mr Retraction popped by. As the original winning bidder I might be tempted to up my maximum price after seeing a retraction too, just in case someone is sniping...

As for shill bidding - eBay are fairly wise to it but only to a point. They track it automatically where they can I think. My account is associated with perhaps 2 main IP addresses - my home and work. If items I am selling receive bids from a different account, but on the same IP, then it'll be flagged up. But IP spoofing and dynamic IP addresses can circumvent this instantly. Besides, would you police something that earned you more money? I'm not sure it's in eBay's interests to investigate artificial price bumping too strongly.

In short I think there are many, many ways for people to get screwed using the current system and I know pretty much every other honest seller feels the same! Unfortunately there simply is no other well known worldwide competition and that allows eBay to think about their profits before their customers. eBay have played it very shrewed, equal balance of power between seller and buyer initially and then slowly slipping towards protecting the buyer, until they are practically shill bidding auctions themselves

To top it all off, while fees remain stupidly high for the seller, more and more will resort to such underhanded tactics to increase the final value of their auctions...