Ebay question-What should I do?

[black dog]

I recently sold some items on ebay.After one of my auctions ended, the high bidder emails me and states that they can't pay because I don't accept Paypal. All my auctions clearly stated in the item description and the payment methods section that I would only accept checks or money orders.What should I do with this buyer?

[Recycled]

They "can't" pay????

 

 

That's no excuse.

 

I'd gently remind him what the auction stated and ask him why a money order would be so hard to send. Nicely, of course.

Edited March 26, 2008 by Recycled

[doubledown]

If they will only pay through PayPal, and you don't accept PayPal it's their fault if it's stated in you auction. I would give them two choices:

 

Figure out a way to send a money order,

 

File a non-paying bidder claim with ebay so that you'll recover your final value fee, and leave negative feedback.

[atarian63]

I recently sold some items on ebay.After one of my auctions ended, the high bidder emails me and states that they can't pay because I don't accept Paypal. All my auctions clearly stated in the item description and the payment methods section that I would only accept checks or money orders.What should I do with this buyer?

You are correct, but most sellers accept paypal and I think buyers know this and dont bother to check. Just sign up for a quick pal pal account and get your money. Doesnt mean you have to accept pappal in all your auctions, just use it as a just in case account. Or void the sale and get your fees back and relist.

[taxman]

I don't see why they can't send a money order, unless it was an expensive item and they can only buy it with their credit card.

[brucebidder]

I've run into this as a seller and buyer. I usually assume everything is paypal its fast and easy, secure and instant, plus as a seller if you ship through it you have more protection. But even me when I usually check miss this once in a while. I as a buyer sometimes feel weird in sending a check or money order if the seller has a low or unrated id, because I have had times where once I've mailed it I never see the money or item again. This is probably the reason the buyer is trying to insist on paypal. I would say if its possible for you sign up for a quick account and accept payment. As long as your over 18 and have a bank account there shouldn't be any issues.

 

If you are absolutely adament that you will not set up an account for whatever reason(bad experience with paypal, no bank account or believe the gov't is tracking you by tiny cameras in your TV and the tracking device they implanted the last time you were at the dentist for a filling.) It's your call. If you clearly state in your auction you don't take paypal and only money orders or checks I would tell the buyer that's your policy and they need to pay via Check or MO or you will file a nonpaying claim. At least in that instance you'll recover listing fees and all. Also if someone was close in the bidding you could second chance it also. As a side note to the topic starter, I have sold with and without paypal to see if theres a difference and especially with videogames and electronics I make nearly double with paypal which more than covers the fees paypal charges. I also as a buyer if I see the seller has a good rating will bid on alot of check or money order only sells because alot of times no one wants to deal with a check or MO and I get a steal on some great stuff....

 

Also if you decide to open a full paypal account I would recommend opening a new bank account solely for paypal and if using a credit card use one with no balance on and use it only for paypal to protect yourself. ALthough myself I have had my credit card numbers stolen twice in the past and neither time was it online it was locally at a convenient store and a local restaurant go figure....

 

 

ANyway good luck and let us know whatyou decide to do..

Bruce

[brucebidder]

I don't see why they can't send a money order, unless it was an expensive item and they can only buy it with their credit card.

 

If it was an expensive item I wouldn't be sending a check or MO once its cashed you may never see it again...

[+Psionic]

What should I do with this buyer?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklacing

[lemoncurry]

What should I do with this buyer?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklacing

Is this your idea of humor? Explains a lot.

[+Psionic]

Is this your idea of humor? Explains a lot.

Go away.

[Elerach]

What should I do with this buyer?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necklacing

 

 

Nice.

[jetset]

If they will only pay through PayPal, and you don't accept PayPal it's their fault if it's stated in you auction. I would give them two choices:

 

Figure out a way to send a money order,

 

File a non-paying bidder claim with ebay so that you'll recover your final value fee, and leave negative feedback.

 

 

Though I thought sellers couldn't leave negs anymore?

 

And honestly, why do you not accept paypal?

[retrogeek]

Though I thought sellers couldn't leave negs anymore?

 

 

What gave you this idea? Sellers can still neg people.

Edited March 29, 2008 by retrogeek

[jetset]

Though I thought sellers couldn't leave negs anymore?

 

 

What gave you this idea? Sellers can still neg people.

 

I thought that was part of the recent updates.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1455053

 

Certainly non-paying bidders deserved negs, but by and far most sellers were using feedback purely as a retaliation tactic and this was the only way ebay could fix the problem.

[Zwackery]

Though I thought sellers couldn't leave negs anymore?

 

 

What gave you this idea? Sellers can still neg people.

 

I thought that was part of the recent updates.

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...t&p=1455053

 

Certainly non-paying bidders deserved negs, but by and far most sellers were using feedback purely as a retaliation tactic and this was the only way ebay could fix the problem.

 

 

The "positive only feeback" scenario starts some time this summer.

[+Psionic]

The "positive only feeback" scenario starts some time this summer.

Really? I thought that had started already.

 

Oh well...I guess I'll have to wait before I neg a few sellers. :!:

[lemoncurry]

Is this your idea of humor? Explains a lot.

Go away.

Yes, sir!

 

(Not.)

 

Seriously, that's twisted. You must be one sick puppy.

 

Anyone who even jokingly wishes a necklacing on anyone needs one themselves.

 

Go away yourself, whydontcha?

[Zwackery]

The "positive only feeback" scenario starts some time this summer.

Really? I thought that had started already.

 

Oh well...I guess I'll have to wait before I neg a few sellers. :!:

I think I read somewhere that the "new" feedback system is supposed to kick in sometime in May. I haven't sold anything since mid-February, but I could have left negative feedback for those buyers (I think I have only doled out maybe three negatives in over 10 years on eBay, most of the time I'm satisfied or the other party works with me to settle any issues).

 

Ah, here it is, from Bill Cobb, 01/29/08, under eBay Announcements (the stuff in bold is that way in the original text):

 

Evolving Feedback

The final set of changes I'd like to share with you concern Feedback. There's a lot of passion – in the Community and in the company – around the Feedback system, so I think it's important to remember our ultimate goal: We are evolving in many new areas so that eBay remains a vital, thriving marketplace that buyers will prefer over all the other choices they have on the Internet today.

 

To give you some background, the original intent of eBay's public feedback system was to provide an honest, accurate record of member experiences. Over the years, we've adjusted the system to add non-public means of providing feedback to try to improve its accuracy. For example, we instituted Unpaid Item Reports in 2006, and that has helped us to hold buyers accountable.

 

But overall, the current feedback system isn't where it should be. Today, the biggest issue with the system is that buyers are more afraid than ever to leave honest, accurate feedback because of the threat of retaliation. In fact, when buyers have a bad experience on eBay, the final straw for many of them is getting a negative feedback, especially of a retaliatory nature.

 

Now, we realize that feedback has been a two-way street, but our data shows a disturbing trend, which is that sellers leave retaliatory feedback eight times more frequently than buyers do ... and this figure is up dramatically from only a few years ago.

 

So we have to put a stop to this and put trust back into the system.

 

But I think – and I'm sure you'll agree – that the most compelling reason we need to change feedback is so that buyers will regain their confidence on eBay and they will bid and buy more often.

 

We explored a number of solutions, and talked to eBay's founder Pierre Omidyar, who created the Feedback system. He agrees that bold changes are required to fix Feedback. And that's exactly what we're going to do ... here's the biggest change, starting in May:

 

Sellers may only leave positive feedback for buyers (at the seller's option).

 

I know this is a huge change, but we're also putting into place protections that sellers have wanted for years. In addition to holding buyers accountable via non-public seller reporting tools, such as Unpaid Item reports, we are planning a number of other Seller Protections against inaccurate feedback:

 

 

 

• We will remove, not just de-score, negative and neutral feedback when a buyer doesn't respond to the Unpaid Item process
  
• We will remove all negative and neutral feedback and comments when a buyer (or seller) is suspended. We will also do this retroactively – which means any negatives and neutrals you've received from members we've ever suspended will be removed.
  
• For sellers with an established track record, we'll prevent negative and neutral feedback within 3 days of listing end to promote communication.
  
• We're going to reduce the number of days a member can leave feedback from 90 to 60 days.
  
• We'll increase block bidder list capacity from 1,000 to 5,000 user IDs.
  
• We'll increase our monitoring, and take action based on seller reports of buyers behaving very badly.
  
• Feedback percentage will be based on the last 12 months, although the total count remains lifetime. This means that any negative or neutral feedback left for you more than 12 months ago will no longer affect your percent positive.
  

For more details, please see our information page.