ebay "Unpaid item strike" - what actually happens?!!!

fiscalfreckles

Like many sellers recently, I have had several non paying buyers. Some with creative excuses, some with no contact whatsoever. I have opened disputes, all of which have closed without payment, with ebay saying I will receive a refund on my final value fee and the buyer will recieve an unpaid item strike.

Out of curiosity, I have checked a couple of these people's feedback, and can see nothing to indicate that they didn't pay up. Does this not appear in their profile at all? What is the point of the strikes?

The other thing, I generally don't leave any feedback (as you can't leave neg) but should I be doing so, simply stating that payment was never made?

Don't think its fair that they seem to get away with not paying and maintain an unblemished reputation. OK, I've got my fees back, but their mucking about has caused delays and lost sales.

What do other sellers do?

PinheadSK

I'm afraid I don't have an answer to your question but I do have a question for you!

Why do you not generally leave feedback? I only use eBay to buy at the moment and it drives me nuts that sellers don't do the courtesy of leaving feedback at all. It is bad enough that many refuse to leave feedback until the buyer has done so, after all, if the buyer has paid promptly and done everything correctly, then they have fulfilled their part... but to not leave feedback at all is showing no interest in your buyers IMHO.

Anyhow, good luck with the answer to your query.
Merry Christmas,

Sean

theonlywayisup

PinheadSK wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't have an answer to your question but I do have a question for you!

Why do you not generally leave feedback? I only use eBay to buy at the moment and it drives me nuts that sellers don't do the courtesy of leaving feedback at all. It is bad enough that many refuse to leave feedback until the buyer has done so, after all, if the buyer has paid promptly and done everything correctly, then they have fulfilled their part... but to not leave feedback at all is showing no interest in your buyers IMHO.

Anyhow, good luck with the answer to your query.
Merry Christmas,

Sean

On the issue of feedback, in particular your dislike for the fact some sellers leave AFTER the buyer has left....Ebay in SMP has an automated feedback generator, which triggers as the buyer leaves their feedback. This generally ensures that your buyer has received their parcel and the transaction is now complete. It is not manual at all in some cases and this is how SMP is set-up. The fact this is how Ebay sets-up the process for SMP makes me think that this is their preferred method. It works for me.

Re a STRIKE. Most Ebayers (sellers) have their preferences set to buyers with 2 or more strikes not being able to bid. So 2 strikes for non payment virtually renders your account unusable. It is not visible, but you can see if anyone has tried to bid on your items (with 2 or more strikes) in the accounts preferences section. If you leave a negative comment in positive feedback it will more than likely be removed.

emby

PinheadSK wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't have an answer to your question but I do have a question for you!

Why do you not generally leave feedback? I only use eBay to buy at the moment and it drives me nuts that sellers don't do the courtesy of leaving feedback at all. It is bad enough that many refuse to leave feedback until the buyer has done so, after all, if the buyer has paid promptly and done everything correctly, then they have fulfilled their part... but to not leave feedback at all is showing no interest in your buyers IMHO.

Anyhow, good luck with the answer to your query.
Merry Christmas,

Sean

Feedback isn't compulsory, it's at the seller/buyers discretion.

And in response to the OP - Leaving positive feedback with a negative comment like 'buyer didn't pay' is grounds for the feedback to be removed and you may also be warned by ebay for doing so, so I wouldn't do that.

Also, if a buyer receives 2 or more unpaid item strikes that are effectively banning themselves because most sellers adapt their seller preferences to block bidders with 2 or more strikes on their account, even though they aren't visible in their feedback profile.

fiscalfreckles

PinheadSK wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't have an answer to your question but I do have a question for you!

Why do you not generally leave feedback? I only use eBay to buy at the moment and it drives me nuts that sellers don't do the courtesy of leaving feedback at all. It is bad enough that many refuse to leave feedback until the buyer has done so, after all, if the buyer has paid promptly and done everything correctly, then they have fulfilled their part... but to not leave feedback at all is showing no interest in your buyers IMHO.

Anyhow, good luck with the answer to your query.
Merry Christmas,

Sean

Sorry - I didn't make it clear, I meant that I don't normally leave feedback for non payers!

I ALWAYS leave feedback, usually when I post out straight after receiving payment - unless someone has been particularly slow in paying and I am displeased. I do so promptly as a buyer too, as I know how much I value it - and like to know that the item has arrived and there are no probs.

Merry Xmas to you too!

Zazen999

PinheadSK wrote: »

I'm afraid I don't have an answer to your question but I do have a question for you!

Why do you not generally leave feedback? I only use eBay to buy at the moment and it drives me nuts that sellers don't do the courtesy of leaving feedback at all. It is bad enough that many refuse to leave feedback until the buyer has done so, after all, if the buyer has paid promptly and done everything correctly, then they have fulfilled their part... but to not leave feedback at all is showing no interest in your buyers IMHO.

Anyhow, good luck with the answer to your query.
Merry Christmas,

Sean

As a buyer - if I have had the item and it is ok, then I leave glowing feedback.

As a seller; if I have sent on time, and communicated with the buyer that is has been sent and I get no feedback; how do I know they have had it and are happy with it? i was stung once with leaving good feedback and the person then negged me for no reason. It was removed after a while because they were doing this to everyone - but I'll not be stung again. So, once I know the buyer has had the item and are happy with it, then they will get glowing praise. Before that, they don't get anything except the item. I CAN'T as a seller leave negative feedback; or even neutral - so if the buyers want to get good feedback, then they need to play the game.

fiscalfreckles

theonlywayisup wrote: »

Re a STRIKE. Most Ebayers (sellers) have their preferences set to buyers with 2 or more strikes not being able to bid. So 2 strikes for non payment virtually renders your account unusable. It is not visible, but you can see if anyone has tried to bid on your items (with 2 or more strikes) in the accounts preferences section. If you leave a negative comment in positive feedback it will more than likely be removed.

emby wrote: »

And in response to the OP - Leaving positive feedback with a negative comment like 'buyer didn't pay' is grounds for the feedback to be removed and you may also be warned by ebay for doing so, so I wouldn't do that.

Also, if a buyer receives 2 or more unpaid item strikes that are effectively banning themselves because most sellers adapt their seller preferences to block bidders with 2 or more strikes on their account, even though they aren't visible in their feedback profile.

Thanks, both of you, wasn't aware of the preferences settings, so have just updated mine now, as close to "no time wasters" as I can get it!!!!

I did think any non glowing feedback would be removed, just wondered if I could put something like "transaction resolved by ebay as no payment received". Probably not! Wish these people could be flagged up as there's nothing to stop them (until they get 2 strikes, i suppose!)

Thanks again.

cyberbob

fiscalfreckles wrote: »

I did think any non glowing feedback would be removed, just wondered if I could put something like "transaction resolved by ebay as no payment received". Probably not! Wish these people could be flagged up as there's nothing to stop them (until they get 2 strikes, i suppose!)

Thanks again.

Even if you could leave a neg feedback for a buyer it would make very little difference. Most sellers are unable to check the feedback of everyone who bids on oner of there items (I haven't the time don't know about you) Even if you did have the time it still doesn't stop someone sniping so you wouldn't have time to cancel the bid anyway. So Neg feedback for buyers is just pointless really, A strike is an effective way

Pinhead_SK wrote:

Why do you not generally leave feedback? I only use eBay to buy at the moment and it drives me nuts that sellers don't do the courtesy of leaving feedback at all. It is bad enough that many refuse to leave feedback until the buyer has done so, after all, if the buyer has paid promptly and done everything correctly, then they have fulfilled their part... but to not leave feedback at all is showing no interest in your buyers IMHO.

As others have said Feedback is voluntary and a bit pointless for sellers anyway as they can only get a positive. Personally I'd rather have a item as described in a timely manner rather than feedback. Its only a meaningless dot in cyberspace. Don't get hung up on it

emby

fiscalfreckles wrote: »

Thanks, both of you, wasn't aware of the preferences settings, so have just updated mine now, as close to "no time wasters" as I can get it!!!!

I did think any non glowing feedback would be removed, just wondered if I could put something like "transaction resolved by ebay as no payment received". Probably not! Wish these people could be flagged up as there's nothing to stop them (until they get 2 strikes, i suppose!)

Thanks again.

I've been tempted to do the same but it just means adding another positive mark to their feedback profile, so there's really no point.

pepsimiddleton

It's so irritataing when you get a spate of non paying bidders, I get so fed up with having to open non payment disputes, at least you don't have to wait as long to open them now or you can just cancel the transaction.

On the subject of Feedback, I am currently waiting for over 30 buyers to leave me feedback, I can understand if they are not 100% happy with their item but most of the things I have sold have been brand new and boxed so why not leave me feedback even though I have left positive for them? I've even emailed them to check they have received the item and they have responded - "yes thank you, merry christmas" but still not left feedback - AAGGGHHHH

Rant over!