Good old days of Ebay.... long gone!!

soolin

Incidentally when I cancel a bid I always put the real reason for doing so and don't have a slapped wrist (yet) from eBay.

The last one was a few months ago buyer sent a couple of emails saying item was for a friend and would I send it to a different address, then when I said I would only use the PayPal address they just responded with something like 'probably best I send my own courier then mate' which I thought was odd on a light item , so I cancelled and blocked. I gave the reason as ' buyer asked for delivery to a different address'

alykatz

Thanks for that Soolin, i thought there was something but couldnt remember what exactly.

Crowqueen

It's less important to eBay that sellers are in control of their listings than buyers mess the seller about - bid retractions are counted and sanctionable, but cancellations don't seem to be.

I must admit, if there's no other disturbance than feedback (which is completely subjective, particularly when dealing with buyers) then I don't bother blocking or cancelling. I let it run and deal with problems as they arise (including the one with a very definitely limp-wristed ID who never paid). I've also lost out by pre-emptively blocking someone who made me a cheeky offer for a full set of DVDs which I was selling separately, which later turned out to be more than the items sold for in total, so I lost out heavily by not letting him bid anyway. So that experience colours my opinion.

However, I don't sell as a business, I don't have the pressure of doing this day in and day out, and I only have a limited number of items I want to sell, so I'm of the 'bird in the hand' variety rather than 'two in the bush' like some people. I think if I sold full-time - and at the moment I'm wondering if it might be viable as I need to make some money to tide over an academic funding gap next year rather than getting a proper job - I'd be more cautious and possibly be able to pick and choose.

Until then, though, I'm a bit more hands off. It's not like I think it is unethical for a seller to cancel bids or reject potential bidders, I just don't have enough of them at the moment to be able to do that with any degree of confidence.

RFW

Crowqueen wrote: »

I'm of the 'bird in the hand' variety rather than 'two in the bush' like some people.

I'm with you, get the bids in, sell the item, see if there's a problem. If I get serious alarm bells with a bidder who has bought several other items and not paid I will contact them, if they don't get back to me I would cancel bids, but other than that I can't think of any reason to check (unless they have sent a message), I certainly can't be bothered checking every item I have listed to see what bids there are and by who, I'd go crazier than I already am.

On the rare occasions I get a problem buyer I'll add them to my blocked bidder list as soon as I can.

RFW

"Super Bright" by name, a little bit dim by nature:p Spam reported.

derrick

RFW wrote: »

"Super Bright" by name, a little bit dim by nature:p Spam reported.

Have reported all of their posts

.

sharpy2010

RFW wrote: »

I don't really get why they wouldn't go the NPB route, not doing is throwing money away. I much prefer money to dots on a screen that way I can buy over priced coffee in Starbucks;)

Because if a seller goes along the NPB route, the buyer could pay, and then out of spite leave a negative.

Thats what I'm getting at. If this isn't how it works, then please let me know.

soolin

sharpy2010 wrote: »

Because if a seller goes along the NPB route, the buyer could pay, and then out of spite leave a negative.

Thats what I'm getting at. If this isn't how it works, then please let me know.

Then we are back to the 'how hard do you want your buyers to tread when they walk all over you?' Are you honestly saying that you would pay 10% FVFs on a no sale just because you are so afraid of a buyer?

Selling/retail is not for everyone, if you are so afraid of buyers then don't sell, do something else with your time instead.

sharpy2010

But most resepctable people want to earn a living rather than dole bludge, and it is possible to make a second living on eBay (in addition to my day job).

I'm not scared of buyers (I try to provide them the best experience possible), but I'm definitely scared of eBay cancelling my account for a few (undeserved) negative feedback's, and what I'm getting at is that if you NBP a buyer, surely they are going to leave an unjust negative feedback?

soolin

sharpy2010 wrote: »

But most resepctable people want to earn a living rather than dole bludge, and it is possible to make a second living on eBay (in addition to my day job).

I'm not scared of buyers (I try to provide them the best experience possible), but I'm definitely scared of eBay cancelling my account for a few (undeserved) negative feedback's, and what I'm getting at is that if you NBP a buyer, surely they are going to leave an unjust negative feedback?

If they don't pay then they cant leave feedback, if they do pay just ship out as normal. I open quite a few NPBs, not got a neutral or neg yet.

As a business seller what alternative is there, just hold that item for 60 days in case buyer decides to pay and wants their item shipped? I can;t possibly tie my stock up for that amount of time and I can't imagine there are many business sellers who can.

I say 60 days as that is how long a buyer has to leave feedback , so in case a seller decides not to NPB and to just relist they would have to wait 60 days in case buyer suddenly expected to get their goods.