bidder has zero stars

morganedge

I woke up to see that I had a bidder on an item of clothing that I am selling. I've listed it twice and had no offers, so I was quite pleased that a bid of £100 has been made.
However, I then saw that the bidder is a new member with zero feedback.

So, from reading various threads on here, what is likely to happen is that they never pay or reply to my payment requests.
Why do they do that? I fail to see how they benefit from this, but it seems to be a popular thing.

The other possibility is that they just outright scam me.
Pay. I send the item. They open a SNAD case and send me back some old washing up rags or something, and they get their money back and the item.

It's still got a few days to go, but is there anything I should be doing? Can I somehow cancel their bid and tell them I don't want their business??

sham63

We all had zero feedback once!

However, you're right to be a little suspicious - it's only natural given the value of the item.

Why not contact the bidder first and see what kind of response you get?

If you're still not happy you could cancel their bid and edit your listing to exclude bidders with no credit card on file. (do this in the seller preferences section towards the bottom of your listing in 'edit listing' mode) This usually weeds out the scammers.

When you do finally sell, you must post using Special Delivery and only to the address that PayPal tell you to post to.

martindow

Everybody on Ebay started at zero didn't they? There are a few people who are out to scam others but the vast majority of people are fine.

morganedge

thanks Sham.
I didn't know you could change you seller preferences to not allow people without a credit card on file.

Martin, I know of course we all started on zero, but read around the forums, and every time a brand new bidder bids on an expensive item, it ends in tears. I know if I take your advice and trust this person, they'll end up with the item and a refund!

montymud

Do a quick advanced search on their username and look at any bids they have placed, this is always a telling sign. If there is loads of bids placed around the same time on high priced items then you do have cause to be a bit wary but if there is nothing it is probably just a new ebayer, I have had a couple of late

Norman_Castle

I think you can also exclude buyers with less than 10 feedback. I did this after being messed about by one non paying bidder.

morganedge

I've change some of my settings now, but you can't block bidders with zero feedback.
Only people with negative feedback.


i'm gonna send them a message in a minute to see if I can 'feel them out'...

RFW

Norman_Castle wrote: »

I think you can also exclude buyers with less than 10 feedback. I did this after being messed about by one non paying bidder.

No you can't, they need to have had unpaid strikes previously or no credit card on file.

Ebay, as any business should, encourage new buyers, they certainly don't want people stopping them from buying/bidding.

One of my more recent non payers had feedback of over 2000, another over 600.

Norman_Castle

From site preferences

Buyer requirements

Hidebuyer requirements preferences Block buyers who: Don't have a PayPal account Have a Feedback score of 5 or lower and no credit card on file

steveE2

Norman_Castle wrote: »

From site preferences

Buyer requirements

Hidebuyer requirements preferences Block buyers who: Don't have a PayPal account Have a Feedback score of 5 or lower and no credit card on file

Notice the last bit as RFW says?

ilikewatch

morganedge wrote: »

Martin, I know of course we all started on zero, but read around the forums, and every time a brand new bidder bids on an expensive item, it ends in tears.

Remember that people very rarely post on a forum when an ebay sale goes well!