Buyer just wants to talk to me

JuzaMum

I am a private seller and have been having a clear out. I have sold an expensiveish item. The buyer has feedback of 3 (must find out how to stop low feedback bidders). He has also left 3 feedback - 2 requesting the sellers phone number. He messaged me asking for my phone number. I responded asking why and how he wished to pay. He responded 'I just want to talk to you' and said he would pay Friday (4 days after the auction ended) by PayPal. I have said that he can use the eBay messaging to communicate with me. Am I being unreasonable not wanting to 'talk' or is he being a little odd?

mrcol1000

If you don't want to talk on the phone to him then just stand firm and say you only want to communicate through Ebay. He may be odd, he may not want Ebay to have a record of his communication, he may just like to talk to sellers on the phone than through the internet.

Either way I'd stand firm and then open a case for non-payment if you do not get your payment in a time scale you think is fair.

soolin

JuzaMum wrote: »

I am a private seller and have been having a clear out. I have sold an expensiveish item. The buyer has feedback of 3 (must find out how to stop low feedback bidders). He has also left 3 feedback - 2 requesting the sellers phone number. He messaged me asking for my phone number. I responded asking why and how he wished to pay. He responded 'I just want to talk to you' and said he would pay Friday (4 days after the auction ended) by PayPal. I have said that he can use the eBay messaging to communicate with me. Am I being unreasonable not wanting to 'talk' or is he being a little odd?

It is a little odd, hopefully you weren't selling anything like shoes or clothing and have picked up someone a bit dodgy.

As for the phone number, they can get that easily merely by submitting a request in ebay. I'd be tempted to just start an NPB

Flyonthewall

You can't stop low feedback bidders, nor is there any reason to. Most are new to ebay, but that doesn't mean they'll be trouble. Everyone has to start somewhere!

However, yes, that buyer is odd! Seems like he's doing the same with everyone he buys off so not like it's a one off. Maybe he doesn't trust the sellers and wants to know there is a real person behind the sale? Or maybe he's lonely?

JuzaMum

The item is a keyboard and my eBay name is not gender specific so I don' think he is weird in that way. I think Friday is payday for many people so assume that is why he delaying payment until then. Just wait and see I guess....

KRDmum

He maybe is just an old fashioned person or simply old (don't want to offend anybody) and prefers the 'old' way of communication I.e. by phone? To check whatever he feels he needs to check. I can only imagine what would it be like if my father in law got started using the computer then found eBay!

hollydays

Ask him for HIS number and call him withholding yours.
I usually give the excuse Im staying at a friends house and usemy landline.
Being a cynic I suspect it may involve him giving you less money.

graspthenettle

Flyonthewall wrote: »

You can't stop low feedback bidders, nor is there any reason to. Most are new to ebay, but that doesn't mean they'll be trouble. Everyone has to start somewhere!

However, yes, that buyer is odd! Seems like he's doing the same with everyone he buys off so not like it's a one off. Maybe he doesn't trust the sellers and wants to know there is a real person behind the sale? Or maybe he's lonely?

You can stop low feedback bidders if you want to - I'm not saying you should, but it is an option.

I had a smiliar sort of case recently, didn't pay and then asked me to text him my paypal address. I asked why, he said, because ebay blocks you giving email addresses over the message system. Well, yes, this is true, but hardly the point.

We to'd and fro'd a bit with me saying that my details were on his invoice to pay and in the end I texted him and said, look, why do you want this information?

He got a bit sarky asking why it was so difficult to understand and that he couldn't pay through ebay!

I said, it wasn't difficult to understand at all, he just needed to tell me. Eventually he did pay and it turned out he had been having trouble with his ebay to paypal link (probably changed his bank and was waiting for the new one to set up) but why he made it so 'cloak and dagger' I do not know! Could be the same with your buyer....

soolin

graspthenettle wrote: »

You can stop low feedback bidders if you want to - I'm not saying you should, but it is an option.

I had a smiliar sort of case recently, didn't pay and then asked me to text him my paypal address. I asked why, he said, because ebay blocks you giving email addresses over the message system. Well, yes, this is true, but hardly the point.

We to'd and fro'd a bit with me saying that my details were on his invoice to pay and in the end I texted him and said, look, why do you want this information?

He got a bit sarky asking why it was so difficult to understand and that he couldn't pay through ebay!

I said, it wasn't difficult to understand at all, he just needed to tell me. Eventually he did pay and it turned out he had been having trouble with his ebay to paypal link (probably changed his bank and was waiting for the new one to set up) but why he made it so 'cloak and dagger' I do not know! Could be the same with your buyer....

You can only block buyers with 5 or fewer feedback if they don't have a paypal account or a card registered on ebay. You can't block a low feedback buyer otherwise. Ebay have left the opportunity in seller preferences to block users with a minus figure, but that of course is impossible on a pure buying account.

Flyonthewall

graspthenettle wrote: »

You can stop low feedback bidders if you want to - I'm not saying you should, but it is an option.

soolin wrote: »

You can only block buyers with 5 or fewer feedback if they don't have a paypal account or a card registered on ebay. You can't block a low feedback buyer otherwise. Ebay have left the opportunity in seller preferences to block users with a minus figure, but that of course is impossible on a pure buying account.

^ This.

From the OP it sounds as though they want to block all low feedback buyers and that's not possible. As soolin says there are some restrictions you can add, which may block the odd low feedback buyer, but not all.

graspthenettle

soolin wrote: »

You can only block buyers with 5 or fewer feedback if they don't have a paypal account or a card registered on ebay. You can't block a low feedback buyer otherwise. Ebay have left the opportunity in seller preferences to block users with a minus figure, but that of course is impossible on a pure buying account.

I stand corrected, Soolin. We used to be able to, didn't we?

Anyway, re the OP's buyer with the strange behaviour, the chap who was behaving oddly with me had less than 5 too, may even be the same buyer, lol. Actually thinking about it, the fact that they do have a low feedback could be the link, that they haven't quite got their paypal sorted. The whole 'they take a payment, you copy the number off your statement and enter it online' is a bit of a palaver if you haven't done it before.

And you know how men are, hate explaining themselves ok, steady, steady, only (half) kidding!