Guest Buyers

[michaeljamesdirect]

Just wanted you all to take care as eBay allows us to Block Buyers who are troublesome and yet those buyers simply purchase the item as a guest. If you notice more and more guest buyers are appearing on eBay.

When guest buyers purchase, they then have trouble getting back into their account and they message you as someone else. You cannot discuss the guest purchase with them as it is against ther Data Protection Act.  they then get stroppy and you have a problem again and possibly negative feedback which eBay will not remove. In eBay's desperate attempts to offer buyers an Amazon selling experience, they are alienating their sellers who are starting to leave in droves.

[plpmr · Accepted solution]

"possibly negative feedback which eBay will not remove"

Guests cannot leave feedback.

[michaeljamesdirect]

Thank you for bringing that to our attention.

[fargvs]

Guest purchasers can find the email  Guest order Transaction number # details using the Blue button in the link below > 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/returns-items-not-received-refunds-buyers/returning-item/returnin...

https://pages.ebay.co.uk/ebay-money-back-guarantee/

[michaeljamesdirect]

Ah! It seems the eBay mentors are fully informed, it's a shame they cannot get the message across to the Guest users. So what you are telling me is that Guest users have all the information to hand and they are just playing silly games. I suspect that is not the case and they genuinely cannot find the information. It's difficult enough for a registered user. It is Ebays responsibility to ensure that Guest users know how to use the platform correctly. We as sellers have to put up with your inadequacies. If a purchaser contacts us from a different user account,  we can see they are not a buyer, they then tell us they bought it as a Guest. We cannot discuss the matter with them due to DPA, they get annoyed as they don't understand. They then have to contact eBay who will tell them the same. If it was as simple as you imply, I am sure Guests would not go to the bother of contacting us through a registered user's account and then go on to contact eBay.

[papso22]

We are not 'ebay mentors' we are community mentors, we do not work for, or influence, ebay. 

The best advice you can give these guest buyers is to put 'buying as a guest' into the ebay help search bar.  That will get them to ebay's guidance on what buying as a guest entails and a link to what do if something goes wrong.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/help/buying/paying-items/buying-guest?id=4035&st=3&pos=2&query=Buying%20as%20...

[michaeljamesdirect]

You have answered a question which was not asked. The message clearly states that Guests cannot find the information. By the very nature of the term Guest, they are a fleeting visitor to the site and would not know where to start. So with respect, you are not trying to convince me as I have been on eBay for 15 years. EBay needs to ensure that guests know how to use their site and that includes maintaining their login details etc so that in the event of a return they do not have to resort to messaging sellers through a registered user account.

[papso22]

It's extremely easy for a guest to access eBay's guidance and they even get told what to do if they have a problem in the email eBay sends them to confirm their purchase.  I dont see what more ebay can, or needs, to do.  It's not eBay's fault if these buyers can't follow instructions.

I thought telling you how to help them, would also help you.

By their very nature guests do not have login details.   What you are seeing is these guests going on to open accounts and then trying to deal with their guest purchase through that account.

[a45heaven]

what is a Guest ? ive never come across a transaction invloving one.

sounds like they are problematic -

how can you simply block them all ?

[papso22]

A guest is simply someone who buys on ebay without opening an ebay account first.

You can't block them and you can't really recognise them other than they have randomly generated user names and you can't see any account details.

[michaeljamesdirect]

If it was as easy as you imply, we would not have had two guest users this week contacting us through another registered user account. As previously explained we cannot discuss matters with them due to DPA. The issue here is that they join as a guest to buy an item as they are only a guest they don't bother to secure or store the password set and they can't get back in.  I would ask you to consider,  it is not my place to explain eBays policy to Guest users, indeed even when one of these users contacted eBay, eBay did not explain to them how to recover their account.

[papso22]

There is no account for a guest purchaser to recover, that's the whole point, they have no account.

I don't think you do understand how guest purchases work.  Perhaps you could try buying something that way to gain a better insight?

[michaeljamesdirect]

Guests can be useful for a quick sale, the issue comes if they want a return or they have an issue, they cannot seem to find how to contact the seller via the Guest account and that causes DPA issues. It is no doubt eBays fault they need to ensure that Guests are fully informed and they know how to access the information. It is is not that difficult and it's no good Mentors telling us how to do it, tell the guests.

[michaeljamesdirect]

So if they have no account, how can they track their item, how can they contact the buyer with an inquiry, how can they follow up on their order?  If they do contact the buyer how can the buyer establish an identity for DPA for someone with no account, no user name, no passwords etc But then they do have a user name, so how do they have a user name without an account?  I look forward to your response

[a45heaven]

A guest is simply someone who buys on ebay without opening an ebay account first.

Er, why would a platform encourage having unvetted folks participating?

Do sellers, or indeed ebay have any hold over these entities? 

You can't block them and you can't really recognise them other than they have randomly generated user names and you can't see any account details.

So will i have encountered a GUEST in the past then and not known?  How do i deliver to an unverified address? 

April 1st hasnt been brought forward has it?

[papso22]

Buyers are not verified and neither are the addresses used at checkout.  

EBay clearly does allow people to buy as guests, I.e without setting up an account, I suggest you read the 'buying as a guest' link I posted earlier.

[papso22]

They can't do any of those things,  which is why having an eBay account is a better option.  They also can't leave feedback.

EBay generates a random user name for them, it's not linked to an account. 

[a45heaven]

Verifications is another large scale topic for everyone who buys. But ebay prefer sellers to take the hit and attempt to police buyers when issues occur.

Ive read thru the link you provided - whilst it explains how to be a guest -  ebay doesnt put in print WHY someone would be a GUEST, apart from less control on the being and more scope for deceit.

I still dont know if ive sold to a GUEST - how would i know?

Why would anyone go through signing up process of a regular member  when they can breeze in as a guest for a one off hit?

[a45heaven]

Are they a lot of guests around?

Or is it a white elephant like Photo Feedbacks (another ebay folly ive yet to experiance).

[plpmr]

"Are they a lot of guests around?"

Unlimited because they don't exist until they buy without an account.

Once they have purchased and paid that's the end of that 'guest', if they want to make another purchase they are another 'guest' with a new eBay randomly generated user name.