Ebay needs to take stronger action against non-paying bidders

[chris-5643]

On both my private page and the page I run for a charity, I'm now only listing BIN with immediate payment. No more auctions. I get higher prices at auction (and eBay gets higher fees), but it's simply not worth the aggravation.

revenue-wise it would surely make more financial sense for eBay to take the problem of non-paying bidders a little more seriously as not everybody the extra time or the inclination to deal with people who shouldn't be bidding in the first place

Judging by the cursory messages "Don't need it anymore" and "I changed my mind" (that's when you get a message at all) they slearly think this kind of nuisance is ok and know that there will be no effective repercussions.

With seller fees at 20%, sellers deserve better than this.

[chris-5643]

Why do think that's badly thought out?

I'm encouraged to hear from you that eBay is bringing in agreement for immediately payment for auctions - I was only suggesting it should be applied to non-paying bidders!

On the face of it (as a buyer) I wouldn't object. What's tjhe problem with it?

[plpmr]

The problem is they don't tell you a buyer cannot use PayPal credit, cannot combine postage, cannot use cash on collection, cannot change the delivery address, cannot use coupons, cannot use click & collect, cannot use Global, cannot use alternative payment methods, cannot use coupons etc

[eastern-lights]

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@chris-5643 wrote:

I get higher prices at auction (and eBay gets higher fees), but it's simply not worth the aggravation.

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I am surprised you find that you get a higher price at auction. My experience is that I get a better price as a Buy it Now but it takes significantly longer. (It may depend on what you are selling). I tend to start with a top whack price and then gradually reduce the price until it sells. A slow dutch auction.

[chris-5643]

Yes, you're right, and I do that myself with smaller items - but it's the taking significantly longer aspect that can be the problem. I've had most non-paying bidder issues with bulky electrical  items, and these are the ones I need to go quickly as having large packages in a limited space hanging around for longer than necessary only adds to the annoyance.

On the plus side, the whole "not worth the hassle" area of selling probably helps increase the number of donations we receive or collect from the recycling centre for our charity.

[kath3735_wxmjn]

I have not actually experienced this (because i do not normally do best offer) but it was only on this site and i think it may have been a comment by yourself that i even knew this tick box was there.  I checked and it was already ticked by e bay, so i quickly unticked it.  That is why i like these threads, you often pick up new things happening before you end up suffering from the 'improvement'!

[*vyolla*]

Yes, same with GSP. eBay started making that a default opt in at one point. You don't realise that they've done this until it gets a mention here on community (that's how I found out why I'd sold an item to somebody in Australia when I don't ship internationally!). 

[kath3735_wxmjn]

I had a non payer this week and the bid was put in last week.  The 4 days was up this morning so i cancelled and relisted.  I, as usual, automatically placed the bidder on my blocked bidders list.  They have 100% good feedback and lots of it say prompt payer.  That person may well have a good reason at the moment for not being on top of a sale for £5, maybe they have been flooded out is one good one i can think of.    Maybe they just changed their mind and were inconsiderate but i am not bothered.  Disappointing but apart from wasting a few days it is not life changing.  Would rather that than they bought the item and then claimed not recieved or damaged.     One non payment is not a problem in my eyes, two or more it is a habit!

[kath3735_wxmjn]

so someone is flooded out of their home and has other things to worry about or they are in hospital with a serious medical condition?   Does that really merit being blocked for a year?

[kath3735_wxmjn]

do you car boot for your charity?   Our car boot seems to be getting lots of charities selling and they do pretty well by the looks of it.  Who can resist all those sad cat and dog pictures!

[eastern-lights]

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@kath3735_wxmjn wrote:

so someone is flooded out of their home and has other things to worry about or they are in hospital with a serious medical condition?   Does that really merit being blocked for a year?

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There are only blocked for a year if they do it twice and they are only blocked by people who have their settings set to block non payers.

Is your arguement that absolutely nothing should be done about non payers just in case of the one in a million chance that they were flooded or in hospital?

I take it you do not block non payers nor report them?

[kath3735_wxmjn]

my comment was in response to those demanding/suggesting that anyone who does not pay should be blocked immediately after that one non payment.  Sometimes there are reasons for someone not paying.  After that one time i would agree that they should be blocked and yes i do block them.   

[chris-5643]

IMO non-paying bidders should have their account suspended for 1 month - no eBay activity allowed. If there's a genuine reason for not paying then not being able to buy stuff on eBay is probably the least of their problems and they wouldn't be looking to do that anyway.

[chris-5643]

One non-payment = i month's suspension

[*vyolla*]

If there was a system in place to block buyers after one non-payment then loads would be penalised when it came to the dodgy seller scenario. 

eBay could have an appeals system in place (which they do) but on this scale it would require extra (costly) staffing which would then be reflected in our eBay seller fees.

The system works fine as it is, two non-payment strikes and you're blocked from bidding/buying for a year. 

Where's the problem there?

[a45heaven]

'm encouraged to hear from you that eBay is bringing in agreement for immediately payment for auctions - I was only suggesting it should be applied to non-paying bidders!

That would be a nightmare for buyers, and thus sellers due to lack of sales.

How do you go about combining auction items, Indeed Set Sale items to compliment auction wins?

I have dropped buying by  40% over recent months due to the cumbersome way ebay have developed their check outs (along with the 'pay in 4days or else' threats . Sellers i deal with agree, but ebay have this wonderful habit of turning on preferences.

My self when i get the strikes, just contact CS and without question ive had all strikes wiped (Ive got 6500 buying feedback whether that bears any weight), my strikes are generally for later payment - even when the seller agrees for me to wait, and i have live bids running.

Rather than leave it to sellers to do the work of controlling rouge buyers - why dont ebay put the effort in to vet these folks when they allow these them to simply create multiple accounts at will? - But im guessing its bolstering numbers to brag about?

[*vyolla*]

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@a45heaven wrote:

Rather than leave it to sellers to do the work of controlling rouge buyers - why dont ebay put the effort in to vet these folks when they allow these them to simply create multiple accounts at will?

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Absolutely agree. Buyers should be verified via an attached debit or credit card when they join up, if only to prevent them from maliciously bidding.

[eastern-lights]

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@*vyolla* wrote:

Absolutely agree. Buyers should be verified via an attached debit or credit card when they join up, if only to prevent them from maliciously bidding.

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That is what happens if you use any of the websites that facilitate bidding at distant bricks and mortar auctions. If you don't pay for lots you have won, it gets charged to your verified card. The card gets re-verified each auction you bid in.

I can't see Ebay introducing it though, because of the risk of some buyers dropping out rather than hand over card details in advance.

[chris-5643]

We do car boot, yes, but only in the summer.

[chris-5643]

Unfortunately, telling us the system works fine as it is  isn't quite enough. This is probably because recently having had a non-paying bidder win an item,having to then relisting it, having another non-paying bidder win and then having to relist it yet again BIN for less to get it moved (which it did) trumps your assertion that everything is fine as it is. And this is not the first time this exact same senario has happened either I had a succession of non-paying bidders for one item on my page too as well as on the charity's.

As things stand, with everything being fine as it is, we will still use eBay but will look to advertise certain items on dedicated web sites and frums and in Facebook groups first.

In having experienced the situation outlined in the first paragraph above and in taking the action outlined in the second, it is of course possible that we are just a statistical anomaly. I would think that's highly unlikely, however.

[chris-5643 · Accepted solution]

As there seems to be an unwillingness to concede that there is a problem, at least that's the impression I get from some eBay mentors, the only realistic options would seem to be:

a) Put up with it

and/or

b) Try selling elsewhere

And so I've elected to do both. Annoying though the problem of non-paying bidders is, the majority of sales I've made have been honoured and eBay still has a lot to recommend it.

Since initially posting here, however, I've also used Facebook Marketplace and it's worked out well.

So I would say the solution is to maybe try different platforms to sell depending on what the item is, and if you have problems with a particular sale, try another one instead.