Just had a buyer refuse to pay for an item he was the highest bidder on for some time

[oliver-a1]

What is the point of EBay if buyers can back out once they have won for no reason.  The bidder before had been the highest bidder for days then this utter time waster bid in then refuses to pay.  What annoys me is that he has 743 positive reviews because you can't give the timewaster a negative it seems totally unfair

[therenewalworkshopltd]

You can however give them a none payment strike.

[robinson_flyer]

One non-payment strike won't stop them bidding, but if they make a habit of it, their account can have bidding restrictions placed on it by ebay.  Also if you were happy with the next highest bidder's offer, look up "second chance offer" in the help. 

Buyers do all sorts of annoying things and this is just one of them. It would be nice if people were just honest if they make a bidding mistake and I have to say that generally speaking, people tend to be.  Inconsiderate/ignorant behaviour isn't confined to ebay I'm afraid. 

[oliver-a1]

I know but if you went to an auction house and behaved this way they would ban you, it's just frustrating when they have such a high positive review when actually they are a total time waster

[robinson_flyer]

Yup - it is, but ebay go out of their way to cause so many frustrations for sellers, this one doesn't even make it into my top 10 😀

Another thing to do is go into your account/selling preferences/manage who can buy from you.   I have mine set to the harshest which is to block anyone with 2 non paying strikes in a 12 month period.  If this is the first time your buyer has done this, it wouldn't have helped - but it will stop anyone who persistently bids and doesn't pay. 

[department28]

It is particularly annoying to have someone bid at the very end of the auction, and then not pay. You would assume by hopping in at the end, they were keen to win the item. 'Bidder's remorse' must have set in very quickly...

Some buyers seem to have quite a few 'didn't pay' feedback comments. Does anyone know how many times someone can do this, before eBay apply 'bidding restrictions' - and what are they? Does anyone get suspended, or banned?

Perhaps eBay should put the number of non-paying incidents next to the feedback score, so everyone

can see if a bidder/buyer has a record of non-payment...

@robinson_flyer  'Another thing to do is go into your account/selling preferences/manage who can buy from you.   I have mine set to the harshest which is to block anyone with 2 non paying strikes in a 12 month period.'

Good tip!  👍

[*help_no_brakes*]

Some buyers seem to have quite a few 'didn't pay' feedback comments. Does anyone know how many times someone can do this, before eBay apply 'bidding restrictions' - and what are they? Does anyone get suspended, or banned?

eBay will not "ban" these buyers because those numpty sellers left positive feedback.

Perhaps eBay should put the number of non-paying incidents next to the feedback score, so everyone

can see if a bidder/buyer has a record of non-payment...

Not needed if you have your Buyer Requirements correctly set as advised by robinson_flyer.

@robinson_flyer  'Another thing to do is go into your account/selling preferences/manage who can buy from you.   I have mine set to the harshest which is to block anyone with 2 non paying strikes in a 12 month period.'

Good tip!  👍

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[oliver-a1]

Thanks for that I didn't know you could do that I'm going to change it now sick of time wasters with no shame

[robinson_flyer]

@*help_no_brakes*  I like the suggestion of listing the strikes (and maybe the dates they occured for context?) alongside someones feedback as it might encourage more responsible behaviour on their part - though in reality they might still be able to bid (depending on the seller's settings), and I doubt sellers have the time to vet bidders on the fly and remove bids from anyone they don't like the look of.   That would be more hastle than tolerating the odd poorly behaved buyer. 

Dunno at what point ebay might apply restrictions themselves, but I'm pretty certain it will be more generous towards the buyers than I am in my settings. 

[hettsville · Accepted solution]

You can also tick the box in seller preferences that requires bidders to enter a payment method before they can bid.

It should stop time wasters as the payment would be made automatically if they win the auction.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/bmgt/buyerrequirements 

[ett1954]

"It should stop time wasters as the payment would be made automatically if they win the auction." - eBay would like you to do that as it prevents bidders hoping to win multiple auctions (especially international bidders) requesting a combined invoice, thus gaining eBay more fees.  The reason I don't use it as it deters bidders hoping to win multiple auctions.

Displaying the number of unpaid incidents within a time frame would be useful as a seller can then have the option to cancel bids from persistent non-payers.

[robinson_flyer]

Good point - I have just checked that on mine and it was already ticked.  As an aside, I noticed you can see a log of bidding activity the various rules you set have blocked, so you can see the effect. 

I've just found out that my rules blocked a Russian bidder on an auction of mine earlier this month.  

[oliver-a1]

Thanks that's really helpful I didn't know all this 

[oliver-a1]

Something needs to be done it's not fair that he has a glowing review history. I have complained to EBay I hope others do that have the same experience