Buyers enter a legal contract under English law when closing a deal on ebay.

[30terrym]

Although the buyer enters a Legal Contract under English Law, and then doesn't pay, Ebay are very weak to carry out harsh sentencing.

Short of taking the buyer to court (which is an expensive undertaking) in my opinion ebay do not take strong enough action.

Protection under Ebay Rules has greatly favoured the buyer over many years. The poor old seller ends up getting a NEGATIVE FEED BACK for no particular reason, which Ebay do nothing about.

To try to get the balance back  someway towards equal, my suggestion is to Ebay that buyers who enter into a contract, and then do not pay up should receive a NEGATIVE FEEDBACK. Perhaps then they might think twice before before pressing the buy button.

30terrym.

[angelah1847]

"Ebay are very weak to carry out harsh sentencing."

Sentencing?? Really!!

The option to leave neg or neutral was removed 12 years ago because some sellers were abusing the system and using it to bully and threaten buyers.  Ebay will not reinstate the option so wipe it from your mind.

Use the tools ebay provide (which does not include leaving any FB) - unpaid item case, add to BBL and set buyer requirement blocks to block anyone with 2+ strikes in last 12 months.

http://pages.ebay.co.uk/help/sell/unpaid-items.html
http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?bidderblocklogin
http://offer.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?BuyerBlockPreferences

Never be tempted to leave false positive FB for a buyer, it is a policy violation and will damage your account if it is picked up by ebay. It doesn't help you and it doesn't help other sellers. The strike from an unpaid item case does far more damage to the non-payer's account than a few silly words on their FB profile.