OMG!! Crazy buyer... what do I do?

japskivt

Member
Jul 11, 2006
5,347
3
I listed a bag last week and it didn't sell. Afterwards a buyer asked if they could buy it and pay me a week later b/c they didn't have the money b/c they just bought a pair of shoes on ebay and loved the bag. I said no b/c that just seems sketchy to me and they are really new to ebay. I relisted the bag and when I checked tonight it had 3 bids. Well I look at the bidders and the high bidder has zero feedback and registered a couple of days ago. I feel a little uneasy and go to cancel the bid b/c I just have a bad feeling. I realized when I was doing this that the last 4 digits of the user id are the same as bidder number 2 who has 75% positive feedback. I realize that bidder number 2 is the same person who wanted to buy the bag originally. I guess they bought the pair of shoes and never paid b/c they want the bag. They got negative feedback for not paying and they created a new name to bid on my bag so I wouldn't freak about the bad feedback. I just canceled both bids. I did the right thing but the bidding is ending in a few hours and I will be in bed... I am so afraid this lunatic will create another name to bid. What do I do? This is nuts!
 
I don't think there is much you can do ... sounds like this buyer really wants to mess with you. Maybe they will give up now that you canceled both bids. Make sure that you block both IDs, too. I learned this the hard way -- just because you cancel a bid, that does not mean that the buyer cannot bid on your item in the future. Cancel and block is the safest way to handle it.
 
^^ I agree.. But I must say that not always is what the buyer stated a con...
I once contacted a seller regarding an Isabella fiore bag, that I wanted, but at that point could not purchase. I had just purchased a Gustto and knew I couldn't pay for the bag, for a week (till the next Friday when I got paid).

I just told the seller to check my feedback, that not only was I an honest buyer, but an honest seller as well. And I just didn't want to bid on the bag, and then not pay for a week. So I asked them to consider my buy it now offer under those terms. And encouraged them to check my recent purchases so they could see that I wasnt lying (I included the Gustto item number as well). The seller accepted and I actually paid by Tuesday 3days ahead of schedule and ended up waiting for their invoice.

However in this case the buyer doesn't have good feedback---and now seems, desperate, so I would just block them. And change your payment instructions to pay at the end of auction or else bid will be cancelled. Also make sure its through paypal. Then you can rest easy regardless of who wins
 
you can block bidders with 0 feedback or those with negatives...just go to "my preference" at myebay

You can only block those who have a negative feedback score or those that have had 2 (or more) unpaid item strikes in the last month. There is no option for 0 fb bidders.

Lori is right though, if you cancel their bid they can no longer bid on that item, but it doesn't stop them from bidding on other items. If you think that they have created a new account to bid, report them to ebay, ebay will suspend all their accounts if they can prove that they are creating new accounts to get around you blocking them.
 
Sorry about you menacing buyer. Good points were brought up about blocking. I block all -1 or more Ebayers too.

0 feedback bidders can't be blocked but you can request in your preferences that they are only eligible to bid on one of your items at a time. It's also good practice to ask in your terms that new or 0 feedback buyers contact you before bidding. That ensures that they read your entire listing.

Everyone has to start somewhere on Ebay, and we should welcome them, but I've found the greatest problem with new Ebayer's is that they don't read the entire listing. They get excited and bid too quickly without reading... size, color, condition, terms. etc. If they don't contact me and bid, I cancel the bid and block them until they do.

Ebay seriously lacks in the training and verification of new buyers, so that leaves it to the sellers to be responsible for teaching new Ebayers to be careful and responsible when considering a purchase on their platform.
 
Nup. You can manually block anyone. It's here:


yep, I realize you can manually block any bidder as long as you have their screen name. I was refering to the fact that you can "block zero fb bidders" wich you can not do in y preferences. You can block -1 and buyers who have had NPB strikes. Setting buyer requirements is different than blocking certain bidders.