Question For Sellers- Zero to 5 Feedback Buyers?

Prada Psycho

Prada Psycho

#11146
Authenticator
O.G.
Jul 21, 2006
21,599
4,343
#1
I can't seem to find any detailed threads on this issue, so here goes: I have a beautiul new bag for sale on eBay. I've been inundated by "question for seller emails" and offers from people with 0 to very little feedback, the most recent one was last night and this person had JUST registered yesterday.

I don't need this bag, and the money from it would fund my next bag, but I'm not taking any chances on getting tangled up in some bait/switch scam or chargeback, so I'm choosing to ignore questions from buyers like this. It's not worth my time because I WON'T sell them the bag.

How do you guys that sell a lot of designer things (not just bags) deal with these situations? Part of me feels like a schmuck for not answering their questions but the hard-nosed business woman in me knows I won't sell it to them so why bother?

Advice please? :confused1:
 
#2
Well, they may bid anyway. I had someone with 1 feedback and had just registered use Buy it Now for an expensive handbag. He hadn't asked me any questions in advance or didn't even use the Best Offer option. I hope he's legitimate; from the few emails we exchanged after the auction I think he is. He also paid immediately after buying because I had made the auction "Buy it Now, Immediate Payment Required." If you do that the person can't even win the item unless they have paid for it immediately. It cuts down on bad bidders but means you don't get a bidding war.

There are a lot of scammers out at this time of year though! If you don't want to sell to them you will have to keep on your toes and cancel bids you don't want, not just ignore the questions.
 
#4
Did you say anything in the body of your auction about low score bidders contacting you first? Do you have any bids? If you are more than 12 hours away from end of auction and have no bids, go in ASAP and edit your listing with regards to bidders profiles. If this isn't feasible, start using a template so you always have your particulars in your auction. How badly do you want to sell this bag? some of these people might be legit buyers-it is getting harder and harder as a seller and a buyer, good luck!
 
#5
^^^I did that, elongreach. They can still use the ask question function though... The only good thing is if they are appropriate questions, I can (and have) post them on the listing in case someone else might be wondering the same thing.

compulsivepurse: Yes, that whole scenario worries me too. The good news is that most of these folks are using the Best Offer option (and I've set my auto-decline pretty high) so they aren't getting anywhere with buying it. The price of it isn't unreasonable, but it's pretty high for a scammer to want to pay so I'm hoping that will keep them clear of my auction. I already have Live Chatted with eBay about that and they told me how to handle the situation if I'm not comfortable completing the transaction even IF a scammer uses the BIN function and pays. Since they keep a transcript on all chats, I've covered myself from any retalation if anything nasty happens.

Pugonpurses I don't EVER set my listings as auctions! Those are a pain on so many levels it's not funny. I only do BIN and sometimes, Best Offer.
 
#6
hello everyone. i'm really interested in this topic because i was thinking of starting an ebay account [i jumped on the bandwagon years ago but never did anything due to my fear of getting ripped off etc).

seeing how so many people on this forum use ebay to both buy & sell has mad me reconsider ebay and restart an account. i have a couple of silly items i want to sell and a bunch of things i'd love to buy. the thing is, from the posts, i see that many people will not consider selling to a ebay newbie. any advice on how i can overcome this? how will i get feedback if i no one wants me as a buyer?

any words of wisdom would be great. :yes:
 
#8
chanel obsessed said:
. any advice on how i can overcome this? how will i get feedback if i no one wants me as a buyer?

any words of wisdom would be great. :yes:
Click to expand...

There are a couple of things you can do. The first is to establish yourself as an A+ buyer. I'm not suggesting you buy things just for the purpose of increasing your feedback, but if there are things you really want and might normally buy them elsewhere, then get them on eBay. You'd do best to steer clear of pricey items and designer items because that's where most sellers are afraid of "newbies." Stick with things well under $100 for a while, always read the listing thoroughly and when you BIN or win an auction, pay as immediately as possible and always communicate with your seller. If you aren't satisfied with an item, don't slam them with neutral/negative feedback right away (that's a REAL turn off to sellers). Send them a polite email and explain why you are unhappy. Give the seller a chance to make good on it. You'd be surprised how many issues I've resolved, even getting refunds on items listed as no refund, by being polite & considerate to the seller. The ole "catch flies with honey" adage.

Once you've gotten around 25-50 positive feedbacks, then you can try selling. Again, steer clear of designer goods and expensive items until your seller record is well established.

Yes, it's time consuming but by establishing a solid, positive reputation, you'll get more sales and can later move into more pricey items, both as a seller and buyer.
 
#9
chanel obsessed said:
hello everyone. i'm really interested in this topic because i was thinking of starting an ebay account [i jumped on the bandwagon years ago but never did anything due to my fear of getting ripped off etc).

seeing how so many people on this forum use ebay to both buy & sell has mad me reconsider ebay and restart an account. i have a couple of silly items i want to sell and a bunch of things i'd love to buy. the thing is, from the posts, i see that many people will not consider selling to a ebay newbie. any advice on how i can overcome this? how will i get feedback if i no one wants me as a buyer?

any words of wisdom would be great. :yes:
Click to expand...
It's not that sellers don't want YOU! They don't want people who bid and don't pay ASAP, people who hit BIN and then try and change the auction rules, people who bid on PayPal only auctions without having established a PayPal account-all the stuff that would bug you as a seller. Right now (past week or so) I have had nasty little surprises from out of the blue on ebay, and there are a torrent of complaints here and elsewhere-just don't go right for some designer bag as either a buyer or a seller-seriously, start anywhere other than there, start small, follow excellent advice from these posts, use your head and good luck!
 
#11
Just remember that everyone had 0-5 feedback when they started. Start off small, maybe buy some DVDs and other small items to build up your feedback so that you become a trusted buyer. Then build up from there. Good luck! Bad things do happen, but for the most part if you're careful it's a good place to be.
 
#12
As a seller who sells ~120 items per month, I get a ton of 0-5 feedback buyers. I do not discourage anyone from bidding on my auctions. I've found that some of the fastest payers are the low-feedback buyers.

I also have found that when you sell handbags, you DO get a lot of low feedback buyers. It's a popular type of an item that attracts new buyers to eBay, and if you sell bags, you WILL get low-feedback buyers.

Really, you can't block 0 or low feedback buyers from bidding on your auctions. Sure, you can cancel their bids, but there is no stopping a 0-feedback buyer from sniping your auction at the last minute...
 
#13
shouldn't discourage the low fb customers... as some PFers said, that's where we all started from. Some buyer could be really sincere about buying your item! I like how some auctions would says "IF you have 0-5 feedback, please email me first for approval.." and I always do...

anyways that's ju my opinion!
 
#14
chanel obsessed said:
hello everyone. i'm really interested in this topic because i was thinking of starting an ebay account [i jumped on the bandwagon years ago but never did anything due to my fear of getting ripped off etc).

seeing how so many people on this forum use ebay to both buy & sell has mad me reconsider ebay and restart an account. i have a couple of silly items i want to sell and a bunch of things i'd love to buy. the thing is, from the posts, i see that many people will not consider selling to a ebay newbie. any advice on how i can overcome this? how will i get feedback if i no one wants me as a buyer?

any words of wisdom would be great. :yes:
Click to expand...

I'm new to ebay too and i had 0 feedback and an unconfirmed address as I don't live in the US. The first item I won was an authentic LV bag and the seller was extremely nice and the transaction went smoothly. :love:

So, there are sellers still willing to trust us new buyers! Good luck!
 
#15
I simply ask the new buyers to email me prior to bidding, it's not a hard thing to do on their part, and if they really want them item they'll do it. I've had people with 0 feedback bid without emailing first and I do a search on what they're are bidding on currently, if they are high bidder of a bunch of hi-end auctions I cancel their bid. My instincts have been right the two times i've had to do that because the buyer ended up NARU shortly after.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Back