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Deadbeat eBay bidders: What are my options?

991 Views 11 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Shayne, Sep 29, 2004

Shayne

Discussion Starter · Aug 20, 2004

This has been happening more and more often that I have people purchasing my items with "buy it now" and then not paying or refusing to pay. Once or twice a year I can understand but it's happened 3 times in the last month and probably 15 times in the past year. eBay never seems to do jack about it.

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flyingsuperpetis

· #2 · Aug 20, 2004

Yeah, no kidding! I sold a bontrager fork for $300 buy it now, and the buttmonger who bid twice & then bought it said ebay must have made a mistake, cause he didn't do it, even after ebay sent me the times & originating IP addresses of the bids. I kinda let fly on him, or I suspect he probalby would have tried an "but I'll give ya $150 for it", like a few other turdbrains have. I wound up shelling out like 35 bucks for the ad & the "value" fee, and wound up keeping it. Not much of a value. No buy it now option for me. Oh yes, and it just so happened to be the one auction I thought "hey, I'll try out a private listing, see what that's like..." so no real chance to leave feedback showing what a slug-brained nerfherder he was.

I think nerfherder was from StarWars (?). But it probably applies.

If you're out there, you're a putz, putz.

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Fillet-brazed

· #3 · Aug 20, 2004

flyingsuperpetis said:
Yeah, no kidding! I sold a bontrager fork for $300 buy it now, and the buttmonger who bid twice & then bought it said ebay must have made a mistake, cause he didn't do it, even after ebay sent me the times & originating IP addresses of the bids. I kinda let fly on him, or I suspect he probalby would have tried an "but I'll give ya $150 for it", like a few other turdbrains have. I wound up shelling out like 35 bucks for the ad & the "value" fee, and wound up keeping it. Not much of a value. No buy it now option for me. Oh yes, and it just so happened to be the one auction I thought "hey, I'll try out a private listing, see what that's like..." so no real chance to leave feedback showing what a slug-brained nerfherder he was.

I think nerfherder was from StarWars (?). But it probably applies.

If you're out there, you're a putz, putz.

My luck has been deteriorating on ebay also. Ive listed an Ibis twice now and both times no payment. I think ebay needs to step up to the plate and crack some heads of these deadbeats!

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Rumpfy

· #4 · Aug 20, 2004

Shayne said:
This has been happening more and more often that I have people purchasing my items with "buy it now" and then not paying or refusing to pay. Once or twice a year I can understand but it's happened 3 times in the last month and probably 15 times in the past year. eBay never seems to do jack about it.

Deadbeat bidders are the worst. You can have all the threats and warnings in the world in your auction description, but the truth is...it's going to happen. And I think it will continue to happen because of the huge number of users out there that really just don't give a rats ass.

And albeit time consuming, if you have a non paying bidder, you can file the 'non-paying bidder' forms and eBay will refund your listing fee and final auction fees. The only thing you're out is your time. I've done this for an item that I sold for a couple hundred bucks....deadbeat....send the reminders, then the warnings and then get yourself a credit. All this can be done through the eBay prompts (as I'm sure you guys know).

Yelling, screaming, and making threats in an email...I'm not sure how much it would entice me to now pay for the item I was trying to back out of.

What eBay could do (although I'm not sure it's legal) is to charge the item that the user has won so you get paid. Then you can send the item out. EBay requires a credit card to buy, and both a cc and bank account to sell. I guess this could have changed.
I can't say it's an ethical way of solving the problem.

It just might be the nature of the beast...
I'll say that my positive transactions far out weigh the negative ones.

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Scanner

· #5 · Aug 20, 2004

I don't or won't sell to anyone with negitive feed back or has changed their id lately. People with low feedback I have never had problems with. But I do read feed back and will cancel bids. The one and only time I had this happen to me I canceled a ebay'rs bid because of negitive feedback and he wrote and pleaded with me to let him bid... guess what? You got it, he stiffed me!

I guess I have been lucky on ebay both buying and selling. Touch wood!!!

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DeeEight

· #6 · Aug 20, 2004

deadbeat sellers are worse...

Shayne said:
This has been happening more and more often that I have people purchasing my items with "buy it now" and then not paying or refusing to pay. Once or twice a year I can understand but it's happened 3 times in the last month and probably 15 times in the past year. eBay never seems to do jack about it.

I got a unpaid item strike today cause the f&cking seller, filed for non-payment, but he NEVER responds to messages demanding to know how much to pay. I'm in canada, shipping is higher than in the usa (where he is and the rates on his auctions are listed), and ebay doesn't seem to insist that sellers live up to commitments like buyers are supposed to.

Also reading his recent feedback, he's shafted other buyers like this quite often. Avoid bensbike is my suggestion.

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vdubbusrider

· #7 · Aug 20, 2004

I'll tell you waht!

i normally sell about 12 bikes a week and i get 1 or 2 deadbeats each week. i dont get it. if somebody does not pay me i can be out $500 which can be the difference of me making rent in a month. i find that certain items have a voodoo curse on them. i will get stiffed one the same bike 2 and 3 times in a row. its wierd. it could take me 2 months to get a buyer who will actually pay for it. also, I start all my bikes at $1.00 and but still people tell me they won the bike for too much and want a refund. the bike will get 35 bids but im responsible for the end price? whats that about?

e-bay really needs some good stiff competition. i dont know if anybody can at this point but if a good company came up with solutions to e-bays non paying bidders and lower fee's i think the people will start making the shift over to the new company just to put pressure on e-bay at the least. i cant complain too much since i am making my living from e-bay but i sure would like to strangle some of those bidders out there!!

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AL29er

· #8 · Sep 28, 2004

Yeah, e-bay doesn't do jack cause they got their money. Once they get paid, who really cares about you

They have now setup the non-paying program with such delays that it is easy to just let it slide. Even if you get credit, it is only for the final value fee. There is no reimbursement or relisting discount.

I just sent a guy a refund this morning. He was up in Canada and inquired if I would ship. I said sure. I printed the shipping label on paypal and then paid postage at the post office. Three weeks later it showed back up on my doorstep. I am out final value fee, listing fee, and now need to relist the item ($5 + time). He is out $10.50. Neither of us is happy.

Selling online really isn't all it is cracked up to be. Buyers have no real punishment for being flakes or wasting time. It really is a raquette that e-bay makes money from a buyers loss in these cases.

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Vulcan

· #9 · Sep 28, 2004

Actualy, ebay will refund you... You have to file a non paying bidder complaint. I got my money back, but it takes for ever.

i find that certain items have a voodoo curse on them.

I agree, I've been screwed over like 5 times on a paintball gun i'm trying to sell. Not only through ebay either.

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~martini~

· #10 · Sep 28, 2004

Yeah, bensbike screwd me over too one time. Sent the completely wrong item to and wasn't willing to replace it. I'd avoid 'em too.

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flyingsuperpetis

· #11 · Sep 29, 2004

Bens

~martini~ said:
Yeah, bensbike screwd me over too one time. Sent the completely wrong item to and wasn't willing to replace it. I'd avoid 'em too.

Ah, yes, Bens is right here in Milwaukee. They're known for being a bunch of knobs. When I used to date women, my girl went in to order a Bianchi track bike, and not only couldn't get anyone to talk to her, but when she finally did accost someone, they insisted she'd be better off with a hybrid, "cause they're better for women", who "really don't ride agressive bikes like that." No kidding. Idiotas!

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Shayne

Discussion Starter · #12 · Sep 29, 2004

I guess I'll fourth that while we're at it

For the most part they have been knobs to me too. Mostly being arrogant or rude when asking questions about items.

I will say however that the 1 time I did actually buy something from them it was a pretty good deal and arrived quickly.

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