Did you know that as an eBay seller, you are allowed to set certain criteria for prospective bidders? I put some Starbucks gift cards up for sale this week, and have learned from past experience to screen customers who buy gift cards. Scammers like to claim that the gift card had no value, file a claim, and then the seller is out the gift card and the money from the sale. I learned that lesson the hard way.
So, I put this disclaimer on my listing:
"Special Terms of Listing: Bidders must have at least 50 feedbacks to bid on this item, and no negatives for non-payment. We reserve the right to cancel bids that do not meet this criteria.
Please note: In accordance with eBay policy, sellers may exclude buyers at any time prior to the listing close and are free to cancel unwelcome bids. After a seller has canceled a bid, the bidder may not place a new bid without the seller's permission. Buyers who do not meet the seller’s terms as outlined in the item listing also are not permitted to bid on or buy the item."
This is perfectly eBay legal. Click here to read eBay's Policy on unwelcome buying. If a buyer bids on your listing without meeting your terms, you have the right to report them to eBay. You have to be proactive on eBay to avoid the scammers.
Related Articles:
How to Avoid Scams as an eBay Seller
How to File a Mutual Withdrawal
How to Know When to Block an eBay Buyer
Happy Selling!
Thanks so much for this info. I just recently had two non payers that had feedback scores of under 10.
ReplyDeletebut ... but .... but, with the newer Feedback policy, you're not going to see negatives for non-payers.
ReplyDeleteRight. Can we start a place online where we leave the usernames of people to block?
ReplyDeleteThanks for this tip Suzanne, sorry you had to learn the hard way and it is very nice of you to take care of the other sellers on eBay. I also think it is a good idea to have a place where sellers can leave the names of bad buyers. Maybe we could start a private Facebook group or something for the sellers who would want to participate. To keep things fair, sellers should probably be able to provide proof of a problem buyer though as a stipulation and protect themselves from slander or libel? I have received bad feedback from canceling a bid (eBay did remove it because i had the terms there)and it was from a buyer with very little FB....
ReplyDelete