Idiots on ebay

[mungbeanz]

What has happened to ebay? It used to be a nice place to sell unwanted stuff. Now I'm losing faith in it. Recently I've had two idiots who have bid huge amounts on my items and not had any intention of paying.
Also Yesterday I had another bidder who had three false positive feedbacks who i cancelled and blocked. Can i get in trouble for this as ebay say you need a good reason to cancel bids? I just don't want the hassle of chasing idiots.

I only sell a few things a year, so can't imagine what it is like for business sellers to deal with.

[daffy654]

What do you mean by false positive feedback?

[mungbeanz]

Sellers had given positive feedback but with complaints about the buyer

[China Doll]

I've always found it pretty good, I love ebay.

[AlBags]

Naahh .. You have a damn good excuse.
Fire it back at eBay if they complain.

[boxtops]

I have no experience of what you are describing - I've been buying and selling on eBay for years and have never come across these sort of buyers. What are you selling?

[grasscarp]

I wouldnt cancel somebody based on their feedback if they bid and paid for the item. If people are bidding but dont intend to pay that is something to take up with ebay so they can get rid of them.

[AlBags]

Weird sellers about too ..
Look at this item ..
http://www.ebay.co.uk...sid=p3984.m1423.l2649

Then click on the '5 sold' and see what they paid!

That's Christmas for you! : )

[mungbeanz]

I've been on ebay for 10 years and only recently have noticed this kind of behaviour. I was getting rid of some office furniture with one non payer and selling some faulty memory cards with another. Not really the kind of items that would attract scammers or anything. Maybe I've been unlucky

[ojread2]

Exceptionally high bids can indicate hacked accounts - I've had mine done and bought lots of low end mobiles for a lot of money

eBay is a great place for those bargain hunting but NEVER EVER buy electrical goods, mobiles, laptops, cars, car parts etc from there

[daffy654]

Thanks for the explanation mungbeanz.
I am not a seller on Ebay but am a prolific buyer, I am very proud of my 100% (genuine) positive feedback.

[joko]

oj - ive bought loads of stuff like that... rarely had a problem... and in fact i bought a laptop and it was one of the best laptops ive ever had...
ive had a few bad times but thats to be expected

[joko]

actually the thing that gets me most is when people just waffle in the description telling you a pointless little story why theyre selling it - but give hardly any actual details of the item...basics such as size, etc, and also just say things like 'radio', with no make or model number
its very tedious to have to do web searches just to get basic info.

[Cowtipper]

I avoid fleabay but I've had good results with Craigslist. No commission and local buyers.

http://geo.craigslist.org/iso/gb

[Kendle]

I had an idiot once who bought 2 concert tickets off me, they were advertised as collect only, he bought them on the Friday and asked me to post them to him.

Nothing wrong with that you might say except the concert was for the next day and he bought them on the Friday evening.

[SpikeyBush]

despite the recommendation by ojread2 I have sold many mobile phones on e-bay and bought a couple of cars. Never a problem. There is always the risk of encountering an idiot when acting as either a vendor or purchaser, but likewise when you go to a car or antique auction you run the risk of getting lumbered with a pup. This needs to be factored against the chance of getting a right hum-dinger of a bargain. Stepping out of your front door in the morning is a gamble of sorts. It is a question of how much of a gamble you are prepared to take. Rule of thumb is never gamble more than you can afford to lose.

[mrs.chappie]

I think false positives are left because it's impossible for a seller to leave a negative, so they click on the "Positive" button, then give a true reflection of the transaction.

I'm having a bad run at the moment, including a buyer who obviously decided she no longer wanted to buy the item but wouldn't reply to my emails - not even to confirm what I suspected - that she'd changed her mind about buying it.

I've just looked at her profile and see the last four positives say something like "bought a month ago but did not pay and won't respond to emails". All four are from the same seller. I can understand why the seller has done it, even if it's not the way eBay want things to be done.

[cathfromsaron]

you can 'pre-block' people with neggie feedback or very few purchases on your selling pages!

BUT give them time to pay ...