View Full Version : 0 Feedback bidder's, Should I let them bid? A Slim PS2 is at risk.
bobthegoat2001
10-05-2005, 11:59 PM
I listed a slim PS2 on eBay and there are a couple people with 0 feedback that have bid on it; and it's scaring me.
I've already been ripped of by someone retracting new Doom 3 CE that I sold for about $45 (around the time it came out) and the woman told paypal she never recieved it and she kept her game and also got her money back (I know she got it because she left positive feedback, but paypal still didn't believe me).
Ok enough rambling, I was thinking of updating the auction and putting you must have more than xx positive feedback or your auction is cancelled.
What do you guys think?
spideymike
10-06-2005, 12:08 AM
I'd say it's fair limt the auction to people with only positive feedback considering it's a PS2 unit. Why not? It ain't cheap.
kjauburn
10-06-2005, 12:08 AM
Just like any other auction make sure you get paid. After you get the money pay the extra cash out of your pocket to send it certified mail. That is if you already quoted shipping. Otherwise build it into shipping.
zionoverfire
10-06-2005, 12:39 AM
What I typically do is to require bidders with 0 feedback to email me first before they bid, if they don't I simply cancel their bids.
I can tell you though that at the start of an auction a lot bidders with low feedback will be involved but normally towards the end you are left with more experienced buyers.
wildnuts02
10-06-2005, 12:42 AM
I don't see what the big risk is. Either they pay your or they don't. If they don't, you report them to Ebay and you get a non-paying bidder refund for relisting the item.
in my experience, all the non-paying bidders i've dealt with all had positive feedback so you can never really be safe.
bobthegoat2001
10-06-2005, 02:09 AM
Either they pay your or they don't. If they don't, you report them to Ebay and you get a non-paying bidder refund for relisting the item.
It's not quite that easy. Like in my original post. This woman paid me! And also left me positive feedback. And me being a good person, gave her back positive feedback (which at the time she had about 250 positive feedbacks and no nagatives and neutrals). Then a few months later she reported to Paypal that she never recieved the game. So Paypal put a hold on my $45 to "investigate" the situation. And sevral emails later to paypal and ebay explaining she got the game they decided to still give her money back.
This same situation has happend to quite a few people. So that's why I don't trust 0 feedback people.
peterhql
10-06-2005, 02:15 AM
It's not quite that easy. Like in my original post. This woman paid me! And also left me positive feedback. And me being a good person, gave her back positive feedback (which at the time she had about 250 positive feedbacks and no nagatives and neutrals). Then a few months later she reported to Paypal that she never recieved the game. So Paypal put a hold on my $45 to "investigate" the situation. And sevral emails later to paypal and ebay explaining she got the game they decided to still give her money back.
This same situation has happend to quite a few people. So that's why I don't trust 0 feedback people.
By that logic you shouldn't trust anyone, why just zero feedback people. You said a 250 + feedback woman scammed you. It's the danger of selling on ebay. The system is f'd up.
Deadpool
10-06-2005, 02:18 AM
Why in the hell did you leave the money in your paypal account?! I accept payment and then Immediatly withdraw the $ to my bank account. It usually takes 3 days, THEN i send out the item.
bobthegoat2001
10-06-2005, 02:21 AM
By that logic you shouldn't trust anyone, why just zero feedback people. You said a 250 + feedback woman scammed you. It's the danger of selling on ebay. The system is f'd up.
I think your right. This will probably be my last listing on ebay. It's to risky to sell anything on ebay.
wildnuts02
10-06-2005, 02:25 AM
It's not quite that easy. Like in my original post. This woman paid me! And also left me positive feedback. And me being a good person, gave her back positive feedback (which at the time she had about 250 positive feedbacks and no nagatives and neutrals). Then a few months later she reported to Paypal that she never recieved the game. So Paypal put a hold on my $45 to "investigate" the situation. And sevral emails later to paypal and ebay explaining she got the game they decided to still give her money back.
This same situation has happend to quite a few people. So that's why I don't trust 0 feedback people.
It's as easy as delivery confirmation which costs like $1.00 at the most.
bobthegoat2001
10-06-2005, 02:28 AM
Why in the hell did you leave the money in your paypal account?! I accept payment and then Immediatly withdraw the $ to my bank account. It usually takes 3 days, THEN i send out the item.
The reason I kept the money in there is because I had a "debit" mastercard that when I used it it as credit, it would debit it from my paypal account and credit me an additional 1.5%. And that's also how I paid my ebay fees, shipping, along with other stuff.
But can't they still take the money from you somehow, like from your bank account or something?
bobthegoat2001
10-06-2005, 02:32 AM
It's as easy as delivery confirmation which costs like $1.00 at the most.
Yeah, I relized that afterwards, but I can't take back what I already did.
That's why I went ahead and keep my ebay account. Because I though that if I do that for now on, I *should* be able to keep my money if this type of thing ever happens again.
banpeikun
10-06-2005, 03:10 AM
Yeah, I relized that afterwards, but I can't take back what I already did.
That's why I went ahead and keep my ebay account. Because I though that if I do that for now on, I *should* be able to keep my money if this type of thing ever happens again.Make sure to use delivery confirmation and only ship to a confirmed paypal address in the USA and you're covered. Anything else and you're totally vulnerable to a chargeback.
chosen1s
10-06-2005, 03:19 AM
If you take your money out of Paypal, they threaten to ruin your credit. If the threat is true, it's just not worth it.
I have found little correlation between getting ripped off and 0 feedback bidders. Yes, they fail to pay much more often. But the scammers, in my opinion, have much better tricks (Fake feedback, or taking somone else's account, etc.).
Finally, if you exclude bidders you have a higher likelihood that your bid will come in low. It's simple Economics - decrease the number of potential bidders and you artificially decrease demand, resulting in lower price. Not to mention, the people who are least likely to be Ebay-savvy are newbies. Which means they are more likely to try to back out, etc. but they are also MORE likely to overbid. The question for you is, are the odds of a higher price from low-feedback bidders sufficient to offset the odds that one of them will rip you off. In my opinion, yes - especially since I have found very little correlation as mentioned above.
amos_82
10-06-2005, 03:37 AM
I have over a 1300 feedback. I remove them immediately. I don't even want to waste my time with anyone under 10. If they complain, tell them to get to use a BUY-IT-NOW option or buy from Half.com until their rating is higher!!
I'm getting ready to sell some stuff on fleabay and these kinds of posts make me think twice.
Also, isn't USPS Delivery Confirmation really shaky? I mean, sometimes, they post the info correctly and other times it may not show up days after the package has been delivered.
UPS is really good about tracking, but it isn't going to be feasible to ship via UPS for a single game.
fatherofcaitlyn
10-06-2005, 12:28 PM
Why in the hell did you leave the money in your paypal account?! I accept payment and then Immediatly withdraw the $ to my bank account. It usually takes 3 days, THEN i send out the item.
:)
I don't think that's enough to dodge a chargeback. I think Paypal has your checking account information on file. Even if they can't yank the funds from there, they can wait until your account has a balance again and ZAP!
It happened to the guy that screwed me out of $180. He pulled his money out before my complaint could put a hold on the funds. Then, the dumbass sold something else and the money went straight into my hands.
45 cents on delivery confirmation is the best insurance against chargebacks.
fatherofcaitlyn
10-06-2005, 12:29 PM
I'm getting ready to sell some stuff on fleabay and these kinds of posts make me think twice.
You could always sell it here.
Blade
10-06-2005, 02:53 PM
I'd make them send cash or a COD. That way if they say they never received your item, then you can say that you never received their money.
PayPal doesn't dip into checking accounts. I believe they used to, but they don't do it anymore. PayPal is never actually out any money. If they can recover it after a chargeback they do so and pass it on to the buyer. If they can't the buyer doesn't get squat until PP actually can recover the money (which may never happen.) An exception would be if the buyer wins a CC chargeback, then PayPal would be out the money I believe.
And there are fairly easy ways to scam PayPal and a seller even if they use delivery confirmation. But it does require the buyer to be pretty shady and willing to break the law. Even people with no scruples would probably not risk it for low amounts of money and if they make a habit of it, it will catch up to them.
bobthegoat2001
10-06-2005, 04:07 PM
An exception would be if the buyer wins a CC chargeback, then PayPal would be out the money I believe.
Thats actually when they steal the money from sellers and the sellers are out the item and the money. Lets say my ps2 sells for $120. Paypal would put a hold on the 120 from my account and charge it back to them. So then he would get both the money and the ps2.
SpottedNigel
10-06-2005, 04:18 PM
FYI, if you create a shipping label through USPS.com the delivery confirmation is free
Haggar
10-06-2005, 04:19 PM
I've already been ripped of by someone retracting new Doom 3 CE that I sold for about $45 (around the time it came out) and the woman told paypal she never recieved it and she kept her game and also got her money back (I know she got it because she left positive feedback, but paypal still didn't believe me).
Delivery Confirmation cost .45 cents or so. When Paypal asks you to prove you delivered something, you give them the tracking number from the Delivery Confirmation slip and BAM! You win. Always.
You really can't cry about Paypal reversing charges when you don't provide proof of shipping. It sucks if she stole it (and it sounds like she did) but it's your fault for not protecting yourself.
As for zero bidders, everyone has to start somewhere. And you just have to learn to deal with flakey people when selling on eBay. Toy and games people are the worst, most of them play slow if they pay at all. Book people roxxorz. They pay right away.
bobthegoat2001
10-06-2005, 05:03 PM
FYI, if you create a shipping label through USPS.com the delivery confirmation is free
Really? I think it would be nice, but I don't have a weigher. Anyone know where I can get a scale for ass cheap?
Delivery Confirmation cost .45 cents or so. When Paypal asks you to prove you delivered something, you give them the tracking number from the Delivery Confirmation slip and BAM! You win. Always.
Yes, but that's only if the buyer claims they didn't get the package. There are other PayPal scams they can pull which you can not protect yourself against other than by not keeping any money in your account. PP grants SNAD claims too easily in my experience, creates easy loopholes to exploit.
(DC costs $0.55 at retail BTW, except on Priority mail.)
bob - You can only do Priority mail labels on usps.com (but DC is indeed free for them). It's about $2 more than 1st class.
Haggar
10-06-2005, 08:10 PM
Yes, but that's only if the buyer claims they didn't get the package. There are other PayPal scams they can pull which you can not protect yourself against other than by not keeping any money in your account. PP grants SNAD
I just had a SNAD claim a month or so ago. Paypal ruled in my favor quickly. They said they do not get involved in quality of merchandise disputes.
And just for the record, there was nothing wrong with what I sold - the person was either trying to scam or it got stolen off his porch at home. So he's either a douchebag or an unfortunate victim - either way it's not my problem because I delivered the item and I had proof I had done so.
SpottedNigel
10-06-2005, 08:27 PM
Really? I think it would be nice, but I don't have a weigher. Anyone know where I can get a scale for ass cheap?
Actually, you can print the label without postage online too. Guess the weight or just put a pound when it asks, and then all you have to do is go to the post office to get it weighed and properly priced.
And yeah, if anyone knows of a cheap as scale, lets hear it :)
Haggar
10-06-2005, 08:29 PM
They sell cheapie digital scales at the post office. I think one is $20 and one is $50 (with the larger obviously able to weigh heavier items.
SpottedNigel
10-06-2005, 08:54 PM
$30 and $40 the last time i checked, and my $30 broke after a couple of months.
Noodle Pirate!
10-06-2005, 09:10 PM
I would say no, There are plenty of bidders with actual feedback that you don't need to accept bids from people with 0. I would even go so far as to limit it to people with more then 15 positive feedback.
You are just asking for trouble accepting bids from people with 0. There is still the possiblity that you will get ripped off, but why broaden the chance by accepting 0 feedback bidders?
Good luck on your auction whatever you decide!
Zakman86
10-07-2005, 07:37 PM
I don't see what the big deal is over 0 Feedback Bidders. Everyone's gotta start somewhere.
Example: I'm 19, but when I started my account, I bid on a couple of small things. I have 3 feedback right now, mainly because I don't use EBay all that much to get stuff. If I have the money and am actually looking for something, in my opinion, it's pretty crappy to have my bid cancelled because I have 0 or low feedback.