Anyway to not sell an eBay item when the winner has 0 feedback?

mattcube64

mattcube64

CAGiversary!
Feedback
8 (100%)
I bought a MW3 Hardened Edition, and put the Founders Code and the Elite Status codes on ebay 1-day auctions. Now, with DLC, I always eBay message the code upon receiving payment, AND send the physical card via USPS with delivery confirmation to cover my ass.

But one of the winning bidders for one of the items has zero feedback, and just registered on eBay a couple days before my auction went up. I dunno... just makes me uncomfortable. In my auction, I stated that there are "absolutely no refunds for any reason"; but as we all know, PayPal and eBay always side with buyers no matter what. Unfortunately, I was dumb and didn't put any "no buyers with zero feedback."

Is there anything I can do? My auction ended last night, and the buyer still hasn't sent the money. I got a message from the winner saying he'll "pay in 2-days". Anyway I can just cancel the whole deal before that? Or am I just gonna have to try my luck and hope he's legit.

Thanks!
 
Just stick it out for the two days. You had zero Marketplace feedback on CAG at one time didn't you? Give him the benefit of the doubt. He will pay, get his first feedback, and then be a reputable member of the community.
 
[quote name='baz8771']Just stick it out for the two days. You had zero Marketplace feedback on CAG at one time didn't you? Give him the benefit of the doubt. He will pay, get his first feedback, and then be a reputable member of the community.[/QUOTE]

99% of zero feedback bidders won't pay. You're SOL for the next 2 weeks while the Non Paying Bidder claim gets processed.
 
[quote name='spmahn']99% of zero feedback bidders won't pay. You're SOL for the next 2 weeks while the Non Paying Bidder claim gets processed.[/QUOTE]

Well that number is totally out of your ass.
 
[quote name='Arakias']Well that number is totally out of your ass.[/QUOTE]

Well I apologize that I wasn't able to complete a full statistical analysis that meets your standards, but I've been selling on eBay since 1998, and zero feedback bidders have ALWAYS been a problem. I think the number of zero feedback bidders that I have had one an auction and paid over the years would total maybe one.
 
Hi, I had a situation once where a buyer won a 12 month code and wanted me to email it to him. I emailed it to him and the next day he retracted his payment. Thankfully I had the tracking number to prove that I actually sent the item and Paypal Seller Protection saved my ass. This is why its important that you make sure you do the following:

1) Make sure you actually physically ship the code with tracking info before you email it.
2) Make sure the buyer has a confirmed address. If they don't you can opt not to send it to them until its confirmed because Paypal Seller protection wont work.

You can just cancel the transaction and say that it's "not available," but then you risk getting negative feedback. Otherwise you can file the Non-Paying Bidder claim in a few days. Hope this helps.
 
[quote name='spmahn']Well I apologize that I wasn't able to complete a full statistical analysis that meets your standards, but I've been selling on eBay since 1998, and zero feedback bidders have ALWAYS been a problem. I think the number of zero feedback bidders that I have had one an auction and paid over the years would total maybe one.[/QUOTE]


Thankfully, I have had the opposite experience. I have had numerous 0 feedback bidders, I can't recall the last one that was an issue (though I will admit I feel better to see triple digits).

I think that many of them do what most of us did; One day you decide that MSRP is too damn high :p
 
[quote name='spmahn']Well I apologize that I wasn't able to complete a full statistical analysis that meets your standards, but I've been selling on eBay since 1998, and zero feedback bidders have ALWAYS been a problem. I think the number of zero feedback bidders that I have had one an auction and paid over the years would total maybe one.[/QUOTE]

How does that even make sense? I've been on since 2004 and have never had a problem with any bidders. Everybody has to start out at 0 feedback, so the 99% figure is complete bullshit. Just stick it out, they'll pay.
 
Just because someone has 0 feedback doesn't mean they are gonna be a problem. As was pointed out, everyone starts somewhere. We were all once new members of eBay, CAG, etc.
 
[quote name='fiddycan']Hi, I had a situation once where a buyer won a 12 month code and wanted me to email it to him. I emailed it to him and the next day he retracted his payment. Thankfully I had the tracking number to prove that I actually sent the item and Paypal Seller Protection saved my ass. This is why its important that you make sure you do the following:

1) Make sure you actually physically ship the code with tracking info before you email it.
2) Make sure the buyer has a confirmed address. If they don't you can opt not to send it to them until its confirmed because Paypal Seller protection wont work.

You can just cancel the transaction and say that it's "not available," but then you risk getting negative feedback. Otherwise you can file the Non-Paying Bidder claim in a few days. Hope this helps.[/QUOTE]

This isn't true anymore. The address you ship to doesn't have to be "confirmed" you just have to ship on the address that is on the PayPal invoice, and in small print a third down on the invoice it should read "Seller Protection - Eligible".

However careful of any buyer that asks you to ship elsewhere as that is a really big and current scam. If you ship anywhere other then the address on the PayPal invoice you won't be protected against INR or chargeback claims.

How much did your codes go for? When I sell DLC that is worth less then $20 I just gamble and e-mail the code unless the buyer absolutely wants the card insert for collecting purposes.

DLC worth more then $50 I almost always ship.

I would message the buyer back and explain you will wait the two days however your account is set to automatically open an upaid item dispute after four days of non-payment (that is the earliest you can open an UID anyways). If he hasn't paid after four days chances are he won't be paying.

If that happens set your account to limit "0" feedback buyers from bidding or don't do auction style listings and do Buy-It-Now style with immediate payment required.
 
I've been ripped off by more people with 100+ feedback than I have by 0 feedback. I think that you probably should give the person the benefit of the doubt, but I personally trust no one on that website anymore.
 
You can state in your listings that you will remove bids from zero feedback buyers (since you can't block zero feedback bidders automatically, only negative feedback.)
I'd say wait it out, since the buyer can leave negative feedback if you cancel (I think.) If he doesn't pay, open an unpaid item dispute.
 
[quote name='iNFiNiTE HORiZON']I've been ripped off by more people with 100+ feedback than I have by 0 feedback. I think that you probably should give the person the benefit of the doubt, but I personally trust no one on that website anymore.[/QUOTE]

Well ain't that the truth. The ebay veterans know how to rip you off. I've been on ebay since 1999 and I know how to rip a sellers ass apart. But that would make me a piece of shit.

Zero feedback buyers are 50/50. You get good and bad it's a toss up.
 
Matt if you don't want to fulfill the item you're only option would be to not even send it at all but as somebody else mentioned risking a negative feedback isn't worth messing up your score over (especially if you have 100%).

0 feedback buyers can be very random. The more likely issue I find with them is that they become non-paying buyers because they are new to eBay and therefore do not understand the part about incomplete items and DLC's that get parted out. If they see a listing, they automatically assume they get an entire CE for half the cost of the standard edition. For example, I've sold CE items like steelbook cases and the buyers get confused and send me an email after purchasing stating they "didn't know the listing did not come with the game" or that they didn't know it "was a code to download an extra instead of the game." I personally deal with more issues from non-feedback buyers due to them not reading the entire description and not coming through on their end by just never paying for it (which in Matt's case would be a good thing anyway since he could either cancel the transaction mutually or issue him a nonpayment strike to teach the buyer a lesson) than stealing a code.

For what it's worth, I would think scammers that want to steal codes wouldn't wait on auctions and instead just do a BIN. If you're gonna scam somebody, what's the point of trying to eBay snipe and try to save $5 when you're gonna try to claim to eBay that the code didn't work and request a refund back anyway? If somebody is gonna be all scummy about it, they'd probably rather just do a BIN to get their code faster and get to the claims process sooner therefore making the auction price irrelevant.
 
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